Action Required! Municipal Courts Must Adopt Confidentiality Policy by May 1, 2024

On February 20, 2024, the Texas Supreme Court issued Final Approval of Amendments to Texas Rule of Judicial Administration Rule 7. Newly created Rule 7.1 (“Court Confidentiality Policy Required”) applies to municipal courts. In fact, it applies to all courts in Texas.

Under Rule 7.1, every court must, no later than May 1, 2024, adopt a policy governing court confidentiality. The policy must: (1) define who it applies to, (2) define confidential information, (3) impose a duty of confidentiality on all court staff that continues after employment at the court ends, (4) address when, if ever, the disclosure of confidential information is authorized, (5) provide the language of relevant laws, (6) address negligent or accidental disclosure of confidential information, (7) warn of potential penalties for improper disclosure, and (8) require all court staff to acknowledge receipt of the policy in writing. The policy must be provided to all new court staff members and training on it must given prior to the new staff member beginning any substantive work for the court. Furthermore, all existing court staff members must be provided with the policy biannually.

The Texas Supreme Court has provided a sample Confidentiality Policy and Agreement. Because this is a generic sample for all courts, it does not mention the municipal-court-specific confidentiality provisions contained in Articles 45.0217/45A.462, 45.0218/45A.055, and 45.313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. TMCEC has created an adapted municipal-court-specific sample, which includes, among other things, these statutes. (See the download link below.) If a municipal court opts to base its policy on either of these samples, TMCEC highly encourages the court to closely examine and adapt it as necessary to ensure compatibility with the specific court’s operations, as well as state law.

If you would like to hear more about this new development, please join TMCEC on Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 10:00am for a Morning Coffee webinar regarding Rule 7.1. We hope to see you there!