Tex. Health and Safety Code § 252.040
This is the official text of Tex. Health and Safety Code § 252.040, part of Texas’s Health and Safety Code — covers public health and safety regulation.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
§ 252.040. INSPECTIONS.
Official statutory text
(a) The department or the department's designee may make any inspection, survey, or investigation that it considers necessary and may enter the premises of a facility at reasonable times to make an inspection, survey, or investigation in accordance with department rules.
(b) The department is entitled to access to books, records, and other documents maintained by or on behalf of a facility to the extent necessary to enforce this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter.
(c) A license holder or an applicant for a license is considered to have consented to entry and inspection of the facility by a representative of the department in accordance with this chapter.
(d) The department shall establish procedures to preserve all relevant evidence of conditions the department finds during an inspection, survey, or investigation that the department reasonably believes threaten the health and safety of a resident. The procedures may include photography or photocopying of relevant documents, such as license holder's notes, physician's orders, and pharmacy records, for use in any legal proceeding.
(e) When photographing a resident, the department:
(1) shall respect the privacy of the resident to the greatest extent possible; and
(2) may not make public the identity of the resident.
(f) A facility, an officer or employee of a facility, and a resident's attending physician are not civilly liable for surrendering confidential or private material under this section, including physician's orders, pharmacy records, notes and memoranda of a state office, and resident files.
(g) The department shall establish in clear and concise language a form to summarize each inspection report and complaint investigation report.
(h) The executive commissioner shall establish proper procedures to ensure that copies of all forms and reports under this section are made available to consumers, service recipients, and the relatives of service recipients as the department considers proper.
(i) The department shall have specialized staff conduct inspections, surveys, or investigations of facilities under this section.
(b) The department is entitled to access to books, records, and other documents maintained by or on behalf of a facility to the extent necessary to enforce this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter.
(c) A license holder or an applicant for a license is considered to have consented to entry and inspection of the facility by a representative of the department in accordance with this chapter.
(d) The department shall establish procedures to preserve all relevant evidence of conditions the department finds during an inspection, survey, or investigation that the department reasonably believes threaten the health and safety of a resident. The procedures may include photography or photocopying of relevant documents, such as license holder's notes, physician's orders, and pharmacy records, for use in any legal proceeding.
(e) When photographing a resident, the department:
(1) shall respect the privacy of the resident to the greatest extent possible; and
(2) may not make public the identity of the resident.
(f) A facility, an officer or employee of a facility, and a resident's attending physician are not civilly liable for surrendering confidential or private material under this section, including physician's orders, pharmacy records, notes and memoranda of a state office, and resident files.
(g) The department shall establish in clear and concise language a form to summarize each inspection report and complaint investigation report.
(h) The executive commissioner shall establish proper procedures to ensure that copies of all forms and reports under this section are made available to consumers, service recipients, and the relatives of service recipients as the department considers proper.
(i) The department shall have specialized staff conduct inspections, surveys, or investigations of facilities under this section.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in Texas?
Find a Texas lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.