Bill

HB 3424

84(R) - 2015
House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
Courts

Vote Recommendation

Vote No; Amend
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Neutral

Author(s)

John Smithee

Bill Caption

Relating to a central database containing information about certain individuals under guardianship.

Fiscal Notes

There is no significant fiscal implication to the State.

Local Government

There would be costs associated with the bill. Depending on the processes and resources of a county, additional staff could be necessary to comply with the provisions of the bill.

Yoakum County reported there would be costs of hiring another employee to comply with the reporting requirements of the bill, the cost would be $60,000 per year including benefits.

Bill Analysis

HB 3424 would require the Department of Public Safety to develop and maintain a computerized system accessible to emergency service providers that contains certain information relating to incapacitated persons. The information would include guardianship information and contact information. The clerk of a court would be required to obtain consent of the incapacitated individual's guardian to submit the incapacitated individual's name, guardian's name, and their contact info to the DPS for the database.

Vote Recommendation Notes

The intent behind this legislation is to create a searchable database so that law enforcement and first responders can have the information they need readily available in cases dealing with an incapacitated person who is under guardianship. However, the actual implementation of the proposed legislation may be costly to local governments. Also, it is worth noting that creating a central database with the private information relating to a vulnerable population, even though well intentioned, may present more problems than solutions.

Because this creates a new state mandate that counties would have to comply with at some considerable cost, including new staffing requirements, the bill as written would violate our limited government principle. If the bill were amended to create an optional registry which guardians could sign up for and which could be made available to relevant law enforcement officials and emergency service providers without creating any new mandates we would withdraw our objection. Absent such an amendment we recommend that legislators oppose HB 3424. 

The second chamber sponsor is Senator Zaffirini.