By Carona S.B. No. 277
76R648 JD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to rendition by the attorney general of decisions
1-3 requested under the open records law.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 552.306(a), Government Code, is amended
1-6 to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The attorney general shall promptly render a decision
1-8 requested under this subchapter, consistent with the standards of
1-9 due process, determining whether the requested information is
1-10 within one of the exceptions of Subchapter C. The attorney general
1-11 shall render the decision not later than the 20th [60th] working
1-12 day after the date the attorney general received the request for a
1-13 decision. If the attorney general is unable to issue the decision
1-14 within the 20-day [60-day] period, the attorney general may extend
1-15 the period for issuing the decision by an additional 10 [20]
1-16 working days by informing the governmental body and the requestor,
1-17 during the original 20-day [60-day] period, of the reason for the
1-18 delay.
1-19 SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act relating to
1-20 the period in which the attorney general is required to render a
1-21 decision under the open records law applies only to a request for a
1-22 decision filed with the attorney general on or after the effective
1-23 date of this Act. A request for a decision filed with the attorney
1-24 general before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
2-1 law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act,
2-2 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
2-3 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.