By Hartnett H.B. No. 960
75R3056 MRB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the information and procedures governed by the state
1-3 public information law.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 552.024(b) and (d), Government Code, are
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (b) Each employee and official and each former employee and
1-8 official shall state that person's choice under Subsection (a) to
1-9 the main personnel officer of the governmental body in a signed
1-10 writing [not later than the 14th day after the date on which:]
1-11 [(1) the employee begins employment with the
1-12 governmental body;]
1-13 [(2) the official is elected or appointed; or]
1-14 [(3) the former employee or official ends service with
1-15 the governmental body].
1-16 (d) If an employee or official or a former employee or
1-17 official fails to state the person's choice [within the period
1-18 established by this section], the information is subject to public
1-19 access.
1-20 SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
1-21 amended by adding Section 552.273 to read as follows:
1-22 Sec. 552.273. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS INFORMATION.
1-23 The rules adopted by the General Services Commission under Section
1-24 552.262 relating to the charges that may be imposed for providing
2-1 copies of public information do not apply to information that is
2-2 part of a computer system commonly known as the geographic
2-3 information system, or GIS.
2-4 SECTION 3. Section 552.301, Government Code, is amended to
2-5 read as follows:
2-6 Sec. 552.301. REQUEST FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL DECISION. (a) A
2-7 governmental body that receives a written request for information
2-8 that it wishes to withhold from public disclosure and that it
2-9 considers to be within one of the exceptions under Subchapter C
2-10 must ask for a decision from the attorney general about whether the
2-11 information is within that exception if there has not been a
2-12 previous determination about whether the information falls within
2-13 one of the exceptions. The governmental body must ask for the
2-14 attorney general's decision and state the exceptions that apply
2-15 within a reasonable time but not later than the 10th working
2-16 [calendar] day after the date of receiving the written request or,
2-17 if the request involves 50 or more pages of information or
2-18 information that is not readily accessible, not later than the 15th
2-19 working day after the date of receiving the written request.
2-20 (b) A governmental body that requests an attorney general
2-21 decision under Subsection (a) must within a reasonable time but not
2-22 later than the 15th working [calendar] day after the date of
2-23 receiving the written request:
2-24 (1) submit to the attorney general written comments
2-25 stating the reasons why the stated exceptions apply that would
2-26 allow the information to be withheld;
2-27 (2) submit to the attorney general a copy of the
3-1 written request for information;
3-2 (3) submit to the attorney general a copy of the
3-3 specific information requested, or submit representative samples of
3-4 the information if a voluminous amount of information was
3-5 requested; and
3-6 (4) label that copy of the specific information, or of
3-7 the representative samples, to indicate which exceptions apply to
3-8 which parts of the copy.
3-9 SECTION 4. Sections 552.353(b) and (c), Government Code, are
3-10 amended to read as follows:
3-11 (b) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
3-12 Subsection (a) that the officer for public information reasonably
3-13 believed that public access to the requested information was not
3-14 required and that the officer:
3-15 (1) acted in reasonable reliance on a court order or a
3-16 written interpretation of this chapter contained in an opinion of a
3-17 court of record or of the attorney general issued under Subchapter
3-18 G;
3-19 (2) requested a decision from the attorney general in
3-20 accordance with Subchapter G, and the decision is pending; or
3-21 (3) not later than the 10th working [calendar] day
3-22 after the date of receipt of a decision by the attorney general
3-23 that the information is public, filed a petition for a declaratory
3-24 judgment, a writ of mandamus, or both, against the attorney general
3-25 in a Travis County district court seeking relief from compliance
3-26 with the decision of the attorney general, and a petition is
3-27 pending.
4-1 (c) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
4-2 Subsection (a) that a person or entity has, not later than the 10th
4-3 working [calendar] day after the date of receipt by a governmental
4-4 body of a decision by the attorney general that the information is
4-5 public, filed a cause of action seeking relief from compliance with
4-6 the decision of the attorney general, and the cause is pending.
4-7 SECTION 5. (a) The changes in law made by this Act by the
4-8 addition of Section 552.273, Government Code, and by the amendment
4-9 of Section 552.301, Government Code, apply only to information
4-10 requested by a person on or after the effective date of this Act.
4-11 Information requested before the effective date of this Act is
4-12 governed by the law in effect at the time the request is made, and
4-13 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-14 (b) The change in law made by this Act by the amendment of
4-15 Section 552.353, Government Code, applies only to information about
4-16 which an officer for public information, or the officer's agent,
4-17 receives a decision from the attorney general on or after the
4-18 effective date of this Act. Information about which an officer for
4-19 public information, or the officer's agent, receives a decision
4-20 from the attorney general before the effective date of this Act, is
4-21 governed by the law in effect at the time the decision is received,
4-22 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
4-23 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-24 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.