The Public Information Act
Texas Government Code, Chapter 522, gives you the right to access government records; an officer for public information and the officer’s agent may not ask why you want them. All government information is presumed to be available to the public. Certain exceptions may apply to the disclosure of the information. Governmental bodies shall promptly release requested information that is not confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision or information for which an exception to disclosure has been sought.
Rights of Requestors
You have the right to:
- Prompt access to information that is not confidential or otherwise protected;
- Receive treatment equal to all other requestors, including accommodation in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA);
- Receive certain kinds of information without exceptions, like the voting record of public officials and other information;
- Receive a written itemized statement of estimated charges in advance of work being started and opportunity to modify the request in response to the itemized statement;
- Choose whether to inspect the requested information (most often at no charge), receive copies of the information or both;
- A waiver or reduction of charges if the governmental body determines that access to the information primarily benefits the general public;
- Receive a copy of the communication from the governmental body asking the Office of the Attorney General for a ruling on whether the information can be withheld under one of the accepted exceptions, or if the communication discloses the requested information is a redacted copy;
- Lodge a written complaint about overcharges for public information with the General Services Commission. Complaints of other possible violations may be filed with the county or district attorney of the county where the governmental body, other than a state agency is located. If the complaint is against the county or district attorney, the complaint must be filed with the Office of the Attorney General.
Responsibilities of Governmental Bodies
All governmental bodies responding to information requests have the responsibility to:
- Establish reasonable procedures for inspecting or copying public information and inform requestors of these procedures;
- Treat all requestors uniformly and shall give to the requestor all reasonable comfort and facility, including accommodation in accordance with ADA requirements;
- Be informed about open records laws and educate employees on the requirements of those laws;
- Inform requestors of the estimated charges and confirm that the requestor accepts the charges; or has amended the request, in writing before finalizing the request;
- Inform requestor if the information cannot be provided promptly and set a date and time to provide it within a reasonable time;
- Request a ruling from the Office of the Attorney General regarding any information the governmental body wishes to withhold, and send a copy of the request for ruling, or redacted copy, to the requestor;
- Segregate public information from information that may be withheld and provide that public information promptly;
- Make a good faith attempt to inform third parties when their proprietary information is being requested from the governmental body;
- Respond in writing to all written communications from the General Services Commission regarding charges for the information. Respond to the Office of the Attorney General regarding complaints about violations of the Act.
Procedures to Obtain Information
- Submit a request in writing to the Public Information Officer via one of the following methods:
- Hand delivery
- US mail
- Open Records Portal below
- Include enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the governmental body to identify and locate the information requested accurately.
- Cooperate with the governmental body’s reasonable efforts to clarify the type or amount of information requested.
Public Information Requests
Requests for public information under the Texas Public Information Act should be directed to:
Open Request Portal Access
To submit an open records request, view the our knowledge bases and/or access an existing request, please visit the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station Open Request Portal.