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Probate Court Blanket Order Authorizing Release of Mental Health Court Records (Health & Safety Code § 571.015) — Galveston County. The operative requirements are quoted verbatim from the governing document (registered/posted 01/01/2023); the document in custody is the controlling text.
Texas > Galveston County > Probate Court (mental health)
§ In the Probate Court of Galveston County, Texas BLANKET ORDER AUTHORIZING RELEASE OF MENTAL HEALTH COURT RECORDS PURSUANT TO SEC. 571.015 OF TEXAS HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE House Bill 3352 (now codified at sections 411.052 and 411.0521 of the Texas Government Code and section 574.088 of the Texas Health and Safety Code) was passed by the 81st Texas Legislature, Regular Session, in 2009, to comply with and implement the requirements of the federal NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-180 (“NIAA”). The NIAA was signed into law on January 8, 2008, and it amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 (“the Brady Act”), Pub. L. 103-159, under which the United States Attorney General established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The Brady Act requires Federal Firearms Licensees to contact the NICS before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person to obtain information on whether the proposed transferee is prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm under state or federal law. Many prohibited persons are not prevented from purchasing firearms because their records are not in NICS. The NIAA was enacted after the April 2007 shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech to enhance the reporting to NICS of disqualifying mental health information and other prohibiting factors such as felony convictions, active arrest warrants, and misdemeanor convictions for domestic violence. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) is conducting an audit to verify that the mental health information reported to NICS is valid and correct, and the Department of Public Safety (“DPS”) is required to collect the information for the FBI’s audit. The Court finds that the use, inspection, or copying of each paper in a docket for mental health proceedings in the county clerk’s office, including the docket book, indexes, and judgment books, by DPS, which is assisting the FBI in its audit to verify that the mental health information reported to NICS is valid and correct, is justified and in the public interest. It is ORDERED that the county clerk is authorized to release to DPS, for its use, inspection or copying, each paper in a docket for mental health proceedings in the county clerk’s office that is requested by the FBI for its audit to verify that the mental health information reported to NICS is valid and correct. Effective February 15, 2013 and until further order of this Court, BY THE COURT: [signature] Kimberly Sullivan, Judge Date of Order: 2/18/2013 [handwritten] [File stamp: FILED 2013 FEB 18 PM 3:53, County Clerk, Galveston County, Texas] [Attached correspondence filed with the order] STATUTORY PROBATE COURTS, STATE OF TEXAS — Guy Herman, Presiding Statutory Probate Judge — P.O. Box 1748, Austin, TX 78767; 1000 Guadalupe Street, Room 217; Phone: (512) 854-9258; Fax: (512) 854-4418 February 6, 2013 TO: County Judges RE: FBI Audit of NICS Records and Sample Blanket Order to Release Mental Health Court Records The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is conducting an audit of the mental health records reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to verify that they are valid and correct. As you are likely aware, the FBI uses NICS to perform background checks on prospective gun buyers. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which is required to collect the information for the FBI’s audit, has asked the state Office of Court Administration (OCA) for assistance in contacting the county and district clerks regarding the audit. The clerks will be asked to provide DPS a copy of the court order for specified cases that prompted the entry of the case into NICS. Some of the cases that are being audited are mental health cases. The copies of the requested court orders must be submitted to DPS by February 22, 2013. I believe that section 571.015 of the Texas Health and Safety Code would allow the county clerk to provide DPS a copy of an order in a mental health case, or any other paper in a mental health case requested by the FBI, for purposes of the FBI’s audit, as it is justified and in the public interest. Below for your information is section 571.015 in its entirety: Sec. 571.015. INSPECTION OF COURT RECORDS. (a) Each paper in a docket for mental health proceedings in the county clerk’s office, including the docket book, indexes, and judgment books, is a public record of a private nature that may be used, inspected, or copied only under a written order issued by the county judge, a judge of a court that has probate jurisdiction, or a judge of a district court having jurisdiction in the county in which the docket is located. (b) A judge may not issue an order under Subsection (a) unless the judge enters a finding that: (1) the use, inspection, or copying is justified and in the public interest; or (2) the paper is to be released to the person to whom it relates or to a person designated in a written release signed by the person to whom the paper relates. (c) In addition to the finding required by Subsection (b), if a law relating to confidentiality of mental health information or physician-patient privilege applies, the judge must find that the reasons for the use, inspection, or copying fall within the applicable statutory exemptions. (d) The papers shall be released to an attorney representing the proposed patient in a proceeding held under this subtitle. (e) This section does not affect access of law enforcement personnel to necessary information in execution of a writ or warrant. The statute is not entirely clear, but it appears that it allows one judge to issue a countywide order. Attached for the use of a judge in your county who handles probate matters is a sample blanket order, which allows your county clerk to release mental health court records to DPS for purposes of the FBI’s audit. After the name of the county and the court are filled in, the order to release mental health court records must be signed and dated. The order should be filed locally. There is no need to forward a copy of it to DPS or OCA. If you have any questions, please contact me at 512-854-9258. Sincerely, [signature] Guy Herman, Presiding Statutory Probate Judge Attachment cc: County Clerks and District Clerks [File stamp: FILED 2013 FEB 18 PM 3:54, County Clerk, Galveston County, Texas]
Reviewer note: Operative mandatory-language provisions quoted verbatim from the registered document; the full document (sha256 954fe91a1aa8…) is the controlling text. Text layer cleaned 2026-09-08 (Phase 3f): page headers/footers, ligatures and letter-spaced headings normalised; wording untouched. [RECOMPOSED 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P7, digital-layer lane): the full text of the registered file (sha256 954fe91a1aa8..., 3 pages) replaces the earlier 1,803-character abstract. Method: pypdfium2 text layer reflowed page-aware, cross-checked word-by-word against PyMuPDF (2 substantive difference(s), 3 page-furniture), owner-corpus candidate sentences 100% (10/10) matched, 0 running header/footer line(s) removed, no U+FFFD/U+FFFE/form-feed debris. NOT yet checked page by page against the render, so confidence is medium with an open re-verification task; flip to high when a reviewer has read every page against the PDF. benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p7-2026-09-21] [BY-EYE CHECK 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P11): every page of the registered file (sha256 954fe91a1aa8..., 3 page(s)) read against the rendered PDF; file-stamp, caption and signature-block defects of the text layer corrected from the render; confidence lifted to high. benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p11-2026-09-21]
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.
Standing order of the 109th Judicial District Court for every pending or later-filed case in Andrews, Winkler and Crane Counties: any attorney or self-represented litigant who uses any form of artificial intelligence for legal research or drafting in a case must, before using AI-generated information in a court submission or proceeding, sign and submit the court's certification form stating that all language, quotations, sources, citations, arguments and legal analysis created or contributed to by generative AI were verified as accurate by a human through traditional (non-AI) legal sources, and acknowledging responsibility and potential sanctions for their or their co-counsel's failure to comply. Effective immediately; in effect until rescinded or replaced.