By Armbrister S.B. No. 480
75R4352 MRB-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a revision of the public information law.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Section 552.127 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 552.127. EXCEPTION: PERSONAL INFORMATION OF MEMBERS OF
1-7 CERTAIN NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS. (a) Information is excepted from
1-8 the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is a statement of the
1-9 name, the address, the telephone number, the social security
1-10 number, or other personal information of a member of a nonprofit
1-11 corporation that:
1-12 (1) is organized under Chapter 76, Acts of the 43rd
1-13 Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1933 (Article 1434a, Vernon's
1-14 Texas Civil Statutes);
1-15 (2) provides a water supply or a wastewater service or
1-16 both; and
1-17 (3) is exempt from ad valorem taxation under Section
1-18 11.30, Tax Code.
1-19 (b) This section does not restrict access under Article
1-20 2.11B, Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-2.11B,
1-21 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), to the list of voting members of a
1-22 corporation prepared under that article.
1-23 SECTION 2. Section 552.231, Government Code, is amended by
1-24 amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
2-1 follows:
2-2 (b) The written statement must include:
2-3 (1) a statement that the information is not available
2-4 in the requested form;
2-5 (2) a description of the form in which the information
2-6 is available;
2-7 (3) a description of any contract or services that
2-8 would be required to provide the information in the requested form;
2-9 (4) a statement of the estimated cost of providing the
2-10 information in the requested form, which:
2-11 (A) shall be [as] determined in accordance with
2-12 the rules established by the General Services Commission under
2-13 Section 552.262; and
2-14 (B) may be stated, if appropriate, to cover a
2-15 range; and
2-16 (5) a statement of the anticipated time required to
2-17 provide the information in the requested form.
2-18 (f) The officer for public information or the officer's
2-19 agent may require the requestor to pay a deposit in the amount of
2-20 the estimated cost determined under Subsection (b). If the deposit
2-21 is required and if the estimated cost covers a range, the amount
2-22 that must be paid is the highest amount in the range.
2-23 SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
2-24 amended by adding Section 552.232 to read as follows:
2-25 Sec. 552.232. NO REQUIREMENT TO PREPARE OR ASSEMBLE
2-26 INFORMATION NOT IN EXISTENCE. This chapter does not require a
2-27 governmental body or an officer for public information to prepare
3-1 or assemble, in response to a request for information, any
3-2 information that is not in existence at the time the request is
3-3 made.
3-4 SECTION 4. Sections 552.262 and 552.263, Government Code,
3-5 are amended to read as follows:
3-6 Sec. 552.262. RULES OF THE GENERAL SERVICES COMMISSION.
3-7 (a) The General Services Commission shall adopt rules for use by
3-8 each governmental body in determining charges under this
3-9 subchapter. The rules adopted by the General Services Commission
3-10 shall be used by each governmental body in determining charges for
3-11 copies of public information, except to the extent that other law
3-12 provides for charges for specific kinds of public information.
3-13 Under the rules:
3-14 (1) the [The] charges for public information may not
3-15 be excessive and may not exceed the actual cost of producing the
3-16 information; and
3-17 (2) the General Services Commission shall allow a
3-18 governmental body to charge the actual cost of providing copies of
3-19 public information.
3-20 (b) A governmental body, other than an agency of state
3-21 government, may determine its own charges for producing public
3-22 information but shall not charge more than a 25 percent variance
3-23 from the rules established by the General Services Commission
3-24 unless the governmental body:
3-25 (1) requests an exemption under Subsection (d); or
3-26 (2) charges the actual cost of providing copies of
3-27 public information [(c)].
4-1 (c) [(b)] The rules of the General Services Commission shall
4-2 prescribe the methods for computing the charges for copies of
4-3 public information in paper, electronic, and other kinds of media.
4-4 The rules shall establish costs for various components of charges
4-5 for public information that shall be used by each governmental body
4-6 in providing copies of public information.
4-7 (d) [(c)] A governmental body may request that it be exempt
4-8 from part or all of the rules adopted by the General Services
4-9 Commission for determining charges for public information. The
4-10 request must be made in writing to the General Services Commission
4-11 and must state the reason for the exemption. If the General
4-12 Services Commission determines that good cause exists for exempting
4-13 a governmental body from a part or all of the rules, the commission
4-14 shall give written notice of the determination to the governmental
4-15 body within 90 days of the request. On receipt of the
4-16 determination, the governmental body may amend its charges for
4-17 public information according to the determination of the General
4-18 Services Commission.
4-19 (e) [(d)] The General Services Commission shall publish
4-20 annually in the Texas Register a list of the governmental bodies
4-21 that have authorization from the General Services Commission to
4-22 adopt any modified rules for determining the cost of public
4-23 information.
4-24 (f) [(e)] The rules of the General Services Commission do
4-25 not apply to a state governmental body that is not a state agency
4-26 for purposes of Subtitle D, Title 10.
4-27 (g) In this section, the actual cost of providing copies of
5-1 public information includes:
5-2 (1) the salary and overhead costs attributable to the
5-3 employees who participate in providing the copies; and
5-4 (2) the fees and expenses attributable solely to
5-5 providing the copies.
5-6 Sec. 552.263. BOND FOR PAYMENT OF COSTS OR CASH PREPAYMENT
5-7 FOR PREPARATION OF PUBLIC INFORMATION. An officer for public
5-8 information or the officer's agent may require a:
5-9 (1) deposit or bond for payment of anticipated costs
5-10 for the preparation of a copy of public information if the charge
5-11 for the copy is estimated by the governmental body to exceed $100;
5-12 or
5-13 (2) deposit as provided by Section 552.231 under the
5-14 circumstances described by that section.
5-15 SECTION 5. Section 552.324, Government Code, as amended by
5-16 Chapters 578 and 1035, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular
5-17 Session, 1995, is amended to read as follows:
5-18 Sec. 552.324. SUIT BY GOVERNMENTAL BODY. (a) A
5-19 governmental body or an officer for public information may appeal
5-20 the decision of the attorney general issued under Subchapter G by
5-21 filing a petition for a declaratory judgment or a writ of mandamus
5-22 or both against the attorney general in a district court of the
5-23 county in which an office of the governmental body is located or in
5-24 a district court of Travis County. The standard of review in the
5-25 appeal is trial de novo. The filing of the petition stays all
5-26 duties to provide public information in response to the request
5-27 that is the subject of the appeal.
6-1 (b) A [The only suit a] governmental body or officer for
6-2 public information may file a suit in a district court of the
6-3 county in which an office of the governmental body is located or
6-4 in a district court of Travis County that seeks [seeking] to
6-5 withhold information from a requestor [is a suit that is filed] in
6-6 accordance with Sections 552.325 and 552.353 and that challenges a
6-7 decision by the attorney general issued under Subchapter G.
6-8 SECTION 6. Section 552.353(b), Government Code, is amended
6-9 to read as follows:
6-10 (b) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
6-11 Subsection (a) that the officer for public information reasonably
6-12 believed that public access to the requested information was not
6-13 required and that the officer:
6-14 (1) acted in reasonable reliance on a court order or a
6-15 written interpretation of this chapter contained in an opinion of a
6-16 court of record or of the attorney general issued under Subchapter
6-17 G;
6-18 (2) requested a decision from the attorney general in
6-19 accordance with Subchapter G, and the decision is pending; or
6-20 (3) not later than the 10th calendar day after the
6-21 date of receipt of a decision by the attorney general that the
6-22 information is public, filed an action under Section 552.324 [a
6-23 petition for a declaratory judgment, a writ of mandamus, or both,]
6-24 against the attorney general [in a Travis County district court]
6-25 seeking relief from compliance with the decision of the attorney
6-26 general, and the action [a petition] is pending.
6-27 SECTION 7. (a) The changes in law made by this Act
7-1 affecting the availability of information and the costs of
7-2 providing copies of information apply only to a request for
7-3 information that is received by a governmental body on or after the
7-4 effective date of this Act. A request for information that is
7-5 received by a governmental body before that date is governed by the
7-6 law in effect at the time the request is made, and the former law
7-7 is continued in effect for that purpose.
7-8 (b) The changes in law made by this Act to Section 552.324,
7-9 Government Code, apply only to an action filed in response to an
7-10 attorney general decision issued on or after the effective date of
7-11 this Act. An action filed in response to an attorney general
7-12 decision issued before that date is governed by the law in effect
7-13 at the time the decision is issued, and the former law is continued
7-14 in effect for that purpose.
7-15 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
7-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-20 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-21 passage, and it is so enacted.