Bill Would Allow Government Bodies To Charge More For Email, Text Message Disclosure Under Public Information Act

A bill by State Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) would create more barriers for citizens and journalists who seek copies of emails or text messages produced or maintained by government bodies and public officials in Texas.

Under Wentworth’s SB 2140, the definition of data requiring “manipulation” in order to be provided would be changed to include, “a search of one or more e-mail or text message accounts and the retrieval and transfer of e-mails or text messages that are responsive to a request for public information into a paper or other format that can be provided to or inspected by the requestor.”

There are several problems with Wentworth’s bills that cause it to create unnecessary burdens for journalists and citizens who seek emails or text messages from government bodies and public officials.

First and foremost, it has basically been a past practice of most state agencies and public officials not to charge additional fees for emails or text messages unless the emails had been deleted from computers or servers and would require retrieval from backup tapes or backup servers.

Under Wentworth’s bill, conducting a simple search using software such as Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, or Mozilla Thunderbird on an individual computer to find emails would allow the state or other government bodies in Texas to charge additional and often exhorbant fees to people or journalists requesting public information.

This bill is terrible public policy because it creates additional barriers to the access of public information. In addition, the legislation is basically designed to discourage people and journalists from requesting emails from government bodies.

It is one of the worst proposed modifications to the Texas Public Information Act in years.