HBA-CBW H.B. 1380 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1380 By: Coleman State Affairs 2/21/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Privacy concerns are an issue for crime victims throughout the criminal justice process. Fear of harassment or retaliation from offenders, who may learn the victim's name and residential location through public records or court testimony, deters victims from seeking justice. Many victims refuse to report crimes to avoid intrusion into their lives by the media. Crime victims have the right to privacy throughout the criminal justice process. However, unless the crime is a sexual assault or is committed against a minor or an elderly person, the victim's name is part of public record. House Bill 1380 excepts information regarding victims of certain offenses, including criminal homicide, kidnapping and unlawful restraint, sexual offenses, assaultive offenses, and stalking, from information that is available to the public for a specified period of time. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1380 amends the Government Code to provide that information held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor is excepted from certain requirements relating to the availability of public information if the information reveals or tends to reveal the identity of a victim of certain offenses, including criminal homicide, kidnapping and unlawful restraint, sexual offenses, assaultive offenses, or stalking. The bill provides that such information is excepted from required disclosure only until the earlier of the date by which each person who committed the offense has been apprehended and has been convicted, acquitted of, or granted deferred adjudication for the offense, or the second anniversary of the date the offense was committed. The changes in law made by the Act apply without regard to the date on which an offense was committed or the date on which information related to the offense was requested. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.