Bill Text: TX SB1270 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to the public information law.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-05-20 - Committee report sent to Calendars [SB1270 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB1270-Engrossed.html

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By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1270

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. Subsection (a), Section 552.117, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of
Section 552.021 if it is information that relates to the home
address, home telephone number, or social security number of the
following person or that reveals whether the person has family
members:
(1) a current or former official or employee of a
governmental body, except as otherwise provided by Section 552.024;
(2) a peace officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure, or a security officer commissioned under
Section 51.212, Education Code, regardless of whether the officer
complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175, as applicable;
(3) a current or former employee of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice or of the predecessor in function of
the department or any division of the department, regardless of
whether the current or former employee complies with Section
552.024 or 552.1175;
(4) a peace officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of
Criminal Procedure, or other law, a reserve law enforcement
officer, a commissioned deputy game warden, or a corrections
officer in a municipal, county, or state penal institution in this
state who was killed in the line of duty, regardless of whether the
deceased complied with Section 552.024 or 552.1175;
(5) a commissioned security officer as defined by
Section 1702.002, Occupations Code, regardless of whether the
officer complies with Section 552.024 or 552.1175, as applicable;
or
(6) an officer or employee of a community supervision
and corrections department established under Chapter 76 who
performs a duty described by Section 76.004(b), regardless of
whether the officer or employee complies with Section 552.024 or
552.1175.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.153 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.153. EXCEPTION: BANK SECRECY ACT REPORTS.
(a) Information is confidential and not subject to disclosure
under this chapter if the information:
(1) was obtained by a governmental body for a law
enforcement purpose; and
(2) is a report required by the Bank Secrecy Act (31
U.S.C. Section 5311 et seq.) or is derived from a report required by
the Bank Secrecy Act.
(b) In obtaining information described by Subsection (a)(2)
for a purpose described by Subsection (a)(1), a governmental body
may sign a confidentiality agreement that covers information made
confidential by this section and requires that:
(1) the information not be disclosed outside the
governmental body, or within the governmental body for purposes
other than the purpose for which it was obtained;
(2) the information be labeled as confidential; and
(3) the information be kept securely.
SECTION 3. Section 552.274, Government Code, as amended by
Chapters 329 (S.B. 727) and 716 (S.B. 452), Acts of the 79th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 552.274. REPORTS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL AND STATE
AGENCIES ON COST OF COPIES. (a) The attorney general shall:
(1) biennially update a report prepared by the
attorney general about the charges made by state agencies for
providing copies of public information; and
(2) provide a copy of the updated report on the
attorney general's open records page on the Internet not later than
March 1 of each even-numbered year.
(a-1) [(b)] Not later than December 1 of each odd-numbered
year, each state agency shall provide the attorney general detailed
information, for use by the attorney general in preparing the
report required by Subsection (a), describing the agency's
procedures for charging and collecting fees for providing copies of
public information.
(b) Before the 30th day after the date on which a regular
session of the legislature convenes, each state agency shall issue
a report that describes that agency's procedures for charging and
collecting fees for providing copies of public information. A
state agency may comply with this subsection by posting the report
on the agency's open records page or another easily accessible page
on the agency's website on the Internet.
(c) In this section, "state agency" has the meaning assigned
by Sections 2151.002(1) and (3) [2151.002(2)(A) and (C)].
SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (d), Section 552.305,
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) In a case in which information is requested under this
chapter and a person's privacy or property interests may be
involved, including a case under Section 552.101, 552.104, or
552.110, [or 552.114,] a governmental body may decline to release
the information for the purpose of requesting an attorney general
decision.
(d) If release of a person's proprietary information may be
subject to exception under Section 552.101, 552.110, 552.113, or
552.131, the governmental body that requests an attorney general
decision under Section 552.301 shall make a good faith attempt to
notify that person of the request for the attorney general
decision. Notice under this subsection must:
(1) be in writing and sent within a reasonable time not
later than the 10th business day after the date the governmental
body receives the request for the information; and
(2) include:
(A) a copy of the written request for the
information[, if any,] received by the governmental body; and
(B) a statement, in the form prescribed by the
attorney general, that the person is entitled to submit in writing
to the attorney general within a reasonable time not later than the
10th business day after the date the person receives the notice:
(i) each reason the person has as to why the
information should be withheld; and
(ii) a letter, memorandum, or brief in
support of that reason.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
552.117 and 552.305, Government Code, apply only to a request for
information that is received by a governmental body or an officer
for public information on or after the effective date of this Act.
A request for information that was received before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
request was received, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.