2023 Texas Statutes › Government Code › Title 5 - Open Government; Ethics › Subtitle A - Open Government › Chapter 552 - Public Information › Subchapter C. Information Excepted From Required Disclosure › Section 552.115. Exception: Confidentiality of Birth and Death Records

Sec. 552.115.  EXCEPTION:  CONFIDENTIALITY OF BIRTH AND DEATH RECORDS.  (a)  A birth or death record maintained by the vital statistics unit of the Department of State Health Services or a local registration official is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021, except that:
(1)  a birth record is public information and available to the public on and after the 75th anniversary of the date of birth as shown on the record filed with the vital statistics unit or local registration official;
(2)  a death record is public information and available to the public on and after the 25th anniversary of the date of death as shown on the record filed with the vital statistics unit or local registration official, except that if the decedent is unidentified, the death record is public information and available to the public on and after the first anniversary of the date of death;
(3)  a general birth index or a general death index established or maintained by the vital statistics unit or a local registration official is public information and available to the public to the extent the index relates to a birth record or death record that is public information and available to the public under Subdivision (1) or (2);
(4)  a summary birth index or a summary death index prepared or maintained by the vital statistics unit or a local registration official is public information and available to the public; and
(5)  a birth or death record is available to the chief executive officer of a home-rule municipality or the officer's designee if:
(A)  the record is used only to identify a property owner or other person to whom the municipality is required to give notice when enforcing a state statute or an ordinance;
(B)  the municipality has exercised due diligence in the manner described by Section 54.035(e), Local Government Code, to identify the person; and
(C)  the officer or designee signs a confidentiality agreement that requires that:
(i)  the information not be disclosed outside the office of the officer or designee, or within the office for a purpose other than the purpose described by Paragraph (A);
(ii)  the information be labeled as confidential;
(iii)  the information be kept securely; and
(iv)  the number of copies made of the information or the notes taken from the information that implicate the confidential nature of the information be controlled, with all copies or notes that are not destroyed or returned remaining confidential and subject to the confidentiality agreement.
(b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a general birth index or a summary birth index is not public information and is not available to the public if:
(1)  the fact of an adoption or paternity determination can be revealed by the index;  or
(2)  the index contains specific identifying information relating to the parents of a child who is the subject of an adoption placement.
(c)  Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to the microfilming agreement entered into by the Genealogical Society of Utah, a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Utah, and the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
(d)  For the purposes of fulfilling the terms of the agreement in Subsection (c), the Genealogical Society of Utah shall have access to birth records on and after the 50th anniversary of the date of birth as shown on the record filed with the bureau of vital statistics or local registration official, but such birth records shall not be made available to the public until the 75th anniversary of the date of birth as shown on the record.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.  Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 706, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1999;  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 413, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1192, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1229 (S.B. 602), Sec. 8, eff. September 1, 2011.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 311 (S.B. 1485), Sec. 1, eff. June 1, 2015.