79R5438 JD-D
By: Wentworth S.B. No. 727
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the public information law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 552.009(a), (b), and (c), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The open records steering committee is composed of:
(1) a representative of each of the following,
appointed by its governing entity:
(A) the attorney general's office;
(B) the comptroller's office;
(C) the Department of Public Safety;
(D) the Department of Information Resources;
(E) the Texas State Library and Archives
Commission; and
(F) the Texas Building and Procurement [General
Services] Commission;
(2) five public members, appointed by the Texas
Building and Procurement [General Services] Commission; and
(3) a representative of each of the following types of
local governments, appointed by the Texas Building and Procurement
[General Services] Commission:
(A) a municipality;
(B) a county; and
(C) a school district.
(b) The representative of the Texas Building and
Procurement [General Services] Commission is the presiding officer
of the committee. The committee shall meet as prescribed by
committee procedures or at the call of the presiding officer.
(c) The committee shall advise the Texas Building and
Procurement [General Services] Commission regarding the
commission's performance of its duties under this chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 552.205, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.205. INFORMING PUBLIC OF BASIC RIGHTS AND
RESPONSIBILITIES UNDER THIS CHAPTER. (a) An officer for public
information shall prominently display a sign in the form prescribed
by the Texas Building and Procurement [General Services] Commission
that contains basic information about the rights of a requestor,
the responsibilities of a governmental body, and the procedures for
inspecting or obtaining a copy of public information under this
chapter. The officer shall display the sign at one or more places
in the administrative offices of the governmental body where it is
plainly visible to:
(1) members of the public who request public
information in person under this chapter; and
(2) employees of the governmental body whose duties
include receiving or responding to requests under this chapter.
(b) The Texas Building and Procurement [General Services]
Commission by rule shall prescribe the content of the sign and the
size, shape, and other physical characteristics of the sign. In
prescribing the content of the sign, the commission shall include
plainly written basic information about the rights of a requestor,
the responsibilities of a governmental body, and the procedures for
inspecting or obtaining a copy of public information under this
chapter that, in the opinion of the commission, is most useful for
requestors to know and for employees of governmental bodies who
receive or respond to requests for public information to know.
SECTION 3. Section 552.221(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) An officer for public information complies with
Subsection (a) by offering, at a minimum:
(1) to provide [providing] the public information for
inspection or duplication in the offices of the governmental body;
or
(2) to send [sending] copies of the public information
by first class United States mail if the person requesting the
information requests that copies be provided and pays the postage
and any other applicable charges that the requestor has accrued
under Subchapter F.
SECTION 4. Sections 552.225(a) and (b), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) A requestor must complete the examination of the
information not later than the 10th business day after the date the
custodian of the information makes it available [to the person]. If
the requestor does not complete the examination of the information
within 10 business days after the date the custodian of the
information makes the information available and does not file a
request for additional time under Subsection (b), the requestor is
considered to have withdrawn the request.
(b) The officer for public information shall extend the
initial examination period by an additional 10 business days if,
within the initial period, the requestor files with the officer for
public information a written request for additional time. The
officer for public information shall extend an additional
examination period by another 10 business days if, within the
additional period, the requestor files with the officer for public
information a written request for more additional time.
SECTION 5. Section 552.231, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to
read as follows:
(b) The written statement must include:
(1) a statement that the information is not available
in the requested form;
(2) a description of the form in which the information
is available;
(3) a description of any contract or services that
would be required to provide the information in the requested form;
(4) a statement of the estimated cost of providing the
information in the requested form, as determined in accordance with
the rules established by the Texas Building and Procurement
[General Services] Commission under Section 552.262; and
(5) a statement of the anticipated time required to
provide the information in the requested form.
(d) On providing the written statement to the requestor as
required by this section, the governmental body does not have any
further obligation to provide the information in the requested form
or in the form in which it is available unless within 30 days
[until] the requestor states in writing to the governmental body
that the requestor:
(1) wants the governmental body to provide the
information in the requested form according to the cost and time
parameters set out in the statement or according to other terms to
which the requestor and the governmental body agree; or
(2) wants the information in the form in which it is
available.
