HBA-ATS, NIK S.B. 744 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 744 By: Shapleigh Corrections 4/23/1999 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, under Section 552.028(a) (Request for Information from Incarcerated Individual), Government Code, a governmental body is not required to accept or comply with a request for public information from an individual who is imprisoned or confined in a correctional facility. This does not cover information requests from an "agent" of an incarcerated individual, such as a parent. In an informal letter ruling in a case concerning a request by an inmate's mother for copies of the voter registration applications of several individuals, including law enforcement personnel, the attorney general determined that the county elections administrator could decline to comply with the information request that was submitted by the agent of an incarcerated individual. S.B. 744 authorizes a governmental body to refuse to accept or comply with a request for public information from the agent of an individual imprisoned or confined in a correctional facility, unless the agent is the individual's attorney. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Sections 552.028(a) and (b), Government Code, to include a request for information from an agent of an individual who is imprisoned or confined in a correctional facility, other than a request from that individual's attorney, among the requests with which a governmental body is not required to accept or comply. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Amendment No. 1: Amends S.B. 744 in SECTION 1 by including the condition that a request for information from an imprisoned or confined individual's attorney is to be accepted or complied with by a governmental agency only if the attorney is requesting information that is subject to disclosure under Chapter 552 (Public Information), Government Code.