Tex. Gov't Code § 51.609 · Subchapter G. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE OR RELEASE OF COURT DOCUMENTS.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) In this section:
(1) "Court clerk" means the clerk of the supreme court or the court of criminal appeals or the clerk of a court of appeals district court, county court, statutory county court, statutory probate court, justice court, or municipal court.
(2) "State court document database" means a database accessible by the public and established or authorized by the supreme court for storing documents filed with a court in this state.
(b) A court clerk is not responsible for the management or removal of a document from a state court document database and is not liable for damages resulting from the release of a document in the database if the clerk in good faith performs the duties as clerk as provided by law and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
(c) If a court clerk in good faith performs the duties as a clerk as provided by law and the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the clerk, the county in which the court is located, and the commissioners court of the county in which the court is located are immune from suit and from liability for the release or disclosure of information that is confidential or otherwise prohibited from disclosure by law, rule, or court order and that is accessed from a state court document database.
(d) A court clerk is not liable for the release of a sealed or confidential document in the clerk's custody unless the clerk acted intentionally, or with malice, reckless disregard, or gross negligence in the release of the document.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1040 (H.B. 685), Sec. 1, 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.51.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 bb07af489e4e60ba14f0f7f9d98d2871a3efd38180892c078534a61f88af4ff8
- 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.