85R10915 TJB-F
 
  By: Ashby H.B. No. 3107
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the production of public information under the public
  information law.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 552.221, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  A request is considered to have been withdrawn if the
  requestor fails to inspect or duplicate the public information in
  the offices of the governmental body on or before the 60th day after
  the date the information is made available or fails to pay the
  postage and any other applicable charges accrued under Subchapter F
  on or before the 60th day after the date the requestor is informed
  of the charges.
         SECTION 2.  Section 552.261, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, all
  requests received in one calendar day from an individual may be
  treated as a single request for purposes of calculating costs under
  this chapter. A governmental body may not combine multiple requests
  under this subsection from separate individuals who submit requests
  on behalf of an organization.
         SECTION 3.  Section 552.275, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), (g), (h), and (j) and
  adding Subsections (a-1), (e-1), and (m) to read as follows:
         (a)  A governmental body may establish [a] reasonable
  monthly and yearly limits [limit] on the amount of time that
  personnel of the governmental body are required to spend producing
  public information for inspection or duplication by a requestor, or
  providing copies of public information to a requestor, without
  recovering its costs attributable to that personnel time.
         (a-1)  For purposes of this section, all county officials who
  have designated the same officer for public information may
  calculate the amount of time that personnel are required to spend
  collectively for purposes of the monthly or yearly limit.
         (b)  A yearly time limit established under Subsection (a) may
  not be less than 36 hours for a requestor during the 12-month period
  that corresponds to the fiscal year of the governmental body. A
  monthly time limit established under Subsection (a) may not be less
  than 15 hours for a requestor for a one-month period.
         (d)  If a governmental body establishes a time limit under
  Subsection (a), each time the governmental body complies with a
  request for public information, the governmental body shall provide
  the requestor with a written statement of the amount of personnel
  time spent complying with that request and the cumulative amount of
  time spent complying with requests for public information from that
  requestor during the applicable monthly or yearly [12-month]
  period. The amount of time spent preparing the written statement
  may not be included in the amount of time included in the statement
  provided to the requestor under this subsection.
         (e)  Subject to Subsection (e-1), if [If] in connection with
  a request for public information, the cumulative amount of
  personnel time spent complying with requests for public information
  from the same requestor equals or exceeds the limit established by
  the governmental body under Subsection (a), the governmental body
  shall provide the requestor with a written estimate of the total
  cost, including materials, personnel time, and overhead expenses,
  necessary to comply with the request. The written estimate must be
  provided to the requestor on or before the 10th day after the date
  on which the public information was requested. The amount of this
  charge relating to the cost of locating, compiling, and producing
  the public information shall be established by rules prescribed by
  the attorney general under Sections 552.262(a) and (b).
         (e-1)  This subsection applies only to a request made by a
  requestor who has made a previous request to a governmental body
  that has not been withdrawn, for which the governmental body has
  located and compiled documents in response, and for which the
  governmental body has issued a statement under Subsection (e) that
  remains unpaid on the date the requestor submits the new request. A
  governmental body is not required to locate, compile, produce, or
  provide copies of documents or prepare a statement under Subsection
  (e) in response to a new request described by this subsection until
  the date the requestor pays each unpaid statement issued under
  Subsection (e) in connection with a previous request or withdraws
  the previous request to which the statement applies.
         (g)  If a governmental body provides a requestor with the
  written statement under Subsection (e) and the time limits
  prescribed by Subsection (a) regarding the requestor have been
  exceeded, the governmental body is not required to produce public
  information for inspection or duplication or to provide copies of
  public information in response to the requestor's request unless on
  or before the 10th day after the date the governmental body provided
  the written statement under that subsection, the requestor submits
  [a statement in writing to the governmental body in which the
  requestor commits to pay the     lesser of:
               [(1)     the actual costs incurred in complying with the
  requestor's request, including the cost of materials and personnel
  time and overhead; or
               [(2)] payment of  the amount stated in the written
  statement provided under Subsection (e).
         (h)  If the requestor fails or refuses to submit payment [the
  written statement] under Subsection (g), the requestor is
  considered to have withdrawn the requestor's pending request for
  public information.
         (j)  This section does not apply if the requestor is an
  individual who, for a substantial portion of the individual's
  livelihood or for substantial financial gain, gathers, compiles,
  prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports,
  investigates, processes, or publishes news or information for and
  is seeking the information for dissemination by a news medium or
  communication service provider, including:
               (1)  an individual who supervises or assists in
  gathering, preparing, and disseminating the news or information; or
               (2)  an individual who is or was a journalist, scholar,
  or researcher employed by an institution of higher education at the
  time the person made the request for information [a radio or
  television broadcast station that holds a broadcast license for an
  assigned frequency issued by the Federal Communications
  Commission;
               [(2)     a newspaper that is qualified under Section
  2051.044 to publish legal notices or is a free newspaper of general
  circulation and that is published at least once a week and available
  and of interest to the general public in connection with the
  dissemination of news;
               [(3)     a newspaper of general circulation that is
  published on the Internet by a news medium engaged in the business
  of disseminating news or information to the general public; or
               [(4)     a magazine that is published at least once a week
  or on the Internet by a news medium engaged in the business of
  disseminating news or information to the general public].
         (m)  In this section:
               (1)  "Communication service provider" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 22.021, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
               (2)  "News medium" means a newspaper, magazine or
  periodical, a book publisher, a news agency, a wire service, an
  FCC-licensed radio or television station or a network of such
  stations, a cable, satellite, or other transmission system or
  carrier or channel, or a channel or programming service for a
  station, network, system, or carrier, or an audio or audiovisual
  production company or Internet company or provider, or the parent,
  subsidiary, division, or affiliate of that entity, that
  disseminates news or information to the public by any means,
  including:
                     (A)  print; 
                     (B)  television; 
                     (C)  radio; 
                     (D)  photographic; 
                     (E)  mechanical; 
                     (F)  electronic; and 
                     (G)  other means, known or unknown, that are
  accessible to the public. 
         SECTION 4.  Section 552.3215(i), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (i)  If the district or county attorney determines not to
  bring an action under this section, the complainant is entitled to
  file the complaint with the attorney general before the 31st day
  after the date the complaint is returned to the complainant. A
  complainant is entitled to file a complaint with the attorney
  general on or after the 90th day after the date the complainant
  files the complaint with a district or county attorney if the
  district or county attorney has not brought an action under this
  section. On receipt of the written complaint, the attorney general
  shall comply with each requirement in Subsections (g) and (h) in the
  time required by those subsections. If the attorney general
  decides to bring an action under this section against a
  governmental body located only in one county in response to the
  complaint, the attorney general must comply with Subsection (c).
         SECTION 5.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a request for information that is received by a governmental body or
  an officer for public information on or after the effective date of
  this Act. A request for information that was received before the
  effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
  date the request was received, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.