Texas Occupations Code 1101.2051 – Confidentiality of Investigation Material
(a) Information or material, including an investigation file, is confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, or any other means of legal compulsion for release, including disclosure, discovery, or subpoena, if the information or material is prepared or compiled by the commission in connection with a complaint, investigation, or audit of any person subject to the jurisdiction of the commission.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), information or material prepared or compiled by the commission in connection with a complaint, investigation, or audit may be disclosed:
(1) to the respondent of the complaint;
(2) to a person that is the subject of an audit;
(3) to a person providing a service to the commission, an expert or other witness, or an investigator, if the information is necessary for preparation for, or a presentation in, a disciplinary proceeding against an applicant or license holder, or a subsequent trial or appeal taken from a disciplinary proceeding;
(4) to an entity in another jurisdiction that licenses, registers, credentials, or disciplines any person subject to the jurisdiction of the commission;
(5) to a law enforcement agency;
(6) to the State Office of Administrative Hearings; or
(7) to the commission, or a panel of the commission, for use during any proceeding conducted by the State Office of Administrative Hearings or in a subsequent trial or appeal of a commission action or order.
Terms Used In Texas Occupations Code 1101.2051
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
- 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
- Signed: includes any symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
(c) The release of information under Subsection (b) does not constitute a release or disclosure for purposes of § 552.007, Government Code.
(d) The commission may require a confidentiality agreement be signed by a person entitled to receive information under Subsection (b) before releasing the information.
(d-1) The commission shall protect the identity of a complainant to the extent possible by excluding the complainant’s identifying information from a complaint notice sent to a respondent.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), on the dismissal or final resolution of a complaint, investigation, or audit, information or materials prepared or compiled by the commission in connection with the complaint, investigation, or audit, including a completed audit report or a final order of the commission, is subject to disclosure under Chapter 321 or 552, Government Code.