Sec. 53.028. 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 by this code, a rule, or a lease provision is confidential and may not be used publicly, opened for public inspection, or disclosed, except for information 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 is not subject to subpoena directed to the commissioner, the attorney general, or the governor except in a judicial or administrative proceeding to which this state is a party.

(c) The commissioner or the attorney general may use information made confidential by this section and contracts made confidential by Section 53.027 of this code to enforce this chapter or may authorize their use in judicial or administrative proceedings to 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 that 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 this code, a rule, or a lease provision or the release of other information that would have been properly included in reports required under this code, a rule, or a lease provision.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 897, Sec. 52, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.