| (a) Procedures for inspection of public records will
be in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, and
as further described in this section.
(b) Long-Term Care-Regulatory, Texas Department of
Human Services (DHS), is responsible for the maintenance and release
of records on licensed facilities, and other related records.
(c) The application for inspection of public records
is subject to the following criteria:
(1) the application must be made to Long-Term Care-Regulatory,
Texas Department of Human Services, 701 West 51st Street, Austin,
Texas 78751 or P.O. Box 149030, Austin, Texas 78714-9030;
(2) the requestor must identify himself;
(3) the requestor must give reasonable prior notice
of the time for inspection and/or copying of records;
(4) the requestor must specify the records requested;
(5) on written applications, if DHS unable to ascertain
the records being requested, DHS may return the written application
to the requestor for clarification; and
(6) DHS will provide the requested records as soon
as possible; however, if the records are in active use, or in storage,
or time is needed for proper de-identification or preparation of the
records for inspection, DHS will so advise the requestor and set an
hour and date within a reasonable time when the records will be available.
(d) Original records may be inspected or copied, but
in no instance will original records be removed from DHS offices.
(e) Records maintained by Long-Term Care-Regulatory
are open to the public, with the following exceptions:
(1) incomplete reports, audits, evaluations, and investigations
made of, for, or by DHS are confidential;
(2) all reports, records, and working papers used or
developed by DHS in an investigation of reports of abuse and neglect
are confidential, and may be released to the public as provided in
§19.2010(a) of this title (relating to General Provisions);
(3) all names and related personal, medical, or other
identifying information about a resident are confidential;
(4) information about any identifiable person that
is defamatory or an invasion of privacy is confidential;
(5) information identifying complainants or informants
is confidential;
(6) itineraries of surveys and inspections are confidential;
(7) other information that is excepted from release
by the Government Code, Chapter 552, is not available to the public;
and
(8) to implement this subsection, DHS may not alter
or de-identify original records. Instead, DHS will make available
for public review or release only a properly de-identified copy of
the original record.
(f) Long-Term Care-Regulatory will charge for copies
of records upon request.
(1) If the requestor wants to inspect records, the
requestor will specify the records to be inspected. DHS will make
no charge for this service, unless the director of Long-Term Care-Regulatory
determines a charge is appropriate based on the nature of the request.
(2) If the requestor wants copies of a record, the
requestor will specify in writing the records to be copied on an appropriate
DHS form, and DHS will complete the form by specifying the charge
for the records, which the requestor must pay in advance. Checks and
other instruments of payment must be made payable to the Texas Department
of Human Services.
(3) Any expenses for standard-size copies incurred
in the reproduction, preparation, or retrieval of records must be
borne by the requestor on a cost basis in accordance with costs established
by the State Purchasing and Texas Building and Procurement Commission
or DHS for office machine copies.
(4) For documents that are mailed, DHS will charge
for the postage at the time it charges for the production. All applicable
sales taxes will be added to the cost of copying records.
(5) When a request involves more than one long-term
care facility, each facility will be considered a separate request.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §554.2011 adopted to be effective May 1, 1995, 20 TexReg 2393; amended to be effective June 1, 1997, 22 TexReg 3816; amended to be effective May 1, 2002, 27 TexReg 3207; transferred effective January 15, 2021, as published in the Texas Register December 11, 2020, 45 TexReg 8871 |
