bill keeping election officials’ home addresses out of records

The text as introduced · 670 words

89R14587 LRM-D

By: Bettencourt
S.B. No. 1540

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to maintaining the confidentiality of the personal

information of election officials and their employees.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 552.1175(a), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) This section applies only to:

(1) current or honorably retired peace officers as

defined by Article 2A.001, Code of Criminal Procedure, or special

investigators as described by Article 2A.002, Code of Criminal

Procedure;

(2) current or honorably retired county jailers as

defined by Section 1701.001, Occupations Code;

(3) current or former employees of the Texas

Department of Criminal Justice or of the predecessor in function of

the department or any division of the department;

(4) commissioned security officers as defined by

Section 1702.002, Occupations Code;

(5) a current or former district attorney, criminal

district attorney, or county or municipal attorney whose

jurisdiction includes any criminal law or child protective services

matters;

(5-a) a current or former employee of a district

attorney, criminal district attorney, or county or municipal

attorney whose jurisdiction includes any criminal law or child

protective services matters;

(6) officers and employees of a community supervision

and corrections department established under Chapter 76 who perform

a duty described by Section 76.004(b);

(7) criminal investigators of the United States as

described by Article 2A.002(a), Code of Criminal Procedure;

(8) current or honorably retired police officers and

inspectors of the United States Federal Protective Service;

(9) current and former employees of the office of the

attorney general who are or were assigned to a division of that

office the duties of which involve law enforcement or are performed

under Chapter 231, Family Code;

(10) current or former juvenile probation and

detention officers certified by the Texas Juvenile Justice

Department, or the predecessors in function of the department,

under Title 12, Human Resources Code;

(11) current or former employees of a juvenile justice

program or facility, as those terms are defined by Section 261.405,

Family Code;

(12) current or former employees of the Texas Juvenile

Justice Department or the predecessors in function of the

department;

(13) federal judges and state judges as defined by

Section 1.005, Election Code;

(14) current or former employees of the Texas Civil

Commitment Office or of the predecessor in function of the office or

a division of the office;

(15) a current or former member of the United States

Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps, an auxiliary

service of one of those branches of the armed forces, or the Texas

military forces, as that term is defined by Section 437.001;

(16) a current or former child protective services

caseworker, adult protective services caseworker, or investigator

for the Department of Family and Protective Services or a current or

former employee of a department contractor performing child

protective services caseworker, adult protective services

caseworker, or investigator functions for the contractor on behalf

of the department;

(17) an elected public officer;

(18) a firefighter or volunteer firefighter or

emergency medical services personnel as defined by Section 773.003,

Health and Safety Code; [ and ]

(19) a current or former United States attorney,

assistant United States attorney, federal public defender, deputy

federal public defender, or assistant federal public defender ; or

(20) a current or former election official, as defined

by Section 1.005, Election Code, or employee, volunteer, or

designee of an election official, or an employee of the secretary of

state's office who performs duties relating to elections .

SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

a request for information that is received by a governmental body or

an officer on or after the effective date of this Act. A request for

information that was received before the effective date of this Act

is governed by the law in effect on the date the request was

received, and the former law is continued in effect for that

purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.