Attorney General gives practical tips for requestors

The Office of the Attorney General provides requestors with answers to open government questions on a daily basis. One way our office assists requestors is through the Open Government Hotline. Despite the opportunity to get guidance, occasionally, requestors are surprised to find out that inaction on their part has resulted in their Public Information Act requests being withdrawn. This month, we will identify some common situations in which the law requires requestors to act in order to keep their requests for information alive.

1. Clarification or narrowing of request: Under the Public Information Act (the “Act”), a governmental body may ask you in writing to clarify or narrow your request if it does not understand your request or if it thinks the request may involve voluminous amounts of information. In that situation, your request is placed on hold until you reply. Thus, if you fail to respond to the governmental body’s written request to clarify or narrow your request, the governmental body has no further duty to provide the requested information to you. Furthermore, if you do not respond to the written request for clarification or narrowing within 60 days, your request is considered withdrawn by operation of law.

2. Previously requested information: Once a governmental body makes information available to you pursuant to a request, you must either pick up or inspect the information within a reasonable time. If you do not, the governmental body is not obligated to make the same information available to you in response to a subsequent request from you. Why? Because your new request is considered repetitious or redundant. The governmental body must simply provide a written certification that the information has previously been provided or made available to you in accordance with the Act. For that reason, when a governmental body notifies you that responsive information is available, you should respond as requested by the governmental body, or make other arrangements with the governmental body if you require more time.

3. Written estimate of charges: Governmental bodies are allowed to charge for making requested information available to you, including the costs of copies and, in certain circumstances, labor and overhead. My office promulgates rules establishing these permissible charges. When the estimated costs associated with making requested information available exceed $40, the Act requires the governmental body to submit to the requestor a written, itemized statement of estimated charges. If the governmental body sends you a written estimate of charges, you must respond in writing within ten business days with one of the following statements: (1) you agree to pay the estimated charges; (2) you will modify the request in response to the estimate; or (3) you have filed a cost complaint with my office alleging overcharges. If you fail to properly respond within the ten-business-day deadline, your request is considered withdrawn by operation of law. Thus, you should always respond in one of the three ways described above to any written cost estimate you receive from a governmental body.

4. Payment of deposit or bond: In certain circumstances, a governmental body may require you to pay a deposit or bond for anticipated costs related to making the requested information available. If you fail to make the deposit or post the bond within ten business days of the date that the deposit or bond is required, the request will be considered withdrawn by operation of law. Because this situation requires payment in order to prevent the request from being withdrawn, you may first ask my office to assist you in determining whether the deposit or bond is permissible under the Act. Please do so as quickly as possible to avoid delay.

As a requestor, you play a pivotal role in making information available to the public through the open records process. Knowing how to navigate that process helps ensure transparency in government for all Texans. If you have questions or concerns about whether or not a request has been properly withdrawn or questions about the Act in general, please call our Open Government Hotline at 877-673-6839, or visit our website at www.oag.state.tx.us.