Requesting Texas public records? Ten business days is not a delivery promise

The useful first step in a Texas public-records request is to name the paperwork: a contract, invoice or inspection report. Asking an agency to explain a decision gives it a different task, one the Public Information Act does not require it to perform.[1]

The Texas attorney general's guidance draws that distinction plainly. A written request should seek information that already exists. A government body does not have to conduct legal research, answer questions or create new information to satisfy it.[1]

For someone trying to understand a public purchase, that means identifying the existing records that could supply an answer. A request for a particular contract and its invoices is easier to understand than a demand for everything about spending. Add the project name and a relevant date range where possible. These are drafting choices, not a mandatory state form.

Start with the office that holds the records. Dallas, for example, says its Open Records Request Center can route a request when the requester does not know which city department has the information. The city also makes a boundary explicit: it provides city records, not records belonging to Dallas County or another government entity.[3]

Dallas asks for enough description to identify and locate the material, along with contact information. Its records page also warns that some categories of records are excluded from disclosure and that charges for reproductions follow the attorney general's rules.[3] A request for copies should therefore leave room for a follow-up about both availability and cost.

Check the receiving government's published submission instructions before sending anything. The attorney general lists mail, email, hand delivery and other methods approved by the government body, directed to its public information officer or designee.[1] Keep the original request and evidence that the office received it.[1]

Then distinguish a response from delivery. The attorney general says government bodies must respond promptly. Generally, within ten business days, the response should be the information, written notice of when it will be available, a request for an attorney general ruling to withhold it, or one of the other responses the agency describes.[2]

Those other responses include written notice that the office has no responsive information, or that it is withholding information under an identified previous determination.[2] The ten-business-day mark does not guarantee a complete folder of documents. Nor does the guidance give agencies permission to ignore a request until that date: the obligation is to respond promptly.[2]

Read an acknowledgment or follow-up for what it actually says. Is it giving a release date, identifying an exception, or saying the records do not exist in that office? Save that message alongside the request rather than treating every reply as the same outcome.

If the response appears improper, the attorney general directs requesters to the Open Government Hotline at 877-673-6839.[1] Have the request, delivery record and agency correspondence together before calling. The useful starting point is the paperwork already in hand.