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Statutes > Texas > Civil-practice-and-remedies-code > Title-2-trial-judgment-and-appeal > Chapter-22-witnesses

CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE

TITLE 2. TRIAL, JUDGMENT, AND APPEAL

SUBTITLE B. TRIAL MATTERS

CHAPTER 22. WITNESSES

SUBCHAPTER A. WITNESSES

Sec. 22.001. WITNESS FEES. (a) Except as provided by Section

22.002, a witness is entitled to 10 dollars for each day the

witness attends court. This fee includes the entitlement for

travel and the witness is not entitled to any reimbursement for

mileage traveled.

(b) The party who summons the witness shall pay that witness's

fee for one day, as provided by this section, at the time the

subpoena is served on the witness.

costs.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 103, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,

1994; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 449, Sec. 16, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 22.002. DISTANCE FOR SUBPOENAS. A witness who is

represented to reside 150 miles or less from a county in which a

suit is pending or who may be found within that distance at the

time of trial on the suit may be subpoenaed in the suit.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 103, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,

1994.

Sec. 22.003. FEES FOR WITNESSES SUMMONED BY A STATE AGENCY. (a)

In this section:

(1) "Commercial lodging establishment" means a motel, hotel,

inn, apartment, or similar entity that offers lodging to the

public in exchange for compensation.

(2) "Commercial transportation company" means an entity that

offers transportation of people or goods to the public in

exchange for compensation.

(b) A witness summoned by a state agency is entitled to receive

from the agency:

(1) one dollar for each day the witness attends court;

(2) mileage at the rate provided by law for state employees if

the witness uses the witness's personally owned or leased motor

vehicle to attend court;

(3) reimbursement of the witness's transportation expenses if

the witness does not use the witness's personally owned or leased

motor vehicle to attend court; and

(4) reimbursement of the witness's meal and lodging expenses

while attending court if the court is at least 25 miles from the

witness's place of residence.

company for the transportation expenses and a commercial lodging

establishment for the lodging expenses of a witness if this

section otherwise requires the agency to reimburse the witness

for those expenses.

(d) A state agency may not pay a commercial transportation

company or a commercial lodging establishment or reimburse a

witness for transportation, meal, or lodging expenses under this

section at a rate that exceeds the maximum rates provided by law

for state employees.

(e) After receiving the witness's affidavit, the court clerk

shall issue a certificate showing the fees incurred under this

section.

(f) The witness fees must be taxed in the bill of costs as other

costs.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 449, Sec. 17, eff. Sept. 1,

1993. Renumbered from Civil Practice & Remedies Code Sec.

22.002 by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 17.01(2), eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 22.004. FEE FOR PRODUCTION OR CERTIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS.

(a) A custodian of a record who receives a request for

production or certification of a record under a subpoena, a

request for production, or other instrument issued under the

authority of a tribunal that compels production or certification

of a record is entitled to $1 for production or certification of

the record. If more than one record is produced or certified, the

custodian of the records is entitled to only one fee under this

section.

(b) A custodian of a record who produces or certifies a record

under Subsection (a), but who is not required to appear in court,

is not entitled to a witness fee under Section 22.001.

record shall pay the fee required for the record, as provided by

this section, at the time the subpoena, request, or other

instrument is served.

(d) The fee required by this section must be taxed in the bill

of costs as other costs.

(e) The fee required by this section is in addition to any other

fee imposed by law for the production or certification of a

record.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 452, Sec. 1, eff. June 9,

1995.

SUBCHAPTER B. PRIVILEGES

Sec. 22.011. PRIVILEGE FROM ARREST. (a) A witness is

privileged from arrest while attending, going to, and returning

from court.

(b) The privilege provided by this section extends for a period

computed by allowing one day of travel for each 150 miles of the

distance from the courthouse to the witness's residence.

treason, or breach of the peace.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.

Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 103, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,

1994.

SUBCHAPTER C. JOURNALIST'S QUALIFIED TESTIMONIAL PRIVILEGE IN

CIVIL PROCEEDINGS

Sec. 22.021. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:

(1) "Communication service provider" means a person or the

parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a person who

transmits information chosen by a customer by electronic means,

including:

(A) a telecommunications carrier, as defined by Section 3,

Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 153);

(B) a provider of information service, as defined by Section 3,

Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 153);

Section 230, Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 230);

and

(D) an information content provider, as defined by Section 230,

Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 230).

(2) "Journalist" means a person, including a parent, subsidiary,

division, or affiliate of a person, who for a substantial portion

of the person's livelihood or for substantial financial gain,

gathers, compiles, prepares, collects, photographs, records,

writes, edits, reports, investigates, processes, or publishes

news or information that is disseminated by a news medium or

communication service provider and includes:

(A) a person who supervises or assists in gathering, preparing,

and disseminating the news or information; or

(B) notwithstanding the foregoing, a person who is or was a

journalist, scholar, or researcher employed by an institution of

higher education at the time the person obtained or prepared the

requested information, or a person who at the time the person

obtained or prepared the requested information:

(i) is earning a significant portion of the person's livelihood

by obtaining or preparing information for dissemination by a news

medium or communication service provider; or

(ii) was serving as an agent, assistant, employee, or supervisor

of a news medium or communication service provider.

