Texas Public Information Act

Sunshine Laws
Open Records laws
Open Meetings Laws
How to Make Records Requests

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Major Records Requests

Sunshine Legislation
2010
Sorted by State, Year and Topic

Sunshine Litigation
Sorted by State, Year and Topic

Sunshine Nuances
Private Agencies, Public Dollars
Deliberative Process Exemption

The Public Information Act of Texas (TPIA) is a series of laws designed to guarantee that the public has access to public records of government bodies at all levels in Texas. Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, gives citizens the right to access records at various levels of Texas government, without having to declare your purpose in doing so. Until the law was formalized, the ability of a citizen to gain access to public records was at the discretion of the custodian of the records, except in those cases where records custodians were forbidden to allow access.

The Texas Open Meetings Act legislates the methods by which public meetings are conducted.

To learn more about how to make a public records request in this state, please see: Texas FOIA procedures

[edit] Recent news

See also: Texas transparency headlines

Transparency blocking

TXDOT won't release records 2010-08-13 15:15:53
Texas refuses to disclose recipients of weatherization program 2010-07-21 15:19:58
Texas Economic Development Board obtains restraining order to prevent records requests 2010-05-26 11:15:04

More transparency blocking news from across the country.

Litigation

Texas Open Meetings Act survives another challenge 2011-04-14 09:54:07
Greater Houston Partnership ruling could set public information precedent in Texas 2010-12-20 19:13:41
Texas Supreme Court exempts public employee's birthdates 2010-12-06 11:01:00

More FOIA litigation news from across the country.

Legislation

Accessing public information could get pricier in Texas 2011-01-10 23:36:30
Houston, Harris officials conceal details on ethics forms 2009-06-18 22:46:49
Expense records should be public 2009-06-18 22:45:02

More FOIA legislation news from across the country.

Sunshine Guardians

Austin, Texas posts e-checkbook online 2010-11-12 18:31:13
New interactive Texas budget project 2009-11-02 09:39:51
The fight for Gov. Perry's emails 2008-08-16 21:44:14

Other Sunshine Guardians from across the country.

[edit] Relevant legal cases

See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA

Here is a list of lawsuits in Texas. For more information go the page or go to Texas sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)

Lawsuit	Year
Avinash Rangra; Anna Monclova v. Frank D. Brown	2009
Blankenship v. Brazos Higher Education Authority	1998
City of Abilene v. Shackelford	1978
City of Garland v. Dallas Morning News	1999
Dallas v. Abbott	2010
Gill v. Snow	1982
Jenkins v. State of Texas	1903
Palacios v. Corbett	1915
Tovar v. Texas	1998

[edit] Proposed changes

See sample transparency legislation at the Sunshine Standard

[edit] 2011

See also:Proposed reforms in state sunshine laws, 2011

Here is a list of transparency legislation for Texas in 2011. This list contains a random collection of 15 bills from the state. For the full list please see Texas transparency legislation.

Rating	Bill	Current Status	Progress	Information
b	House Bill 161	Current Status:x	a	HB 161, introduced by Representative Richard Raymond to the Texas House of Representatives, is titled "AN ACT relating to the dissemination of criminal history record information by the Department of Public Safety concerning certain intoxication offenses."^[1] If passed the bill would make criminal history record information concerned with a person's conviction of certain offenses associated with intoxication, such as driving while intoxicated and intoxication assault, public information. The bill exempts the following types of information from being accessible by the public: "(1) any information regarding the person's social security number, driver's license number, or telephone number; and (2) any information that would identify the victim of the offense."^[1]
a	House Bill 351	Current Status:x	a	HB 351, introduced by Representative Marc Veasy to the Texas House of Representatives, would amend the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure (Articles 55.01(a), (b), and (c)) to entitle persons tried for offenses who are acquitted, found not guilty, pardoned or otherwise proven innocent to "have all records and files relating to the arrest expunged." ^[2]
c	House Bill 66	Current Status:x	a	HB 66, introduced by Representative Armando Martinez to the Texas House of Representatives, is titled "AN ACT relating to the disclosure by a member of the legislature or the lieutenant governor of certain information concerning a resident of this state to a governmental body."^[3] The Texas Press Association's notes that if passed HB 66 "Would amend Government Code by adding paragraph (c) to Sec. 306.003, making confidential the identity of a resident who communicated with a member of the legislature or the lieutenant governor, and by adding paragraph (d) to Sec. 306.004, making confidential the communication or a description of the communication that would tend to identify the resident."^[4]
c	House Bill 76	Current Status:x	a	HB 76, introduced by Representative Dan Flynn to the Texas House of Representatives, is titled "AN ACT relating to certain purchases by a state agency performing a law enforcement function."^[5] The Texas Press Association's notes that if passed HB 76 "Would amend Government Code by adding Sec. 2155.151, Certain Purchases by State Agency Performing Law Enforcement Functions. Makes information about such purchases not subject to publication in the Texas Register if doing so would negatively affect homeland security.^[6]
a	Senate Bill 375	Current Status:x	m	SB 375, introduced by State Senator Jeff Wentworth to the Texas State Senate, is titled "an act relating to categories of information presumed to be public under the public information law."^[7] The bill would change the language of Section 552.022, Government Code, from "unless they are expressly confidential under other law" to "unless made confidential under this chapter or other law."^[7]

