By Kelley Shannon
FOI Foundation of Texas
Legislation that would close a loophole in the Texas Public Information Act used by some police departments to withhold records when a person dies in custody won approval in a Senate committee Friday.
House Bill 30 by Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, was set for a sudden hearing in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee and won passage Friday morning. It next moves to the full Texas Senate. The measure passed the Texas House earlier this month.
King said the “heavily negotiated” bill was pared down from its House version, though the basics of the bill appear to remain. The measure has faced stiff police union opposition in this and previous legislative sessions.
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and other transparency advocates have been supporters of the proposal. It has gained more bipartisan support in the wake of last year’s mass shooting in Uvalde.
The Public Information Act loophole it would close was added to the law in the 1990s, intended to protect those who are arrested or charged with a crime but whose case never reaches the point of a conviction or deferred adjudication in court. However, some law enforcement agencies have been citing the provision to withhold police records when someone dies in custody and, thus, their case never makes it to the court system.
The legislative session has slightly more than a week to go. It ends May 29.