HBA-KDB H.B. 777 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 777 By: Haggerty State Affairs 2/21/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, the addresses of peace officers, security officers, and employees of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice are protected from public disclosure. However, some tax appraisal districts continue to disclose the home addresses of such persons in appraisal records, which can be potentially dangerous to a person's family and property. House Bill 777 authorizes these persons to elect to make their home addresses in appraisal records confidential. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 777 amends the Tax Code to provide that information in appraisal records is confidential, and is available only for the official use of the appraisal district, this state, the comptroller, and the taxing units and political subdivisions of this state if the information identifies the home address of a named individual who is a peace officer, a security officer commissioned by the governing board of a private institution of higher education, an employee of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; and the peace officer, security officer, or employee elects to restrict public access to the information on the form prescribed for that purpose by the comptroller. The bill provides that the election remains valid until rescinded in writing by the peace officer, security officer, or employee. The bill does not prohibit the public disclosure of information in appraisal records that identifies property according to an address if the information does not identify an individual who has made an election to restrict public access to the individual's address. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.