(3) "News medium" means a newspaper, magazine or periodical,

book publisher, news agency, wire service, radio or television

station or network, cable, satellite, or other transmission

system or carrier or channel, or a channel or programming service

for a station, network, system, or carrier, or an audio or

audiovisual production company or Internet company or provider,

or the parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of that entity,

that disseminates news or information to the public by any means,

including:

(A) print;

(B) television;

(D) photographic;

(E) mechanical;

(F) electronic; and

(G) other means, known or unknown, that are accessible to the

public.

(4) "Official proceeding" means any type of administrative,

executive, legislative, or judicial proceeding that may be

conducted before a public servant, including a proceeding under

Rule 202, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

(5) "Public servant" means a person elected, selected,

appointed, employed, or otherwise designated as one of the

following, even if the person has not yet qualified for office or

assumed the person's duties:

(A) an officer, employee, or agent of government;

(B) a juror;

law or private written agreement to hear or determine a cause or

controversy;

(D) an attorney or notary public when participating in the

performance of a governmental function; or

(E) a person who is performing a governmental function under a

claim of right, although the person is not legally qualified to

do so.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

29, Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.

Sec. 22.022. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to

increase the free flow of information and preserve a free and

active press and, at the same time, protect the right of the

public to effective law enforcement and the fair administration

of justice.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

29, Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.

Sec. 22.023. PRIVILEGE. (a) Except as otherwise provided by

this subchapter, a judicial, legislative, administrative, or

other body with the authority to issue a subpoena or other

compulsory process may not compel a journalist to testify

regarding or to produce or disclose in an official proceeding:

(1) any confidential or nonconfidential information, document,

or item obtained or prepared while acting as a journalist; or

(2) the source of any information, document, or item described

by Subdivision (1).

(b) A subpoena or other compulsory process may not compel the

parent, subsidiary, division, or affiliate of a communication

service provider or news medium to disclose the information,

documents, or items or the source of any information, documents,

or items that are privileged from disclosure under Subsection

(a).

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

29, Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.

Sec. 22.024. LIMITED DISCLOSURE GENERALLY. After notice and an

opportunity to be heard, a court may compel a journalist, a

journalist's employer, or a person with an independent contract

with a journalist to testify regarding or to produce or disclose

any information, document, or item or the source of any

information, document, or item obtained while acting as a

journalist, if the person seeking the information, document, or

item or the source of any information, document, or item makes a

clear and specific showing that:

(1) all reasonable efforts have been exhausted to obtain the

information from alternative sources;

(2) the subpoena is not overbroad, unreasonable, or oppressive

and, when appropriate, will be limited to the verification of

published information and the surrounding circumstances relating

to the accuracy of the published information;

(3) reasonable and timely notice was given of the demand for the

information, document, or item;

(4) in this instance, the interest of the party subpoenaing the

information outweighs the public interest in gathering and

dissemination of news, including the concerns of the journalist;

(5) the subpoena or compulsory process is not being used to

obtain peripheral, nonessential, or speculative information; and

(6) the information, document, or item is relevant and material

to the proper administration of the official proceeding for which

the testimony, production, or disclosure is sought and is

essential to the maintenance of a claim or defense of the person

seeking the testimony, production, or disclosure.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

29, Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.

Sec. 22.025. NOTICE. An order to compel testimony, production,

or disclosure to which a journalist has asserted a privilege

under this subchapter may be issued only after timely notice to

the journalist, the journalist's employer, or a person who has an

independent contract with the journalist and a hearing. The

order must include clear and specific findings as to the showing

made by the person seeking the testimony, production, or

disclosure and the clear and specific evidence on which the court

relied in issuing the court's order.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

29, Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.

Sec. 22.026. PUBLICATION OF PRIVILEGED INFORMATION. Publication

or dissemination by a news medium or communication service

provider of information, documents, or items privileged under

this subchapter is not a waiver of the journalist's privilege.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

29, Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.

Sec. 22.027. NEWS MEDIA RECORDINGS. Extrinsic evidence of the

authenticity of evidence as a condition precedent to the

admissibility of the evidence in a civil proceeding is not

required with respect to a recording that purports to be a

broadcast by a radio or television station that holds a license

issued by the Federal Communications Commission at the time of

the recording. The court may take judicial notice of the

recording license as provided by Rule 201, Texas Rules of

Evidence.

Added by Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

29, Sec. 1, eff. May 13, 2009.