(a) Under the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government that adheres to the principle that government is the servant and not the master of the people, it is the policy of this state that each person is entitled, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, at all times to complete information about the affairs of government and the official acts of public officials and employees. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to implement this policy.

(b) This chapter shall be liberally construed in favor of granting a request for information.

(a) In this chapter, "public information" means information that is collected, assembled, or maintained under a law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business:

(b) The media on which public information is recorded include:

(c) The general forms in which the media containing public information exist include a book, paper, letter, document, printout, photograph, film, tape, microfiche, microfilm, photostat, sound recording, map, and drawing and a voice, data, or video representation held in computer memory.

(1) "Governmental body":

(2) "Manipulation" means the process of modifying, reordering, or decoding of information with human intervention.

(3) "Processing" means the execution of a sequence of coded instructions by a computer producing a result.

(4) "Programming" means the process of producing a sequence of coded instructions that can be executed by a computer.

(5) "Public funds" means funds of the state or of a governmental subdivision of the state.

(6) "Requestor" means a person who submits a request to a governmental body for inspection or copies of public information.

(a) Access to information collected, assembled, or maintained by or for the judiciary is governed by rules adopted by the Supreme Court of Texas or by other applicable laws and rules.

(b) This section does not address whether information is considered to be information collected, assembled, or maintained by or for the judiciary.

(1) if:

(2) if the property owners' association:

(a) This chapter does not affect the scope of civil discovery under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

(b) Exceptions from disclosure under this chapter do not create new privileges from discovery.

(a) This chapter does not prohibit a governmental body or its officer for public information from voluntarily making part or all of its information available to the public, unless the disclosure is expressly prohibited by law or the information is confidential under law.

(b) Public information made available under Subsection (a) must be made available to any person.

(a) This chapter does not grant authority to withhold information from individual members, agencies, or committees of the legislature to use for legislative purposes.

(b) A governmental body on request by an individual member, agency, or committee of the legislature shall provide public information, including confidential information, to the requesting member, agency, or committee for inspection or duplication in accordance with this chapter if the requesting member, agency, or committee states that the public information is requested under this chapter for legislative purposes. A governmental body, by providing public information under this section that is confidential or otherwise excepted from required disclosure under law, does not waive or affect the confidentiality of the information for purposes of state or federal law or waive the right to assert exceptions to required disclosure of the information in the future. The governmental body may require the requesting individual member of the legislature, the requesting legislative agency or committee, or the members or employees of the requesting entity who will view or handle information that is received under this section and that is confidential under law to sign a confidentiality agreement that covers the information and requires that:

(c) This section does not affect:

(a) The open records steering committee is composed of two representatives of the attorney general's office and:

(b) The representative of the attorney general designated by the attorney general is the presiding officer of the committee. The committee shall meet as prescribed by committee procedures or at the call of the presiding officer.

(c) The committee shall advise the attorney general regarding the office of the attorney general's performance of its duties under Sections 552.010, 552.205, 552.262, 552.269, and 552.274.

(d) The members of the committee who represent state governmental bodies and the public members of the committee shall periodically study and determine the types of public information for which it would be useful to the public or cost-effective for the government if the type of information were made available by state governmental bodies by means of the Internet or another electronic format. The committee shall report its findings and recommendations to the governor, the presiding officer of each house of the legislature, and the budget committee and state affairs committee of each house of the legislature.

(e) Chapter 2110 does not apply to the size, composition, or duration of the committee. Chapter 2110 applies to the reimbursement of a public member's expenses related to service on the committee. Any reimbursement of the expenses of a member who represents a state or local governmental body may be paid only from funds available to the state or local governmental body the member represents.

(a) Each state governmental body shall report to the attorney general the information the attorney general requires regarding:

(b) The attorney general shall design and phase in the reporting requirements in a way that:

(c) The attorney general shall share the information reported under this section with the open records steering committee.

(a) This section applies to an elected or appointed public official who is:

(b) Each public official shall complete a course of training of not less than one and not more than two hours regarding the responsibilities of the governmental body with which the official serves and its officers and employees under this chapter not later than the 90th day after the date the public official:

(c) A public official may designate a public information coordinator to satisfy the training requirements of this section for the public official if the public information coordinator is primarily responsible for administering the responsibilities of the public official or governmental body under this chapter. Designation of a public information coordinator under this subsection does not relieve a public official from the duty to comply with any other requirement of this chapter that applies to the public official. The designated public information coordinator shall complete the training course regarding the responsibilities of the governmental body with which the coordinator serves and of its officers and employees under this chapter not later than the 90th day after the date the coordinator assumes the person's duties as coordinator.

