Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4144 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R10926 TJB-F
2	2	By: Paddie H.B. No. 4144
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the applicability of the public information law.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 552.003(6), Government Code, is amended
10	10	to read as follows:
11	11	(6) "Requestor" means a person who:
12	12	(A) submits a request to a governmental body for
13	13	inspection or copies of public information; or
14	14	(B) submits a request to an organization,
15	15	corporation, commission, committee, institution, or agency for
16	16	inspection or copies of information with a written assertion that
17	17	the entity is a governmental body.
18	18	SECTION 2. Section 552.301, Government Code, is amended by
19	19	adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
20	20	(h) An organization, corporation, commission, committee,
21	21	institution, or agency that asserts that it is not a governmental
22	22	body and that receives a written request for information from a
23	23	requestor under this chapter must ask for a decision from the
24	24	attorney general about whether the entity is a governmental body if
25	25	there has not been a previous determination on that question. The
26	26	provisions of this subchapter that govern a request for a decision
27	27	made under Subsection (a) apply to a request for a decision made
28	28	under this subsection to the extent those provisions are applicable
29	29	to the request made under this subsection. If the attorney general
30	30	determines that the entity is a governmental body, the written
31	31	request from the requestor is considered received by the entity for
32	32	purposes of this chapter on the date the decision is rendered under
33	33	Section 552.306. The attorney general may adopt rules necessary to
34	34	implement this subsection.
35	35	SECTION 3. Section 552.306(a), Government Code, is amended
36	36	to read as follows:
37	37	(a) Except as provided by Section 552.011, the attorney
38	38	general shall promptly render a decision requested under this
39	39	subchapter, consistent with the standards of due process,
40	40	determining whether the requested information is within one of the
41	41	exceptions of Subchapter C or, if applicable, whether the entity
42	42	requesting the decision under Section 552.301(h) is a governmental
43	43	body. The attorney general shall render the decision not later than
44	44	the 45th business day after the date the attorney general received
45	45	the request for a decision. If the attorney general is unable to
46	46	issue the decision within the 45-day period, the attorney general
47	47	may extend the period for issuing the decision by an additional 10
48	48	business days by informing the governmental body or entity
49	49	described by Section 552.301(h), as applicable, and the requestor,
50	50	during the original 45-day period, of the reason for the delay.
51	51	SECTION 4. Section 552.324, Government Code, is amended to
52	52	read as follows:
53	53	Sec. 552.324. SUIT BY GOVERNMENTAL BODY OR CERTAIN OTHER
54	54	ENTITIES. (a) The only suit a governmental body may file seeking
55	55	to withhold information from a requestor or that an entity
56	56	described by Section 552.301(h) may file regarding a request
57	57	received from a requestor is a suit that:
58	58	(1) is filed in a Travis County district court against
59	59	the attorney general in accordance with Section 552.325; and
60	60	(2) seeks declaratory relief from compliance with a
61	61	decision by the attorney general issued under Subchapter G.
62	62	(b) The governmental body or entity described by Section
63	63	552.301(h) must bring the suit not later than the 30th calendar day
64	64	after the date the governmental body or entity receives the
65	65	decision of the attorney general under Section 552.306 [determining
66	66	that the requested information must be disclosed to the requestor].
67	67	If the governmental body or entity does not bring suit within that
68	68	period, the governmental body or entity shall comply with the
69	69	decision of the attorney general. If a governmental body wishes to
70	70	preserve an affirmative defense for its officer for public
71	71	information as provided in Section 552.353(b)(3), suit must be
72	72	filed within the deadline provided in Section 552.353(b)(3).
73	73	SECTION 5. Section 552.325(a), Government Code, is amended
74	74	to read as follows:
75	75	(a) A governmental body, officer for public information, or
76	76	other person or entity that files a suit seeking to withhold
77	77	information from a requestor may not file suit against the person
78	78	requesting the information. An entity described by Section
79	79	552.301(h) that files a suit seeking to withhold information on the
80	80	basis that it is not a governmental body or seeking to establish
81	81	that it is not a governmental body may not file suit against the
82	82	person requesting the information. The requestor is entitled to
83	83	intervene in the suit.
84	84	SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
85	85	to a request for public information received on or after the
86	86	effective date of this Act. A request for public information
87	87	received before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
88	88	law in effect when the request was received, and the former law is
89	89	continued in effect for that purpose.
90	90	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.