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An administrative standing order of the Hays County Courts at Law governing the release of protected health information in the courts' proceedings, authorizing disclosure to the Court and counsel in response to a court order consistent with HIPAA and the Texas Health and Safety Code.
Applies to the release of protected health information in proceedings before the Hays County Courts at Law. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
[Seal: Hays County, State of Texas] O-09-001-A1¹ [Faint file stamp: FILED, 2025 OCT 16 AM 11:18, with the clerk's signature] In the County Courts at Law of Hays County, Texas STANDING ORDER REGARDING THE RELEASE OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION IN MENTAL HEALTH CASES After weighing the public interest and the interest of proposed and court-ordered patients regarding the need for disclosure of proposed and court-ordered patient's medical records and treatment information, including the "protected health information" as used in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Court Courts at Law of Hays County find that good cause exists for the release of medical records and protected health information as set forth in this Order. THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: 1. Release of Information. The Hays County Sheriff's Office, and any mental health facility or provider, including but not limited to Hill Country mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Centers (Hill Country), Scheib Youth Crisis Respite Center (Scheib), and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, shall immediately release any information in their possession pertaining to a mental health proposed or court-ordered patient, to prosecuting or defense attorneys or judges involved in any mental health case pending in the Hays County Courts at Law. Such medical information shall include without limitation: a) Previous hospitalizations (including admissions, for emergency detention, commitments, medications.) b) Hospitalizations resulting in discharge before a commitment hearing was held. c) Data available to the Sheriff's Office, the mental health facility, Hill Country or Schieb pertaining to diagnosis, program enrollment, dates of admission, releases form hospitalizations, emergency detentions at hospital emergency departments, and dates when the proposes patient has been incarcerated to be restored to competency. Such release includes but is not limited to cases in which the proposed patient is considered for or is subject to an order for Assisted Outpatient Treatment or temporary or extended commitment. A proposed patient is an individual being: (1) evaluated involuntarily by the Local Mental Health Authority, Court staff and/or District Attorney's Office; or (2) being evaluated voluntarily by the Local Mental Health Authority, Court staff and/or District Attorney's Office by consent. Such information shall be communicated orally upon request of prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, or judge. Medical information shall exclude any substance use disorder information that is subject to requirements of 42 CFR Part 2, or HIV/Aids information subject to the requirements of Chapter 81 of the Texas Health and Safety Code. 2. Disclosure Any person who receives any information pursuant to this Order is prohibited from disclosing such information to third parties; except, to the extent said use of disclosure is consistent with the authorized purpose for which the person so disclosing, first obtained the information. This Courts issue this Order pursuant to Chapters 595 and 611 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, 45 CFR 164.512(e)(1)(i), and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), each of which authorizes those in possession of protected health information to disclose it in any judicial proceeding when responding to an order of a Court. THIS HAYS COUNTY STANDING ORDER REGARDING THE RELEASE OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION IN MENTAL HEALTH CASES SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UPON PUBLICATION ON THE OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION'S WEBSITE. [signature] Judge Jimmy Alan Hall, County Court at Law No. 1, Hays County, Texas [signature] Judge Chris Johnson, County Court at Law No. 2, Hays County, Texas [signature] Judge Elaine S. Brown, County Court at Law No. 3, Hays County, Texas ¹ This Order was previously styled AO-0001. This number now reflects a conformed style, as well as the designation that this Order has been amended. [Running footer: O-09-001-A1 — Page 1 of 2 / Page 2 of 2]
[Seal: Hays County, State of Texas] O-09-001-A1¹ [Faint file stamp: FILED, 2025 OCT 16 AM 11:18, with the clerk's signature] In the County Courts at Law of Hays County, Texas STANDING ORDER REGARDING THE RELEASE OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION IN MENTAL HEALTH CASES After weighing the public interest and the interest of proposed and court-ordered patients regarding the need for disclosure of propo
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-09-06 from the TOPICs custody scan at a summary level, faithful to the order's title and the companion mental-health-records order (doc 2780) which cites HIPAA 45 CFR 164.512(e). Bound to Hays County. [TRANSCRIBED BY EYE 2026-09-21 (corpus-0920 P12): every page of the registered file (sha256 1e0786e7f8de..., 2 page(s), image-only scan; the OCR layer used as a typing base and corrected word by word from the page) read against the rendered file; verbatim, source typos kept, stamps/signatures bracketed; the earlier abstract replaced by the full instrument; confidence high. benchpath-tx-corpus0920-p12-2026-09-21]
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.