(d) The attorney general shall ensure that the training is made available. The office of the attorney general may provide the training and may also approve any acceptable course of training offered by a governmental body or other entity. The attorney general shall ensure that at least one course of training approved or provided by the attorney general is available on videotape or a functionally similar and widely available medium at no cost. The training must include instruction in:

(e) The office of the attorney general or other entity providing the training shall provide a certificate of course completion to persons who complete the training required by this section. A governmental body shall maintain and make available for public inspection the record of its public officials' or, if applicable, the public information coordinator's completion of the training.

(f) Completing the required training as a public official of the governmental body satisfies the requirements of this section with regard to the public official's service on a committee or subcommittee of the governmental body and the public official's ex officio service on any other governmental body.

(g) The training required by this section may be used to satisfy any corresponding training requirements concerning this chapter or open records required by law for a public official or public information coordinator. The attorney general shall attempt to coordinate the training required by this section with training required by other law to the extent practicable.

(h) A certificate of course completion is admissible as evidence in a criminal prosecution under this chapter. However, evidence that a defendant completed a course of training offered under this section is not prima facie evidence that the defendant knowingly violated this chapter.

(a) Without limiting the amount or kind of information that is public information under this chapter, the following categories of information are public information and not excepted from required disclosure under this chapter unless they are expressly confidential under other law:

(b) A court in this state may not order a governmental body or an officer for public information to withhold from public inspection any category of public information described by Subsection (a) or to not produce the category of public information for inspection or duplication, unless the category of information is expressly made confidential under other law.

(a) Under the fundamental philosophy of American government described by Section 552.001, it is the policy of this state that investments of government are investments of and for the people and the people are entitled to information regarding those investments. The provisions of this section shall be liberally construed to implement this policy.

(b) The following categories of information held by a governmental body relating to its investments are public information and not excepted from disclosure under this chapter:

(c) This section does not apply to the Texas Mutual Insurance Company or a successor to the company.

(d) This section does not apply to a private investment fund's investment in restricted securities, as defined in Section 552.143.

(a) A person or a person's authorized representative has a special right of access, beyond the right of the general public, to information held by a governmental body that relates to the person and that is protected from public disclosure by laws intended to protect that person's privacy interests.

(b) A governmental body may not deny access to information to the person, or the person's representative, to whom the information relates on the grounds that the information is considered confidential by privacy principles under this chapter but may assert as grounds for denial of access other provisions of this chapter or other law that are not intended to protect the person's privacy interests.

(c) A release of information under Subsections (a) and (b) is not an offense under Section 552.352.

(d) A person who receives information under this section may disclose the information to others only to the extent consistent with the authorized purposes for which consent to release the information was obtained.

(e) Access to information under this section shall be provided in the manner prescribed by Sections 552.229 and 552.307.

(a) Each employee or official of a governmental body and each former employee or official of a governmental body shall choose whether to allow public access to the information in the custody of the governmental body that relates to the person's home address, home telephone number, or social security number, or that reveals whether the person has family members.

(b) Each employee and official and each former employee and official shall state that person's choice under Subsection (a) to the main personnel officer of the governmental body in a signed writing not later than the 14th day after the date on which:

(c) If the employee or official or former employee or official chooses not to allow public access to the information, the information is protected under Subchapter C.

(d) If an employee or official or a former employee or official fails to state the person's choice within the period established by this section, the information is subject to public access.

(e) An employee or official or former employee or official of a governmental body who wishes to close or open public access to the information may request in writing that the main personnel officer of the governmental body close or open access.

(f) This section does not apply to a person to whom Section 552.1175 applies.

(a) A governmental body with taxing authority that issues a written determination letter, technical advice memorandum, or ruling that concerns a tax matter shall index the letter, memorandum, or ruling by subject matter.

(b) On request, the governmental body shall make the index prepared under Subsection (a) and the document itself available to the public, subject to the provisions of this chapter.

(c) Subchapter C does not authorize withholding from the public or limiting the availability to the public of a written determination letter, technical advice memorandum, or ruling that concerns a tax matter and that is issued by a governmental body with taxing authority.

(a) A governmental body is not required under this chapter to allow the inspection of or to provide a copy of information in a commercial book or publication purchased or acquired by the governmental body for research purposes if the book or publication is commercially available to the public.

(b) Although information in a book or publication may be made available to the public as a resource material, such as a library book, a governmental body is not required to make a copy of the information in response to a request for public information.

(c) A governmental body shall allow the inspection of information in a book or publication that is made part of, incorporated into, or referred to in a rule or policy of a governmental body.

(a) A governmental body is not required to accept or comply with a request for information from:

(b) This section does not prohibit a governmental body from disclosing to an individual described by Subsection (a)(1), or that individual's agent, information held by the governmental body pertaining to that individual.

