85R8372 JCG-F
 
  By: Phillips H.B. No. 2991
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the confidentiality of files related to complaints to
  and investigations by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1701.202(b), Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  On request, a license holder may obtain information
  regarding a complaint made against the license holder under this
  chapter, including a complete copy of the complaint file, but not
  including information that is an attorney-client communication, an
  attorney work product, or other information protected by a
  privilege recognized by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the
  Texas Rules of Evidence. On receipt of a request under this
  subsection, the commission shall provide the requested information
  in a timely manner to allow the license holder time to respond to
  the complaint.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 1701, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Section 1701.2031 to read as follows:
         Sec. 1701.2031.  CONFIDENTIALITY OF INVESTIGATION MATERIAL.
  (a) Information or material, including an investigation file, is
  confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
  Government Code, or any other means of legal compulsion for
  release, including disclosure, discovery, or subpoena, if the
  information or material is prepared or compiled by the commission
  in connection with a complaint or an investigation of any person
  subject to the jurisdiction of the commission.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), information or material
  prepared or compiled by the commission in connection with a
  complaint or an investigation may be disclosed:
               (1)  to the respondent of the complaint;
               (2)  to a person providing a service to the commission,
  an expert or other witness, or an investigator, if the information
  is necessary for preparation for, or a presentation in, a
  disciplinary proceeding against a license holder, or a subsequent
  trial or appeal taken from a disciplinary proceeding;
               (3)  to a law enforcement agency;
               (4)  to the State Office of Administrative Hearings; or
               (5)  to the commission, or a panel of the commission,
  for use during any proceeding conducted by the State Office of
  Administrative Hearings or in a subsequent trial or appeal of a
  commission action or order.
         (c)  The release of information under Subsection (b) does not
  constitute a release or disclosure for purposes of Section 552.007,
  Government Code.
         (d)  The filing of formal charges by the commission against a
  license holder, the nature of those charges, disciplinary
  proceedings of the commission, and final disciplinary actions by
  the commission, including warnings and reprimands, are not
  confidential and are subject to disclosure in accordance with
  Chapter 552, Government Code.
         (e)  After the investigation of a complaint in which the
  commission imposes a disciplinary action against a license holder
  under Section 1701.501, the information and materials prepared or
  compiled by the commission regarding the complaint and
  investigation of the license holder are not confidential and are
  subject to disclosure in accordance with Chapter 552, Government
  Code, not including any information that reveals or could reveal
  the identity of a complainant or witness involved in the complaint,
  investigation, or action.
         SECTION 3.  Section 1701.202, Occupations Code, as amended
  by this Act, and Section 1701.2031, Occupations Code, as added by
  this Act, apply only to a complaint filed or an investigation
  commenced on or after the effective date of this Act. A complaint
  filed or an investigation commenced before that date is governed by
  the law in effect on the date the complaint was filed or the
  investigation was commenced, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.