HBA-KDB H.B. 777 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 777
By: Haggerty
State Affairs
2/21/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, the addresses of peace officers, security officers, and
employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice are protected from
public disclosure.  However, some tax appraisal districts continue to
disclose the home addresses of such persons in appraisal records, which can
be potentially dangerous to a person's family and property.  House Bill 777
authorizes these persons to elect to make their home addresses in appraisal
records confidential. 

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 777 amends the Tax Code to provide that information in appraisal
records is confidential, and is available only for the official use of the
appraisal district, this state, the comptroller, and the taxing units and
political subdivisions of this state if the information identifies the home
address of a named individual who is a peace officer, a security officer
commissioned by the governing board of a private institution of higher
education, an employee of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; and the
peace officer, security officer, or employee elects to restrict public
access to the information on the form prescribed for that purpose by the
comptroller.  The bill provides that the election remains valid until
rescinded in writing by the peace officer, security officer, or employee.
The bill does not prohibit the public disclosure of information in
appraisal records that identifies property according to an address if the
information does not identify an individual who has made an election to
restrict public access to the individual's address. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.