Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 22.024 · Subchapter C. JOURNALIST'S QUALIFIED TESTIMONIAL PRIVILEGE IN CIVIL PROCEEDINGS
LIMITED DISCLOSURE GENERALLY.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
After notice and an opportunity to be heard, a court may compel a journalist, a journalist's employer, or a person with an independent contract with a journalist to testify regarding or to produce or disclose any information, document, or item or the source of any information, document, or item obtained while acting as a journalist, if the person seeking the information, document, or item or the source of any information, document, or item makes a clear and specific showing that:
(1) all reasonable efforts have been exhausted to obtain the information from alternative sources;
(2) the subpoena is not overbroad, unreasonable, or oppressive and, when appropriate, will be limited to the verification of published information and the surrounding circumstances relating to the accuracy of the published information;
(3) reasonable and timely notice was given of the demand for the information, document, or item;
(4) in this instance, the interest of the party subpoenaing the information outweighs the public interest in gathering and dissemination of news, including the concerns of the journalist;
(5) the subpoena or compulsory process is not being used to obtain peripheral, nonessential, or speculative information; and
(6) the information, document, or item is relevant and material to the proper administration of the official proceeding for which the testimony, production, or disclosure is sought and is essential to the maintenance of a claim or defense of the person seeking the testimony, production, or disclosure.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 29 (H.B. 670), Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.22.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 35540f2475254ecfe14b1dccd3f2a6117be926a0852a1397d83c480dd6b50c27
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.