(c) In this section, "correctional facility" means:

(1) the inmate's name, identification number, age, birthplace, department photograph, physical description, or general state of health or the nature of an injury to or critical illness suffered by the inmate;

(2) the inmate's assigned unit or the date on which the unit received the inmate, unless disclosure of the information would violate federal law relating to the confidentiality of substance abuse treatment;

(3) the offense for which the inmate was convicted or the judgment and sentence for that offense;

(4) the county and court in which the inmate was convicted;

(5) the inmate's earliest or latest possible release dates;

(6) the inmate's parole date or earliest possible parole date;

(7) any prior confinement of the inmate by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice or its predecessor; or

(8) basic information regarding the death of an inmate in custody, an incident involving the use of force, or an alleged crime involving the inmate.

(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information in a personnel file, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, except that all information in the personnel file of an employee of a governmental body is to be made available to that employee or the employee's designated representative as public information is made available under this chapter. The exception to public disclosure created by this subsection is in addition to any exception created by Section 552.024. Public access to personnel information covered by Section 552.024 is denied to the extent provided by that section.

(b) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is a transcript from an institution of higher education maintained in the personnel file of a professional public school employee, except that this section does not exempt from disclosure the degree obtained or the curriculum on a transcript in the personnel file of the employee.

(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information relating to litigation of a civil or criminal nature to which the state or a political subdivision is or may be a party or to which an officer or employee of the state or a political subdivision, as a consequence of the person's office or employment, is or may be a party.

(b) For purposes of this section, the state or a political subdivision is considered to be a party to litigation of a criminal nature until the applicable statute of limitations has expired or until the defendant has exhausted all appellate and postconviction remedies in state and federal court.

(c) Information relating to litigation involving a governmental body or an officer or employee of a governmental body is excepted from disclosure under Subsection (a) only if the litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated on the date that the requestor applies to the officer for public information for access to or duplication of the information.

(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information that, if released, would give advantage to a competitor or bidder.

(b) The requirement of Section 552.022 that a category of information listed under Section 552.022(a) is public information and not excepted from required disclosure under this chapter unless expressly confidential under law does not apply to information that is excepted from required disclosure under this section.

(1) the location of real or personal property for a public purpose prior to public announcement of the project; or

(2) appraisals or purchase price of real or personal property for a public purpose prior to the formal award of contracts for the property.

(a) A draft or working paper involved in the preparation of proposed legislation is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021.

(b) An internal bill analysis or working paper prepared by the governor's office for the purpose of evaluating proposed legislation is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021.

(1) it is information that the attorney general or an attorney of a political subdivision is prohibited from disclosing because of a duty to the client under the Texas Rules of Evidence or the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct; or

(2) a court by order has prohibited disclosure of the information.

(a) Information held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if:

(b) An internal record or notation of a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that is maintained for internal use in matters relating to law enforcement or prosecution is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if:

(c) This section does not except from the requirements of Section 552.021 information that is basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime.

(a) A trade secret obtained from a person and privileged or confidential by statute or judicial decision is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021.

(b) Commercial or financial information for which it is demonstrated based on specific factual evidence that disclosure would cause substantial competitive harm to the person from whom the information was obtained is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021.

(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information contained in or relating to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by or for an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions or securities, or both.

(b) In this section, "securities" has the meaning assigned by The Securities Act (Article 581-1 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).

(c) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information submitted by an individual or other entity to the Texas Legislative Council, or to any state agency or department overseen by the Finance Commission of Texas and the information has been or will be sent to the Texas Legislative Council, for the purpose of performing a statistical or demographic analysis of information subject to Section 323.020. However, this subsection does not except from the requirements of Section 552.021 information that does not identify or tend to identify an individual or other entity and that is subject to required public disclosure under Section 323.020(e).

(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is:

(b) Information that is shown to or examined by an employee of the General Land Office, but not retained in the land office, is not considered to be filed with the land office.

(c) In this section:

(d) Confidential material, except basic electric logs, filed in the General Land Office on or after September 1, 1985, is public information and is available to the public under Section 552.021 on and after the later of:

(e) Basic electric logs filed in the General Land Office on or after September 1, 1985, are either public information or confidential material to the same extent and for the same periods provided for the same logs by Chapter 91, Natural Resources Code. A person may request that a basic electric log that has been filed in the General Land Office be made confidential by filing with the land office a copy of the written request for confidentiality made to the Railroad Commission of Texas for the same log.

(f) The following are public information:

(g) Confidential material may be disclosed at any time if the person filing the material, or the person's successor in interest in the lease in connection with which the confidential material was filed, consents in writing to its release. A party consenting to the disclosure of confidential material may restrict the manner of disclosure and the person or persons to whom the disclosure may be made.

(h) Notwithstanding the confidential