87R4572 SGM-F
By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1491
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the electronic submission of requests for attorney
general decisions under the public information law; authorizing a
fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.3031 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.3031. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF REQUEST FOR
ATTORNEY GENERAL DECISION. (a) This section does not apply to a
request for an attorney general decision made under this subchapter
if:
(1) the governmental body requesting the decision:
(A) has fewer than 16 full-time employees; or
(B) is located in a county with a population of
less than 250,000; or
(2) the amount or format of responsive information at
issue in a particular request makes use of the attorney general's
electronic filing system impractical or impossible.
(b) A governmental body that requests an attorney general
decision under this subchapter must submit the request through the
attorney general's designated electronic filing system.
(c) The attorney general may charge a fee for a request
described by Subsection (a)(2) that is submitted in a manner other
than the manner described by Subsection (b).
(d) The attorney general may adopt rules necessary to
implement this section, including rules that define the amount or
type of formatting of information described by Subsection (a)(2)
that makes use of the electronic filing system impractical or
impossible.
SECTION 2. Section 552.308, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.308. TIMELINESS OF ACTION BY UNITED STATES MAIL,
INTERAGENCY MAIL, OR COMMON OR CONTRACT CARRIER. (a) Except as
provided by Section 552.3031, when [When] this subchapter requires
a request, notice, or other document to be submitted or otherwise
given to a person within a specified period, the requirement is met
in a timely fashion if the document is sent to the person by first
class United States mail or common or contract carrier properly
addressed with postage or handling charges prepaid and:
(1) it bears a post office cancellation mark or a
receipt mark of a common or contract carrier indicating a time
within that period; or
(2) the person required to submit or otherwise give
the document furnishes satisfactory proof that it was deposited in
the mail or with a common or contract carrier within that period.
(b) Except as provided by Section 552.3031, when [When] this
subchapter requires an agency of this state to submit or otherwise
give to the attorney general within a specified period a request,
notice, or other writing, the requirement is met in a timely fashion
if:
(1) the request, notice, or other writing is sent to
the attorney general by interagency mail; and
(2) the agency provides evidence sufficient to
establish that the request, notice, or other writing was deposited
in the interagency mail within that period.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a request for public information received by a governmental body or
officer for public information on or after the effective date of
this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.