88R20151 TJB-D
By: Landgraf H.B. No. 3033
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3033:
By: Smithee C.S.H.B. No. 3033
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the public information law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 552.012, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) The attorney general may require each public official
of a governmental body to complete the course of training if the
attorney general determines that the governmental body has failed
to comply with a requirement of this chapter. The attorney general
must notify each public official in writing of the attorney
general's determination and the requirement to complete the
training. A public official who receives notice from the attorney
general under this subsection must complete the training not later
than the 60th day after the date the official receives the notice.
SECTION 2. Section 552.108(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) This section does not except from the requirements of
Section 552.021 information that is basic information about an
arrested person, an arrest, or a crime. A governmental body shall
promptly release basic information responsive to a request made
under this chapter unless the governmental body seeks to withhold
the information as provided by another provision of this chapter,
and regardless of whether the governmental body requests an
attorney general decision under Subchapter G regarding other
information subject to the request.
SECTION 3. 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 150,000; 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 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 4. Section 552.306, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Section 552.011, the attorney
general shall promptly render a decision requested under this
subchapter, consistent with the standards of due process,
determining whether the requested information is within one of the
exceptions of Subchapter C. The attorney general shall render the
decision not later than the 45th business day after the date the
attorney general received the request for a decision. [If the
attorney general is unable to issue the decision within the 45-day
period, the attorney general may extend the period for issuing the
decision by an additional 10 business days by informing the
governmental body and the requestor, during the original 45-day
period, of the reason for the delay.]
(c) A governmental body shall as soon as practicable but not
later than the 30th day after the date the attorney general issues
an opinion under Subsection (b) regarding information requested
under this chapter:
(1) provide the requestor of the information an
itemized estimate of charges for production of the information if
the estimate is required by Section 552.2615;
(2) produce the information if it is required to be
produced;
(3) notify the requestor in writing that the
governmental body is withholding the information as authorized by
the opinion; or
(4) notify the requestor in writing that the
governmental body has filed suit against the attorney general under
Section 552.324 regarding the information.
SECTION 5. 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 6. Subchapter G, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.310 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.310. SEARCHABLE DATABASE. (a) The office of the
attorney general shall make available on the office's Internet
website an easily accessible and searchable database consisting of:
(1) each request for an attorney general decision made
under this subchapter; and
(2) the attorney general's opinion issued for the
request.
(b) The database at a minimum must allow a person to search
for a request or opinion described by Subsection (a) by:
(1) the name of the governmental body making the
request; and
(2) the exception under Subchapter C that a
governmental body asserts in the request applies to its request to
withhold information from public disclosure.
(c) The database must allow a person to view the current
status of a request described by Subsection (a)(1) and an estimated
timeline indicating the date each stage of review of the request
will be started and completed.
SECTION 7. Section 552.3031, Government Code, as added by
this Act, and Section 552.306, Government Code, as amended by this
Act, apply to a request for an attorney general decision made under
Subchapter G, Chapter 552, of that code on or after the effective
date of this Act. A request for an attorney general decision made
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the request was made, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. As soon as practicable, but not later than
January 1, 2024, the office of the attorney general shall make the
database required by Section 552.310, Government Code, as added by
this Act, available on the office's Internet website.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.