[edit] 2010

See also:Proposed reforms in state sunshine laws, 2010

Here are a list of 30 random bills from Texas from 2010. For a full list, please see Texas transparency legislation.

We have no current bill pages for Texas from 2010. This may be due to incomplete research. To add pages, please view ourproject page, WikiProject Proposed state sunshine legislation.

[edit] 2009

Main article: Proposed reforms in state sunshine laws, 2009

Senate Bill 280 ^[1], proposed by Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound), seeks to exempt birth dates of public employees from public disclosure. The bill has been referred to State Affairs. The stated reason for seeking the exemption is to prevent identity theft, but journalist Jennifer LaFleur points out birth dates "play a big role in journalists' ability to inform you about government agency hiring practices." ^[2]

State Sen. Kevin Eltife (R-Tyler) has proposed Senate Bill 503 ^[3] to close up a loophole in the current law which allows school districts to deny PIA requests for the names of individuals applying for the position of school superintendent. The current language states school districts are only required to reveal the “name or names of the finalists being considered for the position”. Use of the “name or names" clause can result in only the individual being named to the position's name being released, rather than the full list of applicants. ^[4]

Representative Ismael "Kino " Flores (D-Palmview) has asked the Texas Legislative Council to draft legislation that would add elements to the Texas Public Information Act. His aim is to require Texas Regional Mobility Authorities to make their meeting agendas and back-up documents available online. ^[5] A Regional Mobility Authority is a public entity created to serve counties on transportation issues. "The work of the RMA leadership is of such vital public interest that, under my measure, all Texans would have the ability to begin viewing on the Internet, three days before a RMA meeting, the full agenda packet from which the RMA board members make their critical decisions," Flores stated in a press release. ^[6]

[edit] Transparency report card

A 2008 study, BGA - Alper Integrity Index, conducted by the Better Government Association and sponsored by Alper Services, ranked Texas #7 in the nation with an overall percentage of 60.20%. ^[7]

A 2007 study, Graded state responsiveness to FOI requests, conducted by BGA and the NFOIC, gave Texas 53 points out of a possible 100, a letter grade of "F", and a ranking of 23 out of the 50 states.^[8]

A 2002 study, Freedom of Information in the USA, conducted by IRE and BGA, ranked Texas's law as the 18th best in the country, giving it a letter grade of "C".^[9]

[edit] Features of the law

Compare States: Sunshine variations: Click on the heading to compare your state's law to other state's transparency laws.

[edit] Declared legal intention

While the law does not have a clearly defined declared legal intention, a citizen requesting information from a government sources has a number of rights, according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. "Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, gives you the right to access government records; and an officer for public information and the officer's agent may not ask why you want them. All government information is presumed to be available to the public."^[10] The commission also lists a number of other rights that citizens have in requesting the government records. First, the citizen should receive prompt access to information that is not confidential or otherwise protected from public scrutiny. Certain types of information should have no exceptions, such as voting records of public officials. For all requests exceeding $40 in fees, the government agency is responsible for providing an itemized estimate of costs. The citizen, then, can revise the original request in light of the expenses. Most information can be viewed at no charge, but copies will cost administrative fees. In certain circumstances, fees can be waived or reduced if the governmental body determines that access to the information will directly lead to benefits for the general public. If a government agency makes an appeal to the Texas Attorney General to limit access to the imformation, the citizen is entitled to receive a copy of that request and respond to the request. Citizens are also able to file complaints about fee overcharges with the General Services Commission, and other complaints to state attorneys. See external links for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission descriptions.

[edit] What records are covered?

The TPIA covers nearly all documents that are in the possession of government agencies in the state that are covered by the law.

Section 552.002 says that information is public if it "is collected, assembled, or maintained under a law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business" by a governmental body or for a governmental body, and the governmental body owns the information or has a right of access to it.

