Bill Text: TX HB4144 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the applicability of the public information law.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-24 - Left pending in committee [HB4144 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB4144-Introduced.html

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85R10926 TJB-F
By: Paddie H.B. No. 4144

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the applicability of the public information law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 552.003(6), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(6) "Requestor" means a person who:
(A) submits a request to a governmental body for
inspection or copies of public information; or
(B) submits a request to an organization,
corporation, commission, committee, institution, or agency for
inspection or copies of information with a written assertion that
the entity is a governmental body.
SECTION 2. Section 552.301, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) An organization, corporation, commission, committee,
institution, or agency that asserts that it is not a governmental
body and that receives a written request for information from a
requestor under this chapter must ask for a decision from the
attorney general about whether the entity is a governmental body if
there has not been a previous determination on that question. The
provisions of this subchapter that govern a request for a decision
made under Subsection (a) apply to a request for a decision made
under this subsection to the extent those provisions are applicable
to the request made under this subsection. If the attorney general
determines that the entity is a governmental body, the written
request from the requestor is considered received by the entity for
purposes of this chapter on the date the decision is rendered under
Section 552.306. The attorney general may adopt rules necessary to
implement this subsection.
SECTION 3. Section 552.306(a), Government Code, is amended
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 or, if applicable, whether the entity
requesting the decision under Section 552.301(h) is a governmental
body. 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 or entity
described by Section 552.301(h), as applicable, and the requestor,
during the original 45-day period, of the reason for the delay.
SECTION 4. Section 552.324, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.324. SUIT BY GOVERNMENTAL BODY OR CERTAIN OTHER
ENTITIES. (a) The only suit a governmental body may file seeking
to withhold information from a requestor or that an entity
described by Section 552.301(h) may file regarding a request
received from a requestor is a suit that:
(1) is filed in a Travis County district court against
the attorney general in accordance with Section 552.325; and
(2) seeks declaratory relief from compliance with a
decision by the attorney general issued under Subchapter G.
(b) The governmental body or entity described by Section
552.301(h) must bring the suit not later than the 30th calendar day
after the date the governmental body or entity receives the
decision of the attorney general under Section 552.306 [determining
that the requested information must be disclosed to the requestor].
If the governmental body or entity does not bring suit within that
period, the governmental body or entity shall comply with the
decision of the attorney general. If a governmental body wishes to
preserve an affirmative defense for its officer for public
information as provided in Section 552.353(b)(3), suit must be
filed within the deadline provided in Section 552.353(b)(3).
SECTION 5. Section 552.325(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A governmental body, officer for public information, or
other person or entity that files a suit seeking to withhold
information from a requestor may not file suit against the person
requesting the information. An entity described by Section
552.301(h) that files a suit seeking to withhold information on the
basis that it is not a governmental body or seeking to establish
that it is not a governmental body may not file suit against the
person requesting the information. The requestor is entitled to
intervene in the suit.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a request for public information received on or after the
effective date of this Act. A request for public information
received before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect when the request was received, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.