How to Request Home Address Confidentiality in Texas

To request home address confidentiality in Texas, file Comptroller Form 50-284 with the appraisal district in every county where you own property. That removes your address from publicly searchable property tax records. If you’re a victim of family violence, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking, or child abduction, you can also apply to the Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program, which issues a substitute address that replaces your real one on driver’s licenses, voter rolls, and most other government documents. Voter registration confidentiality is a separate filing with your county registrar.

Which Protection You Need

Two different programs do two different jobs, and most people who qualify for both should use both.

The property tax request under Texas Tax Code Section 25.025 hides your address from one specific database: the county appraisal district’s public portal, which is where someone searching your name online usually finds your home.¹ The Attorney General’s Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) does something broader: it gives you a substitute P.O. box address that replaces your real address on driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations, voter rolls, school enrollments, and most court and government documents, with mail forwarded to you after a three- to four-day delay.²

Eligibility for the two programs isn’t the same. Section 25.025 covers a long list of people, which breaks into three groups: law enforcement and corrections personnel (including peace officers, jailers, TDCJ employees, federal criminal investigators, and their spouses, surviving spouses, and adult children); judges, prosecutors, and their employees and families; and crime victims with documentation.¹ A companion statute, Government Code Section 552.1175, extends similar public-records protection to current and former military members, juvenile justice employees, child and adult protective services caseworkers, Attorney General’s office staff and their families, and election workers.³

The ACP is narrower. You must be a victim of family violence, sexual assault, stalking, child abduction, or trafficking, and you must live in Texas or plan to relocate here. Household members can enroll with you.⁴

Filing Form 50-284 With Your Appraisal District

Form 50-284, titled Request for Confidentiality Under Tax Code Section 25.025, is the document that triggers address redaction in property tax records. Download it from the Texas Comptroller’s website or pick up a copy at your county appraisal district office. The form asks for your appraisal district account number, which appears on previous tax statements, along with a description of each property you want covered.⁵

One detail catches people off guard: you must file a separate copy with the appraisal district in every county where you own property. Filing in one county does not protect property in another. The form itself instructs you not to send it to the Comptroller; it goes directly to the local appraisal district.⁵

What to Attach

The documentation depends on which eligibility category applies. Crime victims attach a protective order, a magistrate’s order for emergency protection, or other independent documentation of victimization. ACP participants attach proof of certification under Code of Criminal Procedure Article 58.059. Law enforcement officers and other government employees typically submit an employment ID or a letter from their agency confirming their role.⁵

How to Submit It

Most appraisal districts accept the form by mail, certified mail, fax, or hand delivery. Hand delivery gives you immediate confirmation of receipt. Certified mail with a return receipt creates a paper trail if you can’t deliver in person. Keep a copy of everything you submit. The form does not mention a filing fee.

After Approval

Once the chief appraiser approves your request, your address disappears from the appraisal district’s public-facing website and searchable rolls. The address remains in the district’s internal database so taxes continue to be assessed and billed correctly, and law enforcement and other authorized agencies keep access for official purposes. The redaction targets public visibility.

Your election stays in place until you rescind it in writing. There is no expiration and no renewal. If you buy property in a new county, file a fresh Form 50-284 with that county’s appraisal district, because the protection doesn’t travel automatically.⁶

Processing speed varies by county. Some districts update their online portals within days of approval; others take longer depending on staffing and volume. If your situation is urgent, hand-delivering the form and asking about the office’s timeline is the most reliable approach.

Applying to the Address Confidentiality Program

To apply to the ACP, you meet with an advocate from a police department, prosecutor’s office, domestic violence shelter, or sexual assault center. The advocate helps you work through safety planning and complete the application, then submits it to the Attorney General’s office on your behalf. If you already have a protective order, temporary injunction, or documentation of the qualifying crime, you can complete the application on your own without going through an advocate.⁴

Once you’re certified, the substitute address issued by the AG’s office becomes the address you use with state and local agencies. Mail sent there is forwarded to your real location.² ACP certification also satisfies the documentation requirement for Form 50-284, so if you own property, filing both makes sense.

Separating Your Address From Voter Registration

Property tax rolls aren’t the only place your home address shows up. Voter registration is another, and it requires a separate filing with the county voter registrar. The right form depends on your category.

Peace officers, corrections employees, and others covered by Government Code Section 552.1175 submit a Request for Voter Registration Confidentiality to the registrar. You remain registered at your home address, but that address is withheld from public disclosure.⁷

Crime victims use a different form under Election Code Section 13.004. Victims of family violence, sexual assault, stalking, or trafficking submit a Request for Voter Registration Residential Address Confidentiality to the registrar with supporting documentation. The residence address and other personal identifying information then become confidential.⁷

ACP participants follow their own process. Rather than filing with the registrar by mail, they appear in person at the early voting clerk’s office to complete a confidential voter registration form, using the ACP substitute address as the address of record.⁷

What These Requests Don’t Cover

Both the property tax request and voter registration confidentiality only reach government-maintained databases. They do not remove your address from commercial people-search websites, data broker databases, social media profiles, or cached web pages. If your address was already indexed by third-party sites before you filed, it will likely remain there unless you contact each company individually to request removal. Texas requires data brokers to register with the Secretary of State, but current state law does not give individuals a straightforward right to demand deletion of their home address from commercial databases.

Recorded property documents are another gap. When you buy a home, the deed and any mortgage or deed of trust are recorded with the county clerk and become permanent public records. The appraisal district can redact your address from its rolls, but the recorded deed still ties your name to the property. Some people in high-risk situations buy property through a revocable living trust so their personal name never appears on publicly recorded documents. That route involves additional legal cost and complexity, and it closes a hole the standard confidentiality request leaves open.

1
State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 25.025 – Confidentiality of Certain Home Address Information
2
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Address Confidentiality Program
3
State of Texas. Texas Government Code 552.1175 – Exception: Confidentiality of Certain Personal Identifying Information
4
Texas Department of Public Safety. Address Confidentiality Program
5
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Form 50-284 – Request for Confidentiality Under Tax Code Section 25.025
6
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Form 50-284 – Request for Confidentiality Under Tax Code Section 25.025
7
Texas Secretary of State. Registering a Voter who is Part of a Confidentiality Program