H.B. No. 2061

	AN ACT
	relating to the acquisition or disclosure of the social security
	number of a living person by a governmental body, including by a
	district or county clerk.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 552.147, Government Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 552.147.  [EXCEPTION:] SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS [NUMBER
	OF LIVING PERSON]. (a) The social security number of a living
	person is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021, but is
	not confidential under this section and this section does not make
	the social security number of a living person confidential under
	another provision of this chapter or other law.
	(b)  A governmental body may redact the social security
	number of a living person from any information the governmental
	body discloses under Section 552.021 without the necessity of
	requesting a decision from the attorney general under Subchapter G.
	(c)  Notwithstanding any other law, a county or district
	clerk may disclose in the ordinary course of business a social
	security number that is contained in information held by the
	clerk's office, and that disclosure is not official misconduct and
	does not subject the clerk to civil or criminal liability of any
	kind under the law of this state, including any claim for damages in
	a lawsuit or the criminal penalty imposed by Section 552.352.
	(d)  Unless another law requires a social security number to
	be maintained in a government document, on written request from an
	individual or the individual's representative the clerk shall
	redact within a reasonable amount of time all but the last four
	digits of the individual's social security number from information
	maintained in the clerk's official public records, including
	electronically stored information maintained by or under the
	control of the clerk. The individual or the individual's
	representative must identify, using a form provided by the clerk,
	the specific document or documents from which the partial social
	security number shall be redacted.
	SECTION 2.  Section 11.008, Property Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 11.008.  PERSONAL [CONFIDENTIAL] INFORMATION IN REAL
	PROPERTY RECORDS. (a)  In this section, "instrument" means a deed
	or deed of trust.
	(b)  An instrument submitted for recording is not required to
	contain an individual's social security number, and the social
	security number of an individual is not obtained or maintained by
	the clerk under this section. The preparer of a document may not
	include an individual's social security number in a document that
	is presented for recording in the office of the county clerk.
	(c)  Notwithstanding Section 191.007(c), Local Government
	Code, an instrument transferring an interest in real property to or
	from an individual [and disclosing that individual's social
	security number or driver's license number] must include a notice
	that appears on the top of the first page of the instrument in
	12-point boldfaced type or 12-point uppercase letters and reads
	substantially as follows:
	NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY RIGHTS: IF YOU ARE A NATURAL
	PERSON, YOU MAY REMOVE OR STRIKE ANY OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING
	INFORMATION FROM ANY [THIS] INSTRUMENT THAT TRANSFERS AN INTEREST
	IN REAL PROPERTY BEFORE IT IS FILED FOR RECORD IN THE PUBLIC
	RECORDS: YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER OR YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE
	NUMBER.
	(d) [(c)]  The validity of an instrument as between the
	parties to the instrument and the notice provided by the instrument
	are not affected by a party's failure to include the notice required
	under Subsection (c) [(b)].
	(e) [(d)]  The county clerk may not under any circumstance
	reject an instrument presented for recording solely because the
	instrument fails to comply with this section. Other than the duty
	to redact an individual's social security number as required by
	Section 552.147, Government Code, the county clerk has no duty to
	ensure that an instrument presented for recording does not contain
	an individual's social security number.
	(f) [(e)]  The county clerk shall post a notice in the county
	clerk's office stating that instruments recorded in the real
	property or official public records or the equivalent of the real
	property or official public records of the county:
	(1)  are not required to contain a social security
	number or driver's license number; and
	(2)  are public records available for review by the
	public.
	(g) [(f)]  All instruments described by this section are
	subject to inspection by the public. The county clerk is not
	criminally or civilly liable for disclosing an instrument or
	information in an instrument in compliance with the public
	information law (Chapter 552, Government Code) or another law.
	(h) [(g)]  Unless this section is cited in a law enacted
	after September 1, 2003, this section is the exclusive law
	governing the confidentiality of personal information contained in
	the real property or official public records or the equivalent of
	the real property or official public records of a county.
	(i) [(h)]  To the extent that federal law conflicts with this
	section, an instrument must contain the information required by and
	must be filed in a manner that complies with federal law.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2061 was passed by the House on March
	5, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 0, 1 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2061 was passed by the Senate on March
	19, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 29, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor