Tex. Gov't Code § 323.017 · Chapter 323. TEXAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) Communications, including conversations, correspondence, and electronic communications, between a member of the legislature or the lieutenant governor, an officer of the house or senate, a legislative agency, office, or committee, or a member of the staff of any of those officers or entities and an assistant or employee of the council that relate to a request by the officer or entity for information, advice, or opinions from an assistant or employee of the council are confidential and subject to legislative privilege.
(b) A communication described by Subsection (a) is subject to attorney-client privilege if:
(1) the assistant or employee of the council who is a party to the communication is a council attorney or is working at the direction of a council attorney;
(2) the communication is given privately; and
(3) the communication is made in connection with the council attorney's provision of legal advice or other legal services.
(c) Information, advice, and opinions given privately by an assistant or employee of the council to a member of the legislature or the lieutenant governor, an officer of the house or senate, a legislative agency, office, or committee, or a member of the staff of any of those officers or entities, when acting in the person's official capacity, are confidential and subject to legislative privilege.
(d) The member of the legislature, lieutenant governor, house or senate officer, or legislative agency, office, or committee may choose to disclose all or a part of the communications, information, advice, or opinions to which this section applies and to which the individual or entity was a party.
(e) This section does not affect the authority of a court to analyze and apply attorney-client privilege under the applicable rules of evidence governing a judicial proceeding.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 1053, Sec. 2, eff. June 20, 1987. Renumbered from Sec. 323.016 by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 2, Sec. 16.01(25), eff. Aug. 28, 1989. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 9.002, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1250 (H.B. 4181), Sec. 22, eff. June 14, 2019.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.323.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 17cd9774c4d2fdd5611fb6ce67032354c63e6ad8a0e8cd04daef09e9564605a1
- 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.