USE OF REGULATORY REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS.

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, a report or other document prepared by the department that relates to regulation of an assisted living facility is not admissible as evidence in a civil action to prove that the facility violated a standard prescribed under this chapter.

(b) Subsection (a) does not:

(1) bar the admission into evidence of department reports or other documents in an enforcement action in which the state or an agency or political subdivision of the state is a party, including:

(A) an action seeking injunctive relief under Section 247.044;

(B) an action seeking imposition of a civil penalty under Section 247.045;

(C) a contested case hearing involving denial, suspension, or revocation of a license issued under this chapter; and

(D) an action seeking imposition of an administrative penalty under this subchapter;

(2) bar the admission into evidence of department reports or other documents that are offered:

(A) to establish warning or notice to an assisted living facility of a relevant department determination; or

(B) under any rule or evidentiary predicate of the Texas Rules of Evidence;

(3) prohibit or limit the testimony of a department employee, in accordance with the Texas Rules of Evidence, as to observations, factual findings, conclusions, or determinations that an assisted living facility violated a standard prescribed under this chapter if the observations, factual findings, conclusions, or determinations were made in the discharge of the employee's official duties for the department; or

(4) prohibit or limit the use of department reports or other documents in depositions or other forms of discovery conducted in connection with a civil action if use of the reports or other documents appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.