Sec. 12.0145. INFORMATION ABOUT ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

(a) The department shall publish and provide information in accordance with this section regarding each final enforcement action taken by the department, commissioner, or board against a person or facility regulated by the department in which any kind of sanction is imposed, including:

(1) the imposition of a reprimand, a period of probation, a monetary penalty, or a condition on a person's continued practice or a facility's continued operation; and

(2) the refusal to renew or the suspension, probation, or revocation of a license or other form of permission to engage in an activity.

(b) Except to the extent that the information is specifically made confidential under other law, the department shall publish and provide the name, including any trade name, of the person or facility against which an enforcement action was taken, the violation that the person or facility was found to have committed, and the sanction imposed. The department shall publish and provide the information in a way that does not serve to identify a complainant.

(c) The department shall publish the information on its generally accessible Internet site. The department also shall provide the information by establishing a system under which members of the public can call toll-free numbers to obtain the information efficiently and with a minimum of delay. The department shall appropriately publicize the toll-free numbers.

(d) The department shall publish and provide the information promptly after the sanction has been imposed or, when applicable, promptly after the period during which the sanction is imposed has begun. The department by rule shall establish the length of time during which the required information will be published and provided under this section based on the department's determination regarding the types of services provided by regulated entities and the length of time for which information about a category of enforcement actions is useful to a member of the public.

(e) The department shall publish and provide the information using clear language that can be readily understood by a person with a high school education.

(f) If another law specifically requires that particular information subject to this section shall be published in another manner, the department shall comply with this section and with the other law.

(g) A determination that the department is not required to publish and provide information under this section does not affect a determination regarding whether the information is subject to required disclosure under the open records law, Chapter 552, Government Code. The department's determination regarding the length of the period during which information should continue to be published and provided under this section does not affect a determination regarding the period for which the information must be preserved under Chapter 441, Government Code, or under another law.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1411, Sec. 1.11, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.