HBA-MSH, RKM H.B. 46 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 46 By: McClendon Public Safety 3/14/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In 1995, the Texas Legislature enacted House Bill 391 to curtail the sale of accident reports to case runners and other persons who use such information to solicit business from accident victims for chiropractors, body shops, wreck yards, and other entities, causing accident victims to receive sometimes unwanted solicitations. The bill required a person seeking to obtain a copy of an accident report to provide at least two pieces of information about the date, location, or one of the persons involved in the incident, thereby limiting access to reports. Case runners are still able to purchase accident surveys or daily dispatch logs, which provide the purchaser with the information needed to also obtain police accident reports. Since accident surveys do not fall within the definition of "accident reports" in current law, information about auto accidents must still be released to persons who request it under the provisions of the open records law. Hence, accident victims continue to receive solicitations, which some of them find to be a violation of their privacy. House Bill 46 closes that loophole by stipulating that information regarding motor vehicle accidents outside of an accident report can only be released for official government purposes or to persons who can provide at least two specified details regarding the incident. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 46 amends the Transportation Code relating to the release of certain motor vehicle accident information held by the Texas Department of Public Safety (department) or another governmental entity. The bill establishes that such information is privileged and only for the confidential use for official purposes of the department or the other governmental entity and an agency of the United States, this state, or a local government of this state. The motor vehicle accident information to be released includes information reported as an emergency communication, information contained in a dispatch log, a towing record, an accident survey, the record of a 9-1-1 service provider, and the part of any other record containing the date of the accident, the name of any person involved in the accident, or the specific location of the accident. The bill requires that the department or the other governmental entity release the information to certain persons, entities, agencies, or courts that request the information in writing, pay the required fee, and can verify on a written form adopted by the department or the other governmental entity that they are a person or entity entitled to receive such information. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.