Texas Open Records Guide

Texas’s public records law is the Public Information Act (PIA), Texas Government Code Chapter 552. It presumes all government information is available to the public unless a specific statutory exception applies.

Who can request records

Any person – not just Texas residents – may request public information. The officer for public information and their agents may not ask why a requester wants the records.

What’s covered

Any information maintained by a governmental body in connection with official business – including electronic and digital records like email, social media, and voicemail. The judiciary is a notable exception: information collected and maintained by the courts is NOT covered by the PIA, and is instead governed separately by the Texas Supreme Court’s own public access rules.

How to request

Submit a written request by mail, fax, email, or in person, following the specific governmental body’s reasonable procedures. The PIA doesn’t require an agency to answer questions, do legal research, or create new information that doesn’t already exist – only to provide existing records.

Response timeline

Texas has a distinctive structure worth understanding clearly: information must be released “promptly” – there’s a common misconception that agencies automatically get a full 10 days. In practice, “promptly” means as soon as possible under the circumstances of the specific request; the 10-business-day period is specifically the deadline for a governmental body to either notify the requester that more time is needed, or to submit a request for an Attorney General ruling if it believes the information should be withheld. If a ruling request is submitted, the Attorney General’s Open Records Division issues a decision within 45 business days, and the requester can submit written comments supporting disclosure during that process.

Fees

– Reasonable fees can be charged for copies, but the fee cannot be used to discourage requests. – If the estimated cost exceeds $40, the requester must receive a written itemized estimate before work begins. – If the estimated cost exceeds $100 (or $50 for agencies with fewer than 16 full-time employees), the agency may require prepayment or a deposit. – The requester must respond to any written cost estimate within 10 business days, or the request is automatically considered withdrawn. – Inspecting records in person is typically free. – A fee waiver or reduction is available if disclosure primarily benefits the general public, or if the cost of collecting the fee would exceed the fee itself.

Exemptions

Common statutory exceptions (Subchapter C of Chapter 552) include certain personnel records, pending litigation and attorney-client privileged materials, competitive bids and trade secrets, certain real estate transaction information, and law enforcement records whose release would hinder an active investigation or prosecution.

If your request is denied

Texas doesn’t have a traditional administrative appeal process the way some states do – instead, if a governmental body believes information should be withheld, it must proactively seek a ruling from the Attorney General’s Open Records Division before withholding it (rather than the requester having to appeal after the fact). If a requester disagrees with an AG ruling or believes the process wasn’t followed, the next step is a civil lawsuit; courts can award litigation costs and reasonable attorney’s fees to the prevailing party.

A note on terminology

Texas’s law is officially the “Public Information Act” (PIA) – the same basic type of law that other states call an “Open Records Act,” “FOIA Laws” (South Carolina), or “Public Records Laws” (Tennessee).