Hon. E. M. Lawrence Opinion No, M- 713 

Executive Secretary 

Texaa Board of Llcensure for '. Re: Whether the Board of 

Nursing Home Admlnlnlatrators Licensure for Nursing 

6225 U.S. Highway 290 East Rome Admlnistrattirs arid 

Austin, Texas the State Department of 

Health may share inforHon. J. E. Peavy matlon received by such 

Commissioner of Health a enclee under Articles 

Texas State Department of Health 4&42c and 4442d, Vernon':: 

1100 W. 49th Street Civil Statutes. 

Austin, Tixas 

Gentlemen: 

You have requested the opinion of thle office 

the above matter. In this connection you have provided 

following Information: 

regarding 

ua with the 

"The Texas Board of Licensure for Nursing 

Home Administrators was created to admlnleter the 

licensing of nursing home administrators pursuant 

to Article 4442d, Tex. Rev. Clv. Stat. Ann. (1969), 

and one of the functions of the Texas State Department of Health is to admlnlater the llcenein of 

'institutiona, which Is defined In Article & 442~ 

(2), Tex. Rev. Clv. Stat. Ann. (1969) to lncluie 

nursing homes. In the course of carrying out Its 

functions, each agency gather0 information which 

would be of great use to the other; however, at 

the present time each agency Is reluctant to share 

ite.records because of the possibility that the 

confidential nature of such records prohibits 

access thereto by any entity other than the agency 

which gathered the information. 

"Accordlfigiy, the Texas Board of Llcenaure 

for Nursing Home Administrators, speaking unanimously, 

requests the Attorney General'e Opinion on the following question: 

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._.... L;. i4. Lwrwce, Hon.,J.~ E. Peavy, page 2 (M-713) 

"Does the Board have the authority to dlvulge to the Texas S&ate Department of Health 

the information and records whloh it gathers In 

the course of performing its functions and duties 

under Tex. Rev. Civ. stat. Ann., Art. 44&d (1969)? 

"Similarly, the Texas State Department of 

Public Health requests the Attorney General's 

oplnlon on the following question: 

"Does the Texas State Department of Health 

have the authority to divulge to the Texas Board 

of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators the 

Information and records It gathers In the course. 

of performing its functions and duties under Tex. 

Rev. Clv. Stat. Ann., Art. 444% (1969)? 

"Although there are two questions submitted 

because of the possibility of different answers, 

neither agency has an objection to a consolidated 

response to both questions In the event such an 

opinion can be rendered. 

"The activities of the Health Department and 

the Board overlap to such an extent that the sharing 

'of Information would greatly reduce the workload lmposed upon each agency and, thereforz,~ would result 

In a savings to the'taxpayer. , . . 

At the outset we would point out that' Article 4442d, 

Vernon's Civil Statutes, which controls the operations of the 

Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators, contains no 

specific statement regarding a llmltatlon on the public nature of 

its fl.les and records. Accordingly, It Is our conclusion that such 

records would be reasonably available to the public and that no 

ptc,blem exists aa to making such records available to,the State 

Department of Health. 

Width regard to the matter of whether the State Department 

of Health may make Its records available for use by the Board of 

ti::ensure for Nursing Home Admlnlstrators,,we are faced with the 

provisions of Section 13, Article 4442c, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

which reads as follows: 

bet. 13. Information received by the 

Licensing Agency /State Department of Health7 

through filed rep?%ts, Inspection, or as otherwise 

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. . 

1: ::,i . & a NJ. Lawence, Hon. J. B. Peavy, page 3 (id-?ij) 

authorized under this law shall not be disclosed 

cazly. except a8 authortied elsewhere in this 

n such manner as to Identify individuals or 

institutions as defined herein except In a pgoceedlng involvln 

(Emphasis added. 7 

the westion of llcensurk. 

The phrase 'shall not be disclosed publicly" has not previously 

been the subject of any opinion by this offiae, nor have we been 

able to discover a reported case wherein this particular phrase 

has been examined. Since the Legislature did not specially define 

the phrarre we must Interpret the words In the sense In which they 

are ordinarily used. Calvert v. Fisher, 259 S.W.2d 944 (Tex.Clv. 

App. 1953, error ref.). When viewed from this aspect, we admit to 

route uncertainty as to just what types of‘ disclosures might be forbidden by the phrase In question. The tendency Is to restrict such 

statutes to only the relatlonshlps particularly named by strict 

construction. 97 C.J.S. 741, Witnesses, Sso. 254. However, It 

seems clear that an Interagency shartng of the data, in carrying 

out a related admlnlstratlve aim, could not be considered as a 

public dlsalosure of the Information. Attorney General Opinions 

Nos. O-2319 (1940) and.&388 (1969). Communications between 

government officers are privileged and are not deemed public. 47 

C.J.S. 747, Witnesses, Sec. 26k. 

In connection with the foregoing, we would note that any 

such records from the State Health Department which come Into the 

pos'sesslon~of the Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators 

must retain their original confidential status, and the said Board 

would be responsible for Insuring against their public disclosure. 

You are accordingly advised that it Is the opinion of 

this office that the provisions of Article 4442d, Vernon's Civil 

Statutes, permits the Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home Administrators to provide pertinent lnfozrmatlon a8 desired to the Stati: 

Department of Health-. The State Department of Health Is authorize::

under the provlslons.of Article 4442c, Vernon's Civil Statutes, to 

provide file information to the Board of Llcensure for Nursing Home 

Administrators forlts own confidential use. 

SUMMARY 

The provisions of Article &4&2d, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes, permits the Board of Llcensure 

for Nursing Home Administrators to provide pertinent Information as desired to the S.tate Department of Health. The State Department of Health 18 

authorized, under the provisions of Article 444.?c, 

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. ’ 

K(rr: I ii. M. Lawrence, Hon. J. E. Peavy, page 4 (M-713) 

Vernon's Civil Statutes, to provide file Information to the Board of Llcensu.re for Nursing 

Home Admlnlstrators for It own confldentlal use. 

I,rzpared by Malcolm L. Quick 

Assistant Attorney Qeneral 

i!?PR(IVED: 

?K!NION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

-5;. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

.X:x White 

Jack Sparks 

LFisher Tyler 

flax Hamilton 

MiEhDE F. GRIFFIN 

Staff Legal AsSiStant 

ALtiRED WALKER 

EXeCutiVs ASBiStSnt 

NOLA WHITE 

First Assistant 

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