Biannually, Biennially, and Finally Some Clarity: Rule 7.1 Gets an Update

By Madison Mondragon

Three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and confusion over the word “biannually.” For courts across Texas, that confusion became very real when Rule 7.1 of the Texas Rules of Judicial Administration (TRJA) required the distribution of a court confidentiality policy “biannually.”

On February 20, 2024, the Court issued its final approved amendments to the TRJA. Among them, Rule 7.1 required all courts in the state to adopt a court confidentiality policy by May 1, 2024. The rule also established requirements for the policy’s contents, staff training, and how often the policy must be distributed to court personnel.

One provision raised an immediate question: Rule 7.1, which required courts to “provide the policy to all existing court staff at least biannually.” As we noted at the time, the dictionary definition of “biannually” is twice a year, but there are times where “biannually” is used to mean every other year (despite there being a separate word for this: biennially). This unsurprisingly led to confusion among courts. And this distinction matters when you are responsible for compliance.

Now, a little over two years later, we have clarity. The Supreme Court of Texas has amended Rule 7.1(c)(2) to remove the word “biannually” and specify that courts must “provide the policy to all existing court staff at least once every other year.”

With that clarification in mind, now is a good time to check your compliance. If your court has not distributed its confidentiality policy since May 1, 2024, it may be time to do so.