A document that is labelled as being a draft is public, according to the Texas Supreme Court, in the case of City of Garland v. Dallas Morning News (2000). However, drafts of working papers involved in the preparation of proposed legislation by the state legislature are excluded (§ 552.106).
The form in which the information is contained is not relevant in determining whether the information is public. The statute specifically mentions a book, paper, letter, document, printout, photograph, film, tape, microfiche, microfilm, photostat, sound recording, map, and drawing and a voice, data, or video representation held in computer memory, but does not exempt other ways of storing information not included in that list.
The TPIA covers any information in the custody of a covered agency, regardless of how the information came to be in the custody of the agency.
Information held in the custody of a private contractor doing business with the government may be considered public under TPIA if:

It relates to a governmental body's official duties.
The private contractor/consultant acted as the agent of a covered governmental agency in gathering the information.
The governmental body for whom the private contractor is consulting is entitled to the information.

Personal notes and e-mail may be open under Texas' public information act, according to this 2008 attorney general's publication.

[edit] Exemptions

The Texas Supreme Court recently ruled that public employees birthdates were exempt from public records requests, in order to prevent identity theft.^[11] Many public records advocates are against the exemption as it prevents journalists or citizens from matching public employees up against databases of convicted felons or sex offenders or repeat drunk-drivers with suspended licenses.^[12]

[edit] Deliberative process

[edit] What agencies are covered?

See also: List of Texas government entities

Government agencies in Texas whose documents are public according to the TPIA include:

A board, commission, department, committee, institution, agency, or office that is within or is created by the executive or legislative branch of state government and that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members;
The county commissioners courts in the state;
Municipal governing bodies in the state;
Deliberative bodies that have rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and that are classified as a department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or municipality;
School district boards of trustees;
County boards of school trustees;
County boards of education;
Governing boards of special districts;
Governing bodies of nonprofit corporations organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that provide a water supply or wastewater service, or both, and is exempt from ad valorem taxation under section 11.30, Tax Code;
Local workforce development boards created under Section 2308.253;
Nonprofit corporation that are eligible to receive funds under the federal community services block grant program and that are authorized by this state to serve a geographic area of the state; and
The part, section, or portion of an organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or agency that spends or that is supported in whole or in part by public funds.

[edit] Legislature

The legislature falls under the definition of public body and is subject to the Texas Public Information Act.

[edit] Privatized governmental agencies

Private agencies that receive public funds or are controlled or managed by public bodies are considered public bodies themselves and subject to the Texas Public Information Act.^[13]

[edit] Public universities

Status: Presumed Open
Popular Exemptions
Research	Donors	Examinations	Course Materials

The definition of public body presumably includes public universities within the state.

[edit] Who may request records?

The TPIA allows anyone to request public information. A requester need not be a Texas resident. Section 552.221(a) says that custodians of records must make the records available to "any person."

[edit] Must a purpose be stated?

The reason that a requestor has for asking for records cannot be taken into consideration. Section 552.222 of the TPIA prohibits the custodian of the records from asking questions of the requestor other than to:

Establish the requester's identification.
Clarify a request if the governmental body is unclear as to what information is requested, and to attempt to narrow a request that seeks a large amount of information.

Section 552.223 specifically says that agencies must treat all requests the same, regardless of who is making the request.

[edit] How can records be used?

The law says nothing about what can be done with public documents, once they are obtained by a requestor.

[edit] Time allowed for response

10 days

Texas law allows 10 days for public records requests.

[edit] Fees for records

[edit] Copy costs:

The TPIA allows a government agency to charge for "all costs" associated with making copies of public information, including:

The cost of materials.
Labor. (See also: Sunshine laws and search fees.)
Overhead costs.
Agencies can charge for the cost they incur in deleting information from the records that is exempt.

If a particular request is for 50 or fewer pages of paper records, the agency is not allowed to charge for labor and overhead but is limited to charging a reasonable per-copy fee. (There's an additional fee that can be added if the agency has to collect the records from more than one building, or if the records or in "a remote storage facility."

[edit] Role of AG

The attorney general of Texas maintains an Open Records Division, which plays the role of mediator and sometimes judge in open-records disputes. If a governmental body feels requested information is exempt in whole or in part from release under the Public Information Act, then the governmental body must write to the attorney general's office and request an open records letter ruling in its favor. The requestor of the information may also submit written arguments as to why the information should be released.

In 2005, the state legislature amended TPIA to say that it is up to the state's attorney general, not to individual agencies, to decide what a reasonable copying fee is.

[edit] $40 rule

If the agency concludes that the records will cost more than $40, it has to provide the person who wants the records with a written, itemized statement laying out the estimated costs in some detail.

[edit] Fee waivers

A government agency is allowed to provide records for free or at a reduced price if:

"...the governmental body determines that waiver or reduction of the charge is in the public interest because providing the copy of the information primarily benefits the general public."
The cost to the agency of billing/bookkeeping for changes will exceed the amount of the charge.
Members of the state legislature are entitled to one free copy of public information that is requested from a state agency.

[edit] Search fees: