HB3180

HB3180 corrects a word in the Family Code’s list of information a party may request from another party in a civil case. The provision now says a discoverable “witness statement”, rather than “witness settlement,” described by Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 192.3(h). That rule concerns statements, while the neighboring statutory item already covers discoverable settlement agreements. Final law.

Under the referenced rule, a witness statement includes a written statement signed or adopted or approved in writing by its maker, or a recording of an oral statement and a substantially word-for-word transcription. Interview notes are not automatically witness statements under that definition. The rule concerns people with knowledge of relevant facts. Official civil-procedure rules, Rule 192.3(g)–(h).

This is a correction within an existing request-based discovery process—the process for obtaining information from another party during litigation. It does not require publishing family-case materials online, automatically turn every private conversation into a discoverable statement, or rewrite the whole disclosure list. The word “discoverable” remains an important limit. Existing request procedure.

The governor signed June 20, 2025. The law took effect September 1, 2025 and applies both to cases already pending in a trial court on that date and cases filed afterward. It is not limited to newly filed cases. Official history.