Communications and records involving an advocate and a survivor can be confidential, and the survivor has a privilege to refuse disclosure and block others from disclosing them in certain proceedings.
Sec. 420.071. CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS AND RECORDS; PRIVILEGE. (a) Any communication, including an oral or written communication, between an advocate and a survivor that is made in the course of advising, counseling, or assisting the survivor is confidential. (b) Any record created by, provided to, or maintained by an advocate is confidential if the record relates to the services provided to a survivor or contains the identity, personal history, or background information of the survivor or information concerning the victimization of the survivor. (c) In any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding, subject to Section 420.072, a survivor has a privilege to refuse to disclose and to prevent another from disclosing, for any purpose, a communication or record that is confidential under this section. (c-1) Except as provided by this subsection, the unauthorized disclosure of a portion of a confidential communication or record does not constitute a waiver of the privilege provided by Subsection (c). If a portion of a confidential communication or record is disclosed, a party to the relevant court or administrative proceeding may make a motion requesting that the privilege be waived with respect to the disclosed portion. The court or administrative hearing officer, as applicable, may determine that the privilege has been waived only if: (1) the disclosed portion is relevant to a disputed matter at the proceeding; and (2) waiver is necessary for a witness to be able to respond to questioning concerning the disclosed portion. (d) This subchapter governs a confidential communication or record concerning a survivor regardless of when the survivor received the services of an advocate or sexual assault program. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 775, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1997, as Sec. 44.071, Health and Safety Code. Renumbered from Health and Safety Code, Section 44.071 by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., Ch. 921 (H.B. 3167), Sec. 17.001, eff. September 9, 2007. Amended by: Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 513 (S.B. 295), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2021. Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 513 (S.B. 295), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2021.