By: Wentworth S.B. No. 669
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requests to inspect or be provided with copies of
information under the public information law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivision (2), Section 552.003, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(2) "Manipulation" means the process of modifying,
reordering, or decoding of information with human intervention.
The term includes a search of one or more e-mail or text message
accounts and the retrieval and transfer of e-mails or text messages
that are responsive to a request for public information into a paper
or other format that can be provided to or inspected by the
requestor.
SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 552.221, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) An officer for public information complies with
Subsection (a) by:
(1) providing the public information for inspection or
duplication in the offices of the governmental body; [or]
(2) 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;
(3)(A) informing the person requesting the
information, in writing, that the public information is available
on an Internet website that is:
(i) owned, controlled, or maintained by the
governmental body; and
(ii) accessible to members of the general
public;
(B) providing the person, in writing, the exact
Internet location or uniform resource locator (URL) address where
the person can access the public information; and
(C) if the person informs the governmental body
that the person does not have access to the Internet, providing the
person the choice of:
(i) access to a computer terminal at no
charge so that the person can access the public information on the
Internet website; or
(ii) a copy of the public information in
another medium that is acceptable to the requestor; or
(4)(A) posting the public information on an Internet
website that is:
(i) owned, controlled, or maintained by the
governmental body; and
(ii) accessible to members of the general
public;
(B) informing the person requesting the
information, in writing, that the public information is available
on the Internet website;
(C) providing the person, in writing, the exact
Internet location or uniform resource locator (URL) address where
the person can access the public information; and
(D) if the person informs the governmental body
that the person does not have access to the Internet, providing the
person the choice of:
(i) access to a computer terminal at no
charge so that the person can access the public information on the
Internet website; or
(ii) a copy of the public information in
another medium that is acceptable to the requestor.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 552.228, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) It shall be a policy of a governmental body to provide a
suitable copy of public information within a reasonable time after
the date on which the copy is requested. This policy of a
governmental body is considered to be fulfilled if the governmental
body complies with Section 552.221(b).
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 552.261, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The charge for providing a copy of public information
shall be an amount that reasonably includes all costs related to
reproducing the public information, including costs of materials,
labor, and overhead. Except as provided by Section 552.275(e), if
[If] a request is for 50 or fewer pages of paper records, the charge
for providing the copy of the public information may not include
costs of materials, labor, or overhead, but shall be limited to the
charge for each page of the paper record that is photocopied, unless
the pages to be photocopied are located in:
(1) two or more separate buildings that are not
physically connected with each other; or
(2) a remote storage facility.
SECTION 5. Section 552.263, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) If a requestor modifies the request in response to the
requirement of a deposit or bond authorized by this section, the
modified request is considered a separate request for the purposes
of this chapter and is considered received on the date the
governmental body receives the written modified request.
SECTION 6. Subchapter F, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.276 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.276. MULTIPLE REQUESTS TO A GOVERNMENTAL BODY.
(a) Notwithstanding Sections 552.261, 552.262, 552.271, and
552.272, a governmental body may require payment of the actual
costs incurred in responding to a request for public information
if, on the date the governmental body receives the request, the
requestor has submitted to the governmental body seven or more
written requests for information during the preceding 31 calendar
days.
(b) If a governmental body requires payment of actual costs
in connection with a request for public information described by
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.
(c) If a governmental body provides a requestor with the
written statement under Subsection (b), 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
actual costs incurred in complying with the requestor's request.
(d) If the requestor fails or refuses to submit the written
statement under Subsection (c), the requestor is considered to have
withdrawn the requestor's pending request for public information.
(e) An officer for public information or the officer's agent
may require a deposit or bond for payment of unpaid amounts owing to
the governmental body in relation to previous requests in which the
requestor agreed to make a payment as provided by Subsection (c)
before responding to a new request. The officer for public
information or the officer's agent may not seek payment of those
unpaid amounts through any other means.
(f) The governmental body must fully document the existence
and amount of those unpaid amounts or the amount of any anticipated
costs, as applicable, before requiring a deposit or bond under this
section. The documentation is subject to required public
disclosure under this chapter.
(g) The attorney general by rule shall define "actual costs"
for the purpose of this section.
(h) This section does not prohibit a governmental body from
providing a copy of public information without charge or at a
reduced rate under Section 552.267 or from waiving a charge for
providing a copy of public information under that section.
(i) 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:
(1) 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.
(j) This section does not apply if the requestor is an
elected official of the United States, this state, or a political
subdivision of this state.
(k) This section does not apply if the requestor is a
representative of a publicly funded legal services organization
that is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(a),
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, by being listed as an
exempt entity under Section 501(c)(3) of that code.
SECTION 7. 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 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.