Sec. 52.140. AUDIT INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL

(a) All information secured, derived, or obtained during the course of an inspection or examination of books, accounts, reports, or other records, as provided in Section 52.135 of this code, is confidential and may not be used publicly, opened for public inspection, or disclosed, except for information set forth in a lien filed under this chapter and except as permitted under Subsection (d) of this section.

(b) All information made confidential in this section shall not be subject to subpoena directed to the commissioner, the attorney general, or the governor except in a judicial or administrative proceeding in which this state is a party.

(c) The commissioner or the attorney general may use information made confidential by the provisions of this section and contracts made confidential by Section 52.134 of this code to enforce any provisions of this chapter or may authorize their use in judicial or administrative proceedings in which this state is a party.

(d) This section does not prohibit:

(1) the delivery of information made confidential by this section to the lessee or its successor, receiver, executor, guarantor, administrator, assignee, or representative;

(2) the publication of statistics classified to prevent the identification of a particular audit or items in a particular audit;

(3) the release of information which is otherwise available to the public; or

(4) the release of information concerning the amount of royalty assessed as a result of an examination conducted under Section 52.135 of this code or the release of other information which would have been properly included in reports required under Section 52.131 of this code.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 948, Sec. 27, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.