THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT
Rights of Requestors
You have the right to:
• Prompt access to information that is not condential or otherwise
protected;
• Receive treatment equal to all other requestors, including accom-
modation in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) requirements;
• Receive certain kinds of information without exceptions, like the
voting record of public ocials, and other information;
• Receive a written statement of estimated charges, when charges
will exceed $40, 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 de-
termines that access to the information primarily benets the
general public;
• Receive a copy of the communication from the governmental body
asking the Oce of the Attorney General for a ruling on whether
the information can be withheld under one of the accepted excep-
tions, or if the communication discloses the requested information,
a redacted copy;
• Lodge a written complaint about overcharges for public information
with the Oce of the Attorney General. Complaints of other pos-
sible violations may be led 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 led with the Oce 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 accor-
dance with ADA requirements;
• Be informed about open records laws and educate employees on the
requirements of those laws;
• Inform requestors of the estimated charges greater than $40 and any
changes in the estimates above 20 percent of the original estimate,
and conrm that the requestor accepts the charges, or has amended
the request, in writing before nalizing the request;
• Inform the requestor if the information cannot be provided prompt-
ly and set a date and time to provide it within a reasonable time;
• Request a ruling from the Oce of the Attorney General regard-
ing any information the governmental body wishes to withhold,
and send a copy of the request for ruling, or a redacted copy, to the
requestor;
• Segregate public information from information that may be with-
held and provide that public information promptly;
• Make a good faith attempt to inform third parties when their pro-
prietary information is being requested from the governmental body;
• Respond in writing to all written communications from the Oce
of the Attorney General regarding charges for the information. Re-
spond to the Oce of the Attorney General regarding complaints
about violations of the Act.
Procedures to Obtain Information
√ Submit a request by mail, e-mail, or in person, or any other appropriate method approved by the governmental body.
√ Include enough description and detail about the information requested to enable the governmental body to accurately identify and locate the
information requested.
√ Cooperate with the governmental body's reasonable eorts to clarify the type or amount of information requested.
A. Information to be released
• You may review it promptly, and if it cannot be produced within
10 working days the public information ocer will notify you in
writing of the reasonable date and time when it will be available.
• Keep all appointments to inspect records and to pick up copies.
Failure to keep appointments may result in losing the opportunity
to inspect the information at the time requested.
Cost of Records
• You must respond to any written estimate of charges within
10 days of the date the governmental body sent it or the
request is considered automatically withdrawn.
• If estimated costs exceed $100.00 (or $50.00 if a governmental
body has fewer than 16 full time employees) the governmental body
may require a bond, prepayment or deposit.
• You may ask the governmental body to determine whether providing
the information primarily benets the general public, resulting in a
waiver or reduction of charges.
• Make a timely payment for all mutually agreed charges. A govern-
mental body can demand payment of overdue balances exceeding
$100.00, or obtain a security deposit, before processing additional
requests from you.
B. Information that may be withheld due to an exception
• If a governmental body determines the requested information is not
subject to a previous determination or a statute that allows the in-
formation to be withheld without requesting a ruling, by the 10th
business day after a governmental body receives your written re-
quest, a governmental body must:
1. request an Attorney General Letter Decision and state which ex-
ceptions apply;
2. notify the requestor of the referral to the Attorney General; and
3. notify third parties if the request involves their proprietary information.
• Failure to request an Attorney General Letter Decision and notify
the requestor within 10 business days will result in a presumption
that the information is open unless there is a compelling reason to
withhold it.
• Requestors may send a letter to the Attorney General arguing for
release, and may review arguments made by the governmental body.
If the arguments disclose the requested information, the requestor
may obtain a redacted copy.
• e Attorney General must issue a decision no later than the 45th
working day from the day after the attorney general received the re-
quest for a decision. e attorney general may request an additional
10 working day extension.
• Governmental bodies may not ask the Attorney General to "recon-
sider" a decision.
T
exas Government Code, Chapter 552, gives you the right to access government records; and an ocer for public information and the ocer’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 condential by law, either
constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision, or information for which an exception to disclosure has not been sought.
To request information from this governmental body, please contact:
By mail:
By e-mail:
In person:
Other:
For complaints regarding failure to release public information please
contact your local County or District Attorney. Please ask and you will
be provided with this information.
• You may also contact the Oce of the Attorney General, Open Gov-
ernment Hotline, at 512-478-6736 or toll-free at 1-877-673-6839.
• For complaints regarding overcharges, please contact the Oce of
the Attorney General, Cost Hotline at 512-475-2497 or toll-free
at 1-888-672-6787.
If you need special accommodation pursuant to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact our ADA coordinator,
________________________________________________ at___________________________________ .
REV 8/19
humanresources@epcounty.com
(915)546-2218 or amanning@epcounty.com
