BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.H.B. 2328 |
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By: Lucio III |
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Government Transparency & Operation |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that the number of decisions the attorney general has issued regarding whether a governmental body can withhold information requested under state public information law suggests that such requests are subject to considerable administrative delay. C.S.H.B. 2328 seeks to reduce this delay by providing governmental bodies with an alternative, expedited process for withholding information determined to be excepted from required public disclosure.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2328 amends the Government Code to authorize a governmental body that receives a written request for information and complies with the bill's requirements to withhold any information the body makes a good faith determination is excepted from required public disclosure under state public information law without the necessity of requesting a decision from the attorney general. The bill prohibits a governmental body from responding to a request in such a manner if the requested information may involve the privacy or property interests of a third party. The bill requires a governmental body that so withholds such information to respond to the requestor not later than the fifth business day after the date the governmental body receives a written request for that information by providing the requestor all applicable information not excepted from disclosure, certain specified information relating to the withholding, and a notice form promulgated by the attorney general relating to the procedure to appeal such withholding. The bill requires the governmental body to retain, at a minimum, an electronic or paper copy of such notice form for the length of time the governmental body retains the request for information.
C.S.H.B. 2328 authorizes a requestor on receipt of such a response to appeal the withholding of information in the response not later than the 30th calendar day after the date the requestor receives the response and requires the requestor to submit the appeal to the responding governmental body on the appeal form provided to the requestor as part of the response. The bill considers such an appeal to be a new request and subjects such an appeal to the procedural requirements of the bill's provisions relating to a request for the attorney general's decision in response to an appeal. The bill prohibits a governmental body from seeking to narrow or clarify such an appeal under statutory provisions authorizing a governmental body to ask a requestor to clarify an unclear request or discuss with a requestor how to narrow the scope of a large request and from responding to a requestor under statutory provisions relating to responding to repetitious or redundant requests in response to such an appeal. The bill requires a governmental body to request an attorney general decision to withhold information described by statutory provisions authorizing the redaction of certain information in response to such an appeal.
C.S.H.B. 2328 establishes that such an appeal is subject to state public information law and that an attorney general's decision requested under the bill's provisions in response to such an appeal is considered to be a decision by the attorney general under state public information law. The bill requires a governmental body that receives such an appeal to submit to the attorney general, within a reasonable time but not later than the 10th business day after the date the governmental body receives the appeal, a request for the attorney general's decision regarding the appeal along with certain specified information to enable the attorney general to make such decision, including written comments stating the reasons why stated exceptions apply that would allow the information to be withheld, and to send a copy of such comments to the requestor within a reasonable time but not later than the 10th business day after the date the governmental body receives the appeal. The bill requires such copy to be redacted if the written comments disclose or contain the substance of the information requested.
C.S.H.B. 2328 requires the public information officer for a governmental body that responds to a request under the bill's provisions, or the officer's designee, to have completed in the four years preceding the response a course of training of not less than four hours or more than six hours regarding the responsibilities of the governmental body under the bill's provisions. The bill requires the attorney general to ensure that the training is made available and to prepare and from time to time revise at least one course of training that is available in an online presentation format. The bill authorizes the online training to be broken into separate sections and requires the online training to provide a means to verify that that trainee observed and comprehended the full online training session or, if applicable, each section of the training. The bill sets out the minimum requirements for such training and requires the office of the attorney general to provide a certificate to a person who completes the training and to keep records of the training certificates issued. The bill requires the public information officer for a governmental body with its main offices located in a county with a population of 250,000 or less, or the officer's designee, to complete the training either in person or online and requires the public information officer for a governmental body with its main offices located in a county with a population of more than 250,000, or the officer's designee, to complete the training in person from the office of the attorney general. The bill requires a governmental body to maintain the training certificate of any individual who provides a confirmation that the individual reviewed and approved a governmental body's response to a request for public information that withheld certain information under the bill's provisions and to make the certificate available for public inspection.
C.S.H.B. 2328 authorizes the office of the attorney general in its sole discretion to revoke a governmental body's authorization to respond under the bill's provisions or the training certificate issued to an individual responsible for the governmental body's failure if the attorney general determines that the governmental body failed to comply with the requirements of state public information law. The bill requires the attorney general to create a notice of revocation form and to inform a governmental body that the attorney general has so revoked the governmental body's authorization or an individual that the attorney general has so revoked the individual's training certificate by sending the form by certified mail or by another written method of notice that requires the return of a receipt. The bill requires the notice of revocation provided to a governmental body to inform the governmental body of the length of time the governmental body's revocation is in effect and caps that period at six months from the date the governmental body receives the form. The bill requires the notice of revocation form provided to an individual to inform the individual that the attorney general has so revoked the individual's training certificate and requires the individual to repeat the course of training under the bill's provisions to obtain a new training certificate. The bill prohibits an individual employed by a governmental body when the governmental body's authorization to respond under the bill's provisions is revoked who obtains employment at a different governmental body with such authorization from providing a confirmation that the individual reviewed and approved the body's response to a request for public information that withheld certain information under the bill's provisions until the revocation period for the initial governmental body has expired. The bill requires the office of the attorney general to publish on its website a list of the governmental bodies that are not authorized to respond to a request under the bill's provisions because their authorization has been so revoked and a list that provides the first and last names of individuals who hold an active training certificate issued under the bill's provisions, the date each individual's training was completed, and the date each individual's training certificate expires.
C.S.H.B. 2328 requires the attorney general, for the 2018-2019 state fiscal biennium, to collect data detailing the number of requests for decisions in response to appeals the attorney general receives under the bill's provisions, the number of individuals who complete training under the bill's provisions, the number of governmental bodies that have their authorization to respond under the bill's provisions revoked, and the number of individuals who have their training certificates revoked. The bill requires the attorney general to make such data available on the attorney general's website for open records not later than February 1, 2019. These provisions expire September 1, 2019.
C.S.H.B. 2328 requires a governmental body's public information officer or the officer's designee to hold an active training certificate issued under the bill's provisions before the body may respond to a request under the bill's provisions and prohibits a body that has had its authorization to rely on the bill's provisions revoked by the office of the attorney general under the bill's provisions from so responding.
C.S.H.B. 2328 establishes as an affirmative defense to prosecution for the distribution of confidential information that the defendant released information under the bill's provisions and did not release confidential information intentionally, as such mental state is defined by the Penal Code.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2328 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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