Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3581 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R10929 BEF-F
2	2	By: Capriglione H.B. No. 3581
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the availability of certain electronic information
8	8	under the public information law.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 552.003, Government Code, is amended by
11	11	amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivisions (1-a) and (5-a) to
12	12	read as follows:
13	13	(1) "File format" means the specifications by which
14	14	information in electronic form is encoded for storage in a computer
15	15	file, including the file type and file extension.
16	16	(1-a) "Governmental body":
17	17	(A) means:
18	18	(i) a board, commission, department,
19	19	committee, institution, agency, or office that is within or is
20	20	created by the executive or legislative branch of state government
21	21	and that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members;
22	22	(ii) a county commissioners court in the
23	23	state;
24	24	(iii) a municipal governing body in the
25	25	state;
26	26	(iv) a deliberative body that has
27	27	rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a
28	28	department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or
29	29	municipality;
30	30	(v) a school district board of trustees;
31	31	(vi) a county board of school trustees;
32	32	(vii) a county board of education;
33	33	(viii) the governing board of a special
34	34	district;
35	35	(ix) the governing body of a nonprofit
36	36	corporation organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that provides a
37	37	water supply or wastewater service, or both, and is exempt from ad
38	38	valorem taxation under Section 11.30, Tax Code;
39	39	(x) a local workforce development board
40	40	created under Section 2308.253;
41	41	(xi) a nonprofit corporation that is
42	42	eligible to receive funds under the federal community services
43	43	block grant program and that is authorized by this state to serve a
44	44	geographic area of the state; and
45	45	(xii) the part, section, or portion of an
46	46	organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or
47	47	agency that spends or that is supported in whole or in part by
48	48	public funds; and
49	49	(B) does not include the judiciary.
50	50	(5-a) "Record layout" means:
51	51	(A) a description of the type or category of
52	52	information held in each field of a data file;
53	53	(B) the location of data in a data file; and
54	54	(C) the number of characters in each field of a
55	55	data file, if available.
56	56	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
57	57	amended by adding Section 552.0224 to read as follows:
58	58	Sec. 552.0224. RIGHT OF ACCESS TO RECORD LAYOUT.
59	59	Notwithstanding any other law, the record layout of a data file
60	60	maintained by a governmental body or by a vendor or other entity on
61	61	behalf of a governmental body:
62	62	(1) is public information;
63	63	(2) is not confidential; and
64	64	(3) is not excepted from required disclosure.
65	65	SECTION 3. Section 552.228, Government Code, is amended by
66	66	amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
67	67	read as follows:
68	68	(b) If public information exists in an electronic form or
69	69	magnetic medium, the requestor may request a copy:
70	70	(1) in an electronic medium, such as on diskette or on
71	71	magnetic tape; or
72	72	(2) in a specific file format, including the file
73	73	format used by the governmental body to maintain the information,
74	74	along with the record layout of and instructions for accessing the
75	75	file provided.
76	76	(b-1) A governmental body shall provide a copy in the
77	77	requested medium or file format if:
78	78	(1) the governmental body has the technological
79	79	ability to produce a copy of the requested information in the
80	80	requested medium or file format;
81	81	(2) the governmental body is not required to purchase
82	82	any software or hardware to accommodate the request; and
83	83	(3) provision of a copy of the information in the
84	84	requested medium or file format will not violate the terms of any
85	85	copyright agreement between the governmental body and a third
86	86	party.
87	87	(c) If a governmental body is unable to comply with a
88	88	request to produce a copy of information in a requested medium or
89	89	file format for any of the reasons described by this section, the
90	90	governmental body shall provide a copy in another medium or file
91	91	format that is acceptable to the requestor. A governmental body is
92	92	not required to copy information onto a diskette or other material
93	93	provided by the requestor but may use its own supplies.
94	94	SECTION 4. Sections 552.231(a), (b), and (d), Government
95	95	Code, are amended to read as follows:
96	96	(a) A governmental body shall provide to a requestor the
97	97	written statement described by Subsection (b) if the governmental
98	98	body determines:
99	99	(1) that responding to a request for public
100	100	information will require programming or manipulation of data; and
101	101	(2) that:
102	102	(A) compliance with the request is not feasible
103	103	or will result in substantial interference with its ongoing
104	104	operations; or
105	105	(B) the information could be made available in
106	106	the requested form or file format only at a cost that covers the
107	107	programming and manipulation of data.
108	108	(b) The written statement must include:
109	109	(1) a statement that the information is not available
110	110	in the requested form or file format;
111	111	(2) a description of the forms or file formats [form]
112	112	in which the information is available or may be made available;
113	113	(3) a description of any contract or services that
114	114	would be required to provide the information in the requested form
115	115	or file format;
116	116	(4) a statement of the estimated cost of providing the
117	117	information in the requested form or file format, as determined in
118	118	accordance with the rules established by the attorney general under
119	119	Section 552.262; and
120	120	(5) a detailed description of each specific
121	121	programming or manipulation task required to provide the
122	122	information in the requested form or file format and a statement of
123	123	the anticipated time required to perform each task [provide the
124	124	information in the requested form].
125	125	(d) On providing the written statement to the requestor as
126	126	required by this section, the governmental body does not have any
127	127	further obligation to provide the information in the requested form
128	128	or file format or in the form or file format in which it is available
129	129	unless within 30 days the requestor states in writing to the
130	130	governmental body that the requestor:
131	131	(1) wants the governmental body to provide the
132	132	information in the requested form or file format according to the
133	133	cost and time parameters set out in the statement or according to
134	134	other terms to which the requestor and the governmental body agree;
135	135	or
136	136	(2) wants the information in the form or file format in
137	137	which it is available.
138	138	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
139	139	a request for information received by a governmental body on or
140	140	after the effective date of this Act. A request received before the
141	141	effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
142	142	request was received, and the former law is continued in effect for
143	143	that purpose.
144	144	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.