Signed by Governor Authored by Cody Vasut (R) View at Source
Caption: Relating to the sealing of certain documents alleged to contain trade secrets. Initially Referred to House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee, chaired by a Republican Last Referred to Senate State Affairs Committee, chaired by a Republican
HB 4081 sets new procedures for sealing court documents that allegedly contain trade secrets. The bill requires any party seeking to seal such documents to file a notice and affidavit with both the trial court and the Texas Supreme Court, providing a general description of the information, the basis for the trade secret claim, and contact information for future motions to unseal. If a document is submitted under seal without the required affidavit, it will be treated as a public record unless an affidavit is filed within 14 days. The bill also allows any person to intervene at any time to seal or unseal documents and grants courts ongoing jurisdiction to rule on such matters. If challenged, the party seeking to maintain the seal must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the document qualifies as a trade secret. The bill is designed to standardize the process of protecting sensitive business information in legal proceedings.
Joint authors: Bumgarner (R); Hayes (R) Sponsors: Hughes (R)
Mar 7, 2025
(H) Vasut signed onto the bill as Author (H) Filed
Mar 27, 2025
(H) Read first time (H) Referred to the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, chaired by a Republican
Apr 9, 2025
(H) Scheduled for public hearing on . . . (H) Considered in public hearing (H) Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee (H) Left pending in committee
Apr 10, 2025
(H) Bumgarner signed onto the bill as Joint Author
Apr 14, 2025
(H) House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence met. (H) Considered in formal meeting (H) Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
Apr 23, 2025
(H) Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator (H) Committee report distributed
Apr 25, 2025
(H) Committee report sent to Calendars
Apr 30, 2025
(H) Considered in Calendars
May 2, 2025
(H) Placed on General State Calendar
May 5, 2025
(H) Hayes signed onto the bill as Joint Author (H) Read 2nd time (H) A Republican amendment (No. 1) from Vasut amended the bill. (H) Passed to engrossment as amended
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(H) Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal (H) Reported engrossed (S) Received from the House
May 7, 2025
(S) Read first time (S) Referred to the Senate State Affairs, chaired by a Republican
May 22, 2025
(S) Scheduled for public hearing on . . . (S) Considered in public hearing (S) Vote taken in committee
May 25, 2025
(S) Reported favorably as substituted (S) Recommended for local & uncontested calendar (S) Committee report printed and distributed
May 28, 2025
(S) Placed on local & uncontested calendar (S) Laid before the Senate (S) Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading (S) Vote recorded in Journal (S) Three day rule suspended (S) Record vote (S) Read 3rd time (S) Passed (S) Record vote
Please note: the following statements by legislators do not affect the vote count that was recorded.
Cody Vasut: "When Record No. 4078 was taken, I was presiding in the chair and was shown voting present, not voting. I intended to vote yes." (view other statements of vote for this Rep)
You can view which lawmakers have received money from a specific PAC by selecting the PAC from the list below:
(H) Text of Senate Amendment(s) (S) House concurs in Senate amendment(s)-reported
May 31, 2025
(H) Reported enrolled
Jun 1, 2025
(H) Signed in the House (S) Signed in the Senate
Jun 2, 2025
(E) Sent to the Governor
(H) Hughes signed onto the bill as Sponsor
Lobbying Against/For/On This Bill
Against
(Thu 5/22/2025) Registering before S State Affairs as Steven Deline for self