(d-1) If a requestor does not make a timely written
statement under Subsection (d), the requestor is considered to have
withdrawn the request for information.
SECTION 6. Section 552.2615(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) If a request for a copy of public information will
result in the imposition of a charge under this subchapter that
exceeds $40, or a request to inspect a paper record will result in
the imposition of a charge under Section 552.271 that exceeds $40,
the governmental body shall provide the requestor with a written
itemized statement that details all estimated charges that will be
imposed, including any allowable charges for labor or personnel
costs. If an alternative less costly method of viewing the records
is available, the statement must include a notice that the
requestor may contact the governmental body regarding the
alternative method. The governmental body must inform the
requestor of the responsibilities [duties] imposed on the requestor
by this section and of the rights granted by this entire section and
give the requestor the information needed to respond, including:
(1) that the requestor must provide the governmental
body with a mailing, facsimile transmission, or electronic mail
address to receive the itemized statement and that it is the
requestor's choice which type of address to provide;
(2) that the request is considered automatically
withdrawn if the requestor does not respond in writing to the
itemized statement and any updated itemized statement in the time
and manner required by this section; and
(3) that the requestor may respond to the statement by
delivering the written response to the governmental body by mail,
in person, by facsimile transmission if the governmental body is
capable of receiving documents transmitted in that manner, or by
electronic mail if the governmental body has an electronic mail
address.
SECTION 7. Section 552.262, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.262. RULES OF THE TEXAS BUILDING AND PROCUREMENT
[GENERAL SERVICES] COMMISSION. (a) The Texas Building and
Procurement [General Services] Commission shall adopt rules for use
by each governmental body in determining charges for providing
copies of public information under this subchapter and in
determining the charge, deposit, or bond required for making public
information that exists in a paper record available for inspection
as authorized by Sections 552.271(c) and (d). The rules adopted by
the Texas Building and Procurement [General Services] Commission
shall be used by each governmental body in determining charges for
providing copies of public information and in determining the
charge, deposit, or bond required for making public information
that exists in a paper record available for inspection, except to
the extent that other law provides for charges for specific kinds of
public information. The charges for providing copies of public
information may not be excessive and may not exceed the actual cost
of producing the information or for making public information that
exists in a paper record available. A governmental body, other than
an agency of state government, may determine its own charges for
providing copies of public information and its own charge, deposit,
or bond for making public information that exists in a paper record
available for inspection but may not charge an amount that is
greater than 25 percent more than the amount established by the
Texas Building and Procurement [General Services] Commission
unless the governmental body requests an exemption under Subsection
(c).
(b) The rules of the Texas Building and Procurement [General
Services] Commission shall prescribe the methods for computing the
charges for providing copies of public information in paper,
electronic, and other kinds of media and the charge, deposit, or
bond required for making public information that exists in a paper
record available for inspection. The rules shall establish costs
for various components of charges for providing copies of public
information that shall be used by each governmental body in
providing copies of public information or making public information
that exists in a paper record available for inspection.
(c) A governmental body may request that it be exempt from
part or all of the rules adopted by the Texas Building and
Procurement [General Services] Commission for determining charges
for providing copies of public information or the charge, deposit,
or bond required for making public information that exists in a
paper record available for inspection. The request must be made in
writing to the Texas Building and Procurement [General Services]
Commission and must state the reason for the exemption. If the
Texas Building and Procurement [General Services] Commission
determines that good cause exists for exempting a governmental body
from a part or all of the rules, the commission shall give written
notice of the determination to the governmental body within 90 days
of the request. On receipt of the determination, the governmental
body may amend its charges for providing copies of public
information or its charge, deposit, or bond required for making
public information that exists in a paper record available for
inspection according to the determination of the Texas Building and
Procurement [General Services] Commission.
