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Confidential Tax Information

Certain Owners May Request Address Confidentiality

Effective September 1, new Tax Code Section 25.025 permits certain property owners to restrict their home address. Peace officers, county jailers, Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees, and commissioned security officers may request that their appraisal district restrict from public access any information in appraisal records identifying their home addresses. This information is required to be in appraisal records by Section 25.02. The law requires the Comptroller to prescribe the form filed for the confidentiality requests.

The Comptroller's prescribed form is 50-284, Request for Confidentiality. If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you will need to download the latest version to view and print this form. The box below includes the definitions used in Section 25.025, added to the Tax Code by Senate Bill (S.B.) 247.

S.B. 247 added also new Tax Code Section 25.026. Beginning September 1, this new section requires appraisal districts to keep confidential any information in the appraisal records that identifies the address of a family violence shelter center or a sexual assault program. These properties are defined by referring to sections of the Human Resources Code and Government Code. The law does not require a family violence shelter center or sexual assault program to request confidentiality using any Comptroller-prescribed form.

Both new Tax Code Sections provide that the confidential address information is available only for official use by the appraisal district, the state, the comptroller, taxing units, and political subdivisions of the state.

S.B. 247 also adds new Government Code Section 552.1175 to the Open Records Act for confidentiality of certain home addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, and personal family information of peace officers and other officers listed above. Upon the individual officer's request to restrict public access to this information, a governmental body may not disclose the information. The individual notifies the governmental body on a form prescribed by the governmental body and remains valid until rescinded in writing by the individual. This amendment to the Open Records Act applies to taxing units. Taxing units may want to review the Comptroller's form in prescribing their form.

The Comptroller's Open Government Division, along with the Property Tax Division (PTD), developed the prescribed form. Please call Ruth Soucy in the Open Government Division, 1-800-531-5441, ext. 3-6009, or the PTD's Technical Assistance Section at 1-800-252-9121 with questions about this form or S. B. 247.

Definitions of terms as defined in S. B. 247

A peace officer is defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, as:

  1. sheriffs, their deputies, and those reserve deputies who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 415, Government Code;
  2. constables, deputy constables, and those reserve deputy constables who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 415, Government Code;
  3. marshals or police officers of an incorporated city, town, or village, and those reserve municipal police officers who hold a permanent peace officer license issued under Chapter 415, Government Code;
  4. rangers and officers commissioned by the Public Safety Commission and the Director of the Department of Public Safety;
  5. investigators of the district attorneys', criminal district attorneys', and county attorneys' offices;
  6. law enforcement agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission;
  7. each member of an arson investigating unit commissioned by a city, a county, or the state;
  8. officers commissioned under Section 37.081, Education Code, or Subchapter E, Chapter 51, Education Code;
  9. officers commissioned by the General Services Commission;
  10. law enforcement officers commissioned by the Parks and Wildlife Commission;
  11. airport police officers commissioned by a city with a population of more than one million, according to the most recent federal census, that operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
  12. airport security personnel commissioned as peace officers by the governing body of any political subdivision of this state, other than a city described by Subdivision (11), that operates an airport that serves commercial air carriers;
  13. municipal park and recreational patrolmen and security officers;
  14. security officers commissioned as peace officers by the comptroller;
  15. officers commissioned by a water control and improvement district under Section 49.216, Water Code;
  16. officers commissioned by a board of trustees under Chapter 341, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular Session, 1961 (Article 1187f, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes);
  17. investigators commissioned by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners;
  18. officers commissioned by the board of managers of the Dallas County Hospital District, the Tarrant County Hospital District, or the Bexar County Hospital District under Section 281.057, Health and Safety Code;
  19. county park rangers commissioned under Subchapter E, Chapter 351, Local Government Code;
  20. investigators employed by the Texas Racing Commission;
  21. officers commissioned by the State Board of Pharmacy;
  22. officers commissioned by the governing body of a metropolitan rapid transit authority under Section 451.108, Transportation Code, or by a regional transportation authority under Section 452.110, Transportation Code;
  23. investigators commissioned by the attorney general under Section 402.009, Government Code;
  24. security officers and investigators commissioned as peace officers under Chapter 466, Government Code;
  25. officers employed by the Texas Department of Health under Section 431.2471, Health and Safety Code;
  26. officers appointed by an appellate court under Subchapter F, Chapter 53, Government Code;
  27. officers commissioned by the state fire marshal under Chapter 417, Government Code;
  28. investigators commissioned by the commissioner of insurance under Article 1.10D, Insurance Code;
  29. apprehension specialists commissioned by the Texas Youth Commission as officers under Section 61.0931, Human Resources Code;
  30. officers appointed by the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.019, Government Code;
  31. investigators commissioned by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education under Section 415.016, Government Code;
  32. board investigators commissioned by the Texas Commission on Private Security under Section 10(f), Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies Act (Article 4413(29b), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).

A commissioned security officer is defined in Occupations Code Section 1702.002 as follows:

  1. "Commissioned security officer" means a security officer to whom a security officer commission has been issued by the board. [Board means the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies.]

A county jailer is defined in Occupations Code Section 1701.001 as:

  1. person employed as a county jail guard under Section 85.005, Local Government Code.

Local Government Code Section 85.00 states:

  1. The sheriff may, with the approval of the commissioners court or, in the case of an emergency, with the approval of the county judge, employ a sufficient number of guards to ensure the safekeeping of prisoners and the security of a jail.
  2. In case of an emergency, a guard is subject to being called to duty by the sheriff.
  3. A person charged with the responsibility of enforcing this section commits an offense if the person violates the section. An offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $50 or more than $200.

A family violence center is the term used in the Human Resources Code Section 51.002, which states:

  1. "Family violence shelter center" means a program that is operated by a public or private nonprofit organization and that provides shelter and services to victims of family violence.
  2. "Victim of family violence" means:
    1. an adult who is subjected to physical force or the threat of physical force by another who is related by affinity or consanguinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to that adult, who is a former spouse of that adult, or who resides in the same household with that adult; or
    2. an individual, other than an individual using physical force or the threat of physical force, who resides in the same household with a victim of family violence as defined in Paragraph (A) of this subdivision
A sexual assault program is defined in Government Code Section 420.003, which states that a:

"Sexual assault program" means any local public or private nonprofit corporation, independent of a law enforcement agency or prosecutor's office, that is operated as an independent program or as part of a municipal, county, or state agency and that provides the minimum services established by this chapter.