BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1609

By: Tinderholt

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Concerns have been raised about the privacy and security of grand jurors given the lack of confidentiality for grand juror names. It has been suggested that allowing grand juror names to be publicly available poses a risk that these jurors could be endangered or sought out. H.B. 1609 seeks to address this issue by making the names of grand jurors confidential.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 1609 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to include the name of a person who serves as a grand juror among the personal information about grand jurors that is confidential and may not be disclosed by the court, court personnel, or prosecuting attorney. The bill requires the court, on a showing of good cause and on application by a member of the news media acting as a party to the proceeding, to permit disclosure of such confidential personal information to the applicant. The bill applies to an application for disclosure of grand juror information that is filed on or after the bill's effective date, regardless of whether the applicable grand juror who is the subject of the information served on a grand jury impaneled before, on, or after that date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.