(d) The Texas Building and Procurement [General Services]
Commission shall publish annually in the Texas Register a list of
the governmental bodies that have authorization from the Texas
Building and Procurement [General Services] Commission to adopt any
modified rules for determining the cost of providing copies of
public information or making public information that exists in a
paper record available for inspection.
(e) The rules of the Texas Building and Procurement [General
Services] Commission do not apply to a state governmental body that
is not a state agency for purposes of Subtitle D, Title 10.
SECTION 8. Section 552.274, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.274. REPORTS BY TEXAS BUILDING AND PROCUREMENT
[GENERAL SERVICES] COMMISSION AND STATE AGENCIES ON COST OF COPIES.
(a) The Texas Building and Procurement [General Services]
Commission shall:
(1) biennially update a report prepared by the
commission about the charges made by state agencies for providing
copies of public information; and
(2) provide a copy of the updated report on the
commission's open records page on the Internet [to each state
agency] not later than March 1 of each even-numbered year.
(b) [Not later than December 1 of each odd-numbered year,
each state agency shall provide the General Services Commission
detailed information, for use by the commission in preparing the
report required by Subsection (a), describing the agency's
procedures for charging and collecting fees for providing copies of
public information.
[(c)] Before the 30th day after the date on which a regular
session of the legislature convenes, each state agency shall issue
a report that describes that agency's procedures for charging and
collecting fees for providing copies of public information. A
state agency may comply with this subsection by posting the report
on the agency's open records page or another easily accessible page
on the agency's website on the Internet.
(c) [(d)] In this section, "state agency" has the meaning
assigned by Sections 2151.002(2)(A) and (C).
SECTION 9. Section 552.301, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) A governmental body that submits written comments to
the attorney general under Subsection (e)(1)(A) shall send a copy
of those comments to the person who requested the information from
the governmental body. If the written comments disclose or contain
the substance of the information requested, the copy of the
comments provided to the person must be a redacted copy.
SECTION 10. Section 552.302, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.302. FAILURE TO MAKE TIMELY REQUEST FOR ATTORNEY
GENERAL DECISION; PRESUMPTION THAT INFORMATION IS PUBLIC. If a
governmental body does not request an attorney general decision as
provided by Section 552.301 and provide the requestor with the
information required by Sections [Section] 552.301(d) and (e-1),
the information requested in writing is presumed to be subject to
required public disclosure and must be released unless there is a
compelling reason to withhold the information.
SECTION 11. Section 552.304, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.304. SUBMISSION OF PUBLIC COMMENTS. (a) A person
may submit written comments stating reasons why the information at
issue in a request for an attorney general decision should or should
not be released.
(b) A person who submits written comments to the attorney
general under Subsection (a) shall send a copy of those comments to
both the person who requested the information from the governmental
body and the governmental body. If the written comments submitted
to the attorney general disclose or contain the substance of the
information requested from the governmental body, the copy of the
comments sent to the person who requested the information must be a
redacted copy.
(c) In this section, "written comments" includes a letter, a
memorandum, or a brief.
SECTION 12. Section 405.031(d), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) The fees established by the Texas Building and
Procurement [State Purchasing and General Services] Commission
under Chapter 552[,] apply to uncertified copies of records in the
secretary of state's office.
SECTION 13. Section 402.081(d), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The commission may charge a reasonable fee for making
available for inspection any of its information that contains
confidential information that must be redacted before the
information is made available. However, when a request for
information is for the inspection of 10 or fewer pages, and a copy
of the information is not requested, the commission may charge only
the cost of making a copy of the page from which confidential
information must be redacted. The fee for access to information
under Chapter 552, Government Code, shall be in accord with the
rules of the Texas Building and Procurement [General Services]
Commission that prescribe the method for computing the charge for
copies under that chapter.
SECTION 14. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter
552, Government Code, apply only in relation to a request for public
information made under that chapter on or after the effective date
of this Act. A request for public information made under Chapter
552, Government Code, that is made before the effective date of this
Act is governed by that chapter as it existed immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2005.