An Introduction: What is the Texas Public Information Act and Why Should I Care?

Over the years as a journalist, political activist and blogger, I’ve often been asked the best way to find out what the government is up to with regard to a special issue or pet-project. As a journalist, when I wrote numerous stories including detailed information from public records, I was often asked how I came to have access to the documents that often told the “rest of the story.”

In both cases, the answer is simple: The Texas Public Information Act.

What Is TPIA?
The Texas Public Information Act, codified at Section 552 of the Texas Government Code (and no to be confused with the federal Freedom Of Information Act), is one of two major portions of Texas law which comprise the state’s “sunshine laws,” or open government laws. It is also sometimes called the Texas Open Records Act or “TPIA.”

First enacted in 1973 in the wake of the Sharpstown Scandal that came to light in 1971, the Texas Public Information Act, along with its companion, the Texas Open Meetings Act, are two of many pieces of consumer-and-public-oriented legislation brought about in part by the activism of legislators who were part of the legendary “Dirty Thirty,” which included such political legends as Sissy Farenthold, Bob Gammage, Ben Z. Grant, Fred Head and the late John Hannah.

The premise of the Texas Public Information Act is simple: it codifies what constitutes public information. In short, it tells government officials (from rural water supply corporation boards and city councils to county commissioners the Office of the Governor) what constitutes, prima facie, a public record. It also explains exactly what is either (a) not a record which must be disclosed to the public, or (b) a record which may contain some information that cannot or should not be disclosed.

The Act also provides specific procedures for disclosure, down to regulations on cost of production of the records, specific procedures government bodies must follow if they feel they are not required to disclose a particular record, and penalties for non-compliance.

And, the act goes so far to state what mediums government records may be contained on or in, when public records are open for public access, and what constitutes a government body (important as there are so many hybrid government agencies today like rural WSC and economic development corporations) and examples of what constitutes a public record.

To sum it up as simply as possible, the Public Information Act exists to make sure public records are defined, the public has access to those records, there are penalties for failure to disclose public records, and (in some cases) to ensure that information which is personal, constitutionally private, or otherwise excepted from disclosure aren’t released to the government’s detriment.

In addition to amendment by the Texas Legislature, two other things are important in clarifying and further defining portions of the Public Information Act.

First, under the provisions of the Act, the Texas Attorney General rules on questions posed by government bodies concerning whether or not specific information should be excepted from disclosure. The AG rules on these questions through either Open Records Decisions (ORDs) or Open Records Letter Rulings (ORLs). Unlike ORLs, Open Records Decisions are not just applicable to specific documents and circumstances, but may be cited as precedent in various instances, including briefing to the OAG.

Second, major court cases over the years have helped shape the Public Information Act as we know it. One of the more prominent ones is Houston Chronicle Publishing Company v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1975, writ ref’d n.r.e, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976), which recognized the public’s interest in certain law enforcement information and ruled that information commonly referred to as “blotter” information (book-in information, etc) is public record.

Why Should I Care?

Now that you know a little about what the Texas Public Information Act is, the question you may be asking yourself is, “why should I care?”

While there aren’t as many bloggers as mainstream journalists who frequently avail themselves of the rights avaliable under TPIA, there is no reason for bloggers to feel the act can’t help enhance their writing just as it enhances that of the mainstream media.

For example, consider that you are a blogger covering a race for county judge Nowhere County. You know that the Republican candidate, Johnny Nobody, used to sit on the board of the City of Noplace Economic Development Corporation. And, you’ve heard that, while on the NEDC board, candidate Nobody’s actions led to a lawsuit which the board ended up settling quitely to avoid negative publicity in the local rag, the Noplace Times, which never does any detailed government coverage anyway.

So, what do you do?

It’s simple. Start digging. Through TPIA, you could find, following open records requests (ORRs) to the NEDC, all of the following:

•If, in fact the board was sued.
•All correspondence relating to the lawsuit
•A copy of the settlement agreement including how much the board paid out
•A copy of the minutes of the meeting at which the settlement was voted on, including (if maintained) a breakdown of who voted how.
•All documents, including contracts, etc., which might illustrate the facts of the deal that went bad, what caused the deal to go bad, and who was responsible.
•Copies of bills the board paid to its attorneys to defend itself against the suit.

Wading through all of that, you might find out that candidate Nobody recruited a business from a neighboring county owned by his best friend and fellow deacon at Nowhere Baptist Church to seek funds from the Board. The board and the business entered into an agreement whereby the business would provide X number of jobs over X number of years. But, the business goes under didn’t meet its agreements with the board. The board in turn sued to get back the land they sold him at rock-bottom prices, and the businessman countersued, claiming that he wouldn’t have gone belly-up if the board, chaired then by candidate Nobody, had actually fulfilled its end of the bargin. After mediation, the board actually paid the business $200,000 in sales tax money to make the whole thing go away. And, to top it all off, you might even find a deposition in which the business owner says candidate Nobody gave him a personal assurance that the board would not only pony up its share of the money, but would come up with more cash for expansion in five years.

Boom. You’ve got a made-for-direct-mail scandal. Or, better yet, scan in those documents and you’ve got a Made For The Blog scandal. More importantly, an important story your readers need to know about. And, depending upon the “mainstream media situation” and candidate funding and quality of opposition research in a particular area, you may be the only way the public has of getting this information and having it digested for them in writing.

I sense now you might be thinking, “What?!? I’ve got to go down to some government office and wade through a bunch of dusty paperwork? Forget that!”

Well, yes, no, maybe, or not exactly. You can do that. You can ask to view all of the documents. Or, you may ask for copies which you can peruse at your liesure later on.

In some cases, it’s as easy as finding a lit candle in a dark room: sometimes, when you ask for information, there may be one document (like an internal memorandum) that explains all you want to know in detail. Other times, there may be a lot of information you have to piece together on your own.

Either way, the outcome is worth it: you’re providing a service to your readers.

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