| 1 | 1 | | 86R6267 BEF-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Johnson, Watson S.B. No. 1317 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to maintenance and production of electronic public |
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| 8 | 8 | | information under the public information law. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 552, Government Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended by adding Section 552.2285 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 552.2285. ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION. (a) In this |
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| 13 | 13 | | section "electronic public information" means public information |
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| 14 | 14 | | maintained in electronic form by a governmental body. The term |
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| 15 | 15 | | includes electronic records and data from database fields. |
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| 16 | 16 | | (b) A governmental body's use of an electronic |
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| 17 | 17 | | recordkeeping system may not erode the public's right of access to |
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| 18 | 18 | | public information under this chapter. |
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| 19 | 19 | | (c) If a request for public information applies to |
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| 20 | 20 | | electronic public information, the governmental body shall |
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| 21 | 21 | | provide, in the manner described by this section, an electronic |
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| 22 | 22 | | copy of the requested electronic public information using computer |
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| 23 | 23 | | software the governmental body has in its possession. If the |
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| 24 | 24 | | requestor prefers, the governmental body shall provide a copy of |
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| 25 | 25 | | electronic public information in the form of a paper printout. |
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| 26 | 26 | | (d) A governmental body may not refuse to provide a copy of |
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| 27 | 27 | | electronic public information on the grounds that exporting the |
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| 28 | 28 | | information or redacting excepted information will require |
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| 29 | 29 | | inputting range, search, filter, report parameters, or similar |
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| 30 | 30 | | commands or instructions into the governmental body's computer |
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| 31 | 31 | | system if the commands or instructions can be executed with |
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| 32 | 32 | | computer software used by the governmental body in the ordinary |
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| 33 | 33 | | course of business to access, support, or otherwise manage the |
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| 34 | 34 | | information. |
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| 35 | 35 | | (e) A requestor may request that a copy of electronic public |
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| 36 | 36 | | information be provided in the format in which the information is |
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| 37 | 37 | | maintained by the governmental body or in a standard export format |
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| 38 | 38 | | such as a flat file electronic American Standard Code for |
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| 39 | 39 | | Information Interchange (ASCII) if the governmental body's |
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| 40 | 40 | | computer programs support exporting the information in that format. |
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| 41 | 41 | | The governmental body shall provide the copy in the requested |
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| 42 | 42 | | format or in another format acceptable to the requestor. The |
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| 43 | 43 | | governmental body shall provide the copy on suitable electronic |
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| 44 | 44 | | media. |
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| 45 | 45 | | (f) If electronic public information is maintained by a |
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| 46 | 46 | | governmental body in a format that is: |
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| 47 | 47 | | (1) neither searchable nor sortable, the governmental |
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| 48 | 48 | | body shall provide an electronic copy of the information in a format |
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| 49 | 49 | | that complies with this section; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (2) searchable but not sortable, the governmental body |
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| 51 | 51 | | shall provide an electronic copy of the information in a searchable |
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| 52 | 52 | | format that complies with this section; or |
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| 53 | 53 | | (3) sortable, the governmental body shall provide an |
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| 54 | 54 | | electronic copy of the information in a sortable format that |
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| 55 | 55 | | complies with this section. |
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| 56 | 56 | | (g) A governmental body may not enter into a contract for |
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| 57 | 57 | | the creation or maintenance of electronic public information that |
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| 58 | 58 | | impairs the public's ability to inspect or copy the information, |
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| 59 | 59 | | including a contract for the creation of a publicly accessible |
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| 60 | 60 | | version of information that is more difficult for the public to |
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| 61 | 61 | | inspect or copy than records maintained by the governmental body. |
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| 62 | 62 | | (h) This section applies to public information for which a |
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| 63 | 63 | | third party is the custodian for the governmental body. |
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| 64 | 64 | | SECTION 2. Sections 552.228(b) and (c), Government Code, |
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| 65 | 65 | | are repealed. |
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| 66 | 66 | | SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 67 | 67 | | a request for public information received by a governmental body on |
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| 68 | 68 | | or after the effective date of this Act. A request received before |
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| 69 | 69 | | that date is governed by the law in effect when the request was |
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| 70 | 70 | | received, and the former law is continued in effect for that |
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| 71 | 71 | | purpose. |
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| 72 | 72 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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