Bill Text: TX SB1571 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to information subject to the public information law.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-13 - Not again placed on intent calendar [SB1571 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB1571-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Watson S.B. No. 1571
(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2011; March 23, 2011, read
first time and referred to Select Committee on Open Government;
May 2, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 2, 2011, sent
to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1571 By: Davis

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to information subject to the public information law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 552.002, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) In this chapter, "public information" means information
that is created, collected, assembled, possessed, or maintained
under a law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of
official business:
(1) by a governmental body; [or]
(2) for a governmental body and the governmental body
owns the information or has a right of access to it;
(3) by an officer or employee of a government agency,
board, or institution; or
(4) by an individual, corporation, or other business
entity that, at the request of a governmental body, performs a
public function, provides research or consulting services, or
conducts a study to the extent the public function, research,
consulting services, or study is directly supported by public
funds.
(d) In this chapter, "public information" includes
information stored in electronic format that contains public
documents, public records, or a communication of official business,
regardless of whether the information is stored on a server or in a
computer facility owned or maintained by a governmental body.
SECTION 2. Section 552.003, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (4-a) and amending Subdivision (5) to read as
follows:
(4-a) "Public function" means:
(A) a function performed or administered by:
(i) a governmental body; or
(ii) an elected or appointed public
official of the state or any political subdivision of the state;
(B) a function that is, wholly or partly,
supported with public funds, only to the extent it is directly
supported by public funds; and
(C) a function that has been delegated to a
nongovernmental entity pursuant to a contract to which a
governmental body is a party.
(5) "Public funds" means funds of the state or of a
governmental subdivision of the state, including funds received by
a governmental body from the federal government or received as a
result of intergovernmental transfers.
SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 552, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 552.233 to read as follows:
Sec. 552.233. REQUESTS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION RELATED TO A
GOVERNMENT CONTRACT. (a) A request for public information
relating to a contract entered into by a governmental body under
Section 2252.907 must be submitted to the governmental body that
entered into the contract.
(b) The vendor, institution, individual, corporation, or
other business entity that performs a public function under a
contract entered into under Section 2252.907 shall assemble the
public information that is the subject of the request under
Subsection (a) and provide the information to the contracting
governmental body. The governmental body shall make the
information available to the requestor or request a decision in
accordance with this chapter.
SECTION 4. Subchapter Z, Chapter 2252, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2252.907 to read as follows:
Sec. 2252.907. CONTRACTS INVOLVING EXCHANGE OR CREATION OF
PUBLIC INFORMATION. (a) A contract between a governmental body
and a vendor, institution, individual, corporation, or other
business entity that performs a public function involving the
exchange or creation of public information must:
(1) be drafted in compliance with the disclosure
requirements of Chapter 552; and
(2) if the information is to be exchanged or stored in
an electronic format, contain a provision that the vendor or other
contracting entity must make the information available to the
governmental body in a specific electronic format that is:
(A) agreed on in the contract; and
(B) accessible by the public.
(b) The requirements of Subsection (a) apply to contracts
between the vendor or other contracting entity that performs a
public function and a subcontractor engaged to further the
performance of the public function.
(c) This section may not be waived by contract or otherwise.
(d) In this section, "governmental body" has the meaning
assigned by Section 552.003.
SECTION 5. (a) The changes in law made by this Act by
amending Sections 552.002 and 552.003, Government Code, and by
adding Section 552.233, Government Code, apply only to a request
for the disclosure of public information made on or after the
effective date of this Act. A request for the disclosure of public
information made before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this
Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Section 2252.907, Government Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a contract for which a governmental body first
advertises or otherwise solicits bids, proposals, offers, or
qualifications on or after the effective date of this Act. A
contract for which a governmental body advertised or otherwise
solicited bids, proposals, offers, or qualifications before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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