Attorney: Rep. Canales played role in improving local, government transparency
Transparency in local and state governments has been improved thanks to legislation in 2023 by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, which made clear the 10-business day deadline for government officials to release public records requested by citizens, or require that those bureaucrats and politicians justify to the Office of the Texas Attorney General why they cannot do so, according to South Texas attorney Omar Ochoa.
Transparency in government is generally defined as a government’s obligation to be open, accountable and honest with citizens on how it is conducting business and spending taxes.
Among its many duties, the Office of the Attorney General is responsible for the integrity of the public information process under the Texas Public Information Act, which provides a mechanism for citizens to inspect or copy government records.
“The Texas Public Information Act — which protects the people’s right to know about what their governments, including boards, commissions, and agencies, are doing – contained a loophole that slowed or prevented the quick release of public records that were not available on the Internet,” Ochoa said.
“The stakes can be significant for certain violations of the Texas Public Information Act, and can result in civil and criminal penalties for an unjustified delay or denial by governments in Texas to release public information,” Ochoa added.
An offense of this type is a misdemeanor and is punishable by:
(1) a fine of no more than $1,000;
(2) jail time for no more than six months;
or (3) both a fine and jail time. In addition, this sort of violation constitutes “official misconduct.” – Tex. Gov’t Code § 552.353.
Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, gives any person the right to obtain government records; and an officer for public information and the officer’s agent may not ask why a person wants them. All government information is presumed to be available to the public, Ochoa emphasized.
Under the Texas Public Information Act, governmental bodies in Texas are obligated to “promptly produce public information” upon request, further explained Ochoa, a champion of open government who regularly provides legislative updates to the people about the Texas Public Information Act, the Texas Open Meetings Act, and transparency in government.
However, Ochoa noted that certain information held by governmental bodies is not open to the public.
These types of non-public records include some information in personnel records, pending litigation, competitive bids, trade secrets, real estate deals and certain legal matters involving attorney-client privilege.
Ochoa also said a governmental body is not required to answer questions, perform legal research, or create new information in response to a public information request.
Regardless, the State of Texas has many open government laws to help make the work of the state transparent to the public.
The primary open government laws are the Texas Public Information Act and the Texas Open Meeting Act.
“I have filed dozens of bills over my legislative career focused on preserving the public’s right to know what their government is doing in their name,” Canales declared.
The Texas Public Information Act does not apply to the federal government or to any of its departments or agencies.
If a person is seeking information from the federal government, the appropriate law is the federal Freedom of Information Act. Its rules and procedures are different from those of the Texas Public Information Act.
Canales: “Big win for government transparency!”
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and stretching through much of 2023, local and state governments continued to have ways of unjustifiably delaying or denying the release of public records to citizens who had submitted a Texas Public Information Act request.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, some governments refused to respond to Texas Public Information Act requests if their physical offices were closed, even if the staff was working remotely,” Canales gave an example.
He added language achieving his goal to House Bill 3033 — a strategy known as an amendment — and when that bill was approved by the Texas Legislature and became state law, so did Canales’ amendment.
Canales said House Bill 3033 with his amendment was a “big win for government transparency!”
That weakness in the Texas Public Information Act remained in place until Canales eliminated that imperfection through his amendment to House Bill 3033 during the 88th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature in 2023.
“The amendment closes this loophole and will ensure that reporters and the public can more quickly get information from our government,” Canales contended.
Before House Bill 3033 with Canales’ amendment became law on Friday, September 1, 2023, the state’s governmental bodies had considerable freedom in deciding whether they were open for business for purposes of Texas Public Information Act requests, according to Kelley Shannon, Executive Director, Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is a nonprofit group that advocates for open records and open meetings in Texas.
“Often, the government claimed it was ‘closed’ when its employees worked remotely or when it had only a ‘skeleton crew’ in the office. This often led to long delays in responding to records requests, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic (of 2020 and 2021),” Shannon said.
Canales’ amendment to House Bill 3033 will ensure uniformity in the timelines for how governments across Texas respond to Public Information Act requests, Shannon added.
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