Texas Health and Safety Code 162.011 – Discovery Powers of Court
(a) A court of competent jurisdiction shall exercise the discovery powers granted in this section on the motion of any party. The court shall exercise the powers to the extent reasonably necessary to obtain information from or relating to a donor if that information:
(1) is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence regarding any matter relevant to the subject matter of a pending proceeding; and
(2) cannot otherwise be obtained without threatening the disclosure of the name of a donor or other information that could result in the disclosure of a donor’s identity, including an address, social security number, designated recipient, or replacement donation information.
(b) This section does not apply to information obtainable under § 162.010.
Terms Used In Texas Health and Safety Code 162.011
- Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Donor: The person who makes a gift.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) The court may:
(1) order the deposition of any witness, including a donor, orally, on written questions and cross-questions propounded by the parties, or both; and
(2) compel the production of documents and things.
(d) A subpoena issued to a donor under this section may be served only in person at the donor’s residence address. On a showing that service in person cannot be made at the donor’s residence despite diligent efforts to do so, the court may order service on the donor at other places as directed by the court.
(e) The court shall deliver to the parties all discoverable information obtained through the exercise of powers provided by this section, including testimony, documents, or things. The court shall first delete from that information the name of any donor or any other information that could result in the disclosure of a donor’s identity, including information described by Subsection (a)(2). The court may substitute fictitious names, such as “John Doe,” or make other changes as necessary to protect the confidentiality of the donor’s identity in the information made available to the parties.
(f) The court may not disclose confidential donor information to any person other than a person acting under § 162.010(e) or (f). That person may not disclose the information to others.
(g) The exercise of the court’s powers under this section is governed by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, except to the extent of any conflict with this section.