Texas Occupations Code 801.207 – Public Record; Exception
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(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a board record is a public record and is available for public inspection during normal business hours.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), each complaint, investigation file and record, and other investigation report and all other investigative information in the possession of or received or gathered by the board or the board’s employees or agents relating to a license holder, an application for license, or a criminal investigation or proceeding is privileged and confidential and is not subject to discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for release to anyone other than the board or the board’s employees or agents involved in discipline of a license holder.
Terms Used In Texas Occupations Code 801.207
- 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.
- 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.
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Rule: includes regulation. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(b-1) Not later than the 14th day before the date of an informal proceeding under § 801.408, the board shall provide to the license holder who is the subject of the complaint a copy of the record of any review conducted under § 801.2055 of a complaint requiring medical expertise. The board shall redact the name of each veterinarian who conducted the review.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), the board shall protect the identity of a complainant to the extent possible.
(d) Not later than the 30th day after the date of receipt of a written request from a license holder who is the subject of a formal complaint initiated and filed under this subchapter or from the license holder’s counsel of record, and subject to any other privilege or restriction set forth by rule, statute, or legal precedent, and unless good cause is shown for delay, the board shall provide the license holder with access to all information in its possession that the board intends to offer into evidence in presenting its case in chief at the contested hearing on the complaint. The board is not required to provide:
(1) a board investigative report or memorandum;
(2) the identity of a nontestifying complainant; or
(3) attorney-client communications, attorney work product, or other materials covered by a privilege recognized by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure or the Texas Rules of Evidence.
(e) Furnishing information under Subsection (d) does not constitute a waiver of privilege or confidentiality under this chapter or other applicable law.