UPDATE ON TEXAS LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
(Please be aware this post was written in 2003 and published at that time in the Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas) newspaper. Some of the news in this post, therefore, may not be current. Current and future posts on this blog may revisit and update news on this and other posts on this blog. If you have questions and/or suggestions, please send Mic a note using the comment page -Don’t forget to use the orange “subscribe” button to receive new posts-Thanks, Mic)
Readers have been asking for the latest news concerning legislative issues in the Texas Legislature affecting genealogy. This column last reported on them in February and an update is quite timely as several of the bills should be ready for a vote within the next few weeks. For a more in-depth report visit the legislative reporting website at http://micbarnette.bravepages.com . This same website contains links to the Texas legislature website and explains how to find the text of bills and how to contact legislators.
When reported in February there were eight bills seeking to make DD 214/Military Discharges confidential. One of those eight bills, HB 545, has emerged as the one likely to be presented to the legislature. It has passed the committee level in both the House and Senate and if passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor will take effect September 1, 2003.
Unfortunately for genealogists and the veterans organizations who petitioned legislators for the bill HB 545 does more harm than good. DD 214/Military Discharges created from 1966 through January 2002 contain social security numbers. To prevent identity theft veterans had hoped to have a bill allowing county clerks to redact or strike out social security numbers in records having them. Current state law does not allow that action.
DD 214/Military Discharges filed from 1966 to January 2002 which contain social security numbers will remain open records under HB 545. DD 214/Military Discharges filed after September 1, 2003 which probably were created after January 2002 and do not contain a social security number will be closed for seventy five years.
The only positive element in HB 545 allows veterans to request the return of his or her DD 214/Military Discharge.
HB 545 will allow veterans and their immediate family to view DD 214/ Military Discharges filed after September 1, 2003 but will close them to public viewing for seventy five years. Judging by the current interest of veterans of WWII and Korea historians and family historians will not be able to view the DD 214/Military Discharges and write about the information in them until the veteran is between one hundred and one hundred twenty five years of age. It is not likely many veterans will live long enough to benefit from public usage of the information available in the records.
Other bills affecting genealogists are SB 861 and SB 174. SB 861, sponsored by Senator Kyle Janek of Houston, will close birth records for seventy five years rather than the fifty years current law dictates.
Senator Jane Nelson’s SB 174 calls for a social security number, if present, to be redacted or stricken by the county clerk from marriage applications filed after September 1, 2003. One wonders why this method of limiting identity theft yet keeping records open could not be used in cases such as HB 545.
DALLAS SPONSORS INSTITUTE
The Dallas Genealogical Society will host their annual Dallas Institute at the Aristocrat Hotel in Downtown Dallas June 19 through June 22.
The theme of the Institute, A Southern Perspective on the American Experience, will feature Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck speaking on research in Arkansas and Mississippi; Dr. George W. Schweitzer speaking on research in Kentucky and Missouri; Charles A. Sherrill speaking on research in Tennessee and Robert de Berardinis speaking on research in Louisiana.
Tuition to the Institute is $200. A down payment of $100 is payable by June 7 and the balance at registration. Registration is limited. For more information visit the DGS website at http://www.dallasgenealogy.org/institute/institute.htm , email info@dallasgenealogy.org or call the DGS voicemail at 469-948-1106.
