86R6267 BEF-D
By: Johnson, Watson S.B. No. 1317
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to maintenance and production of electronic public
information under the public information law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.2285 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.2285. ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION. (a) In this
section "electronic public information" means public information
maintained in electronic form by a governmental body. The term
includes electronic records and data from database fields.
(b) A governmental body's use of an electronic
recordkeeping system may not erode the public's right of access to
public information under this chapter.
(c) If a request for public information applies to
electronic public information, the governmental body shall
provide, in the manner described by this section, an electronic
copy of the requested electronic public information using computer
software the governmental body has in its possession. If the
requestor prefers, the governmental body shall provide a copy of
electronic public information in the form of a paper printout.
(d) A governmental body may not refuse to provide a copy of
electronic public information on the grounds that exporting the
information or redacting excepted information will require
inputting range, search, filter, report parameters, or similar
commands or instructions into the governmental body's computer
system if the commands or instructions can be executed with
computer software used by the governmental body in the ordinary
course of business to access, support, or otherwise manage the
information.
(e) A requestor may request that a copy of electronic public
information be provided in the format in which the information is
maintained by the governmental body or in a standard export format
such as a flat file electronic American Standard Code for
Information Interchange (ASCII) if the governmental body's
computer programs support exporting the information in that format.
The governmental body shall provide the copy in the requested
format or in another format acceptable to the requestor. The
governmental body shall provide the copy on suitable electronic
media.
(f) If electronic public information is maintained by a
governmental body in a format that is:
(1) neither searchable nor sortable, the governmental
body shall provide an electronic copy of the information in a format
that complies with this section;
(2) searchable but not sortable, the governmental body
shall provide an electronic copy of the information in a searchable
format that complies with this section; or
(3) sortable, the governmental body shall provide an
electronic copy of the information in a sortable format that
complies with this section.
(g) A governmental body may not enter into a contract for
the creation or maintenance of electronic public information that
impairs the public's ability to inspect or copy the information,
including a contract for the creation of a publicly accessible
version of information that is more difficult for the public to
inspect or copy than records maintained by the governmental body.
(h) This section applies to public information for which a
third party is the custodian for the governmental body.
SECTION 2. Sections 552.228(b) and (c), Government Code,
are repealed.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a request for public information received by a governmental body on
or after the effective date of this Act. A request received before
that date is governed by the law in effect when the request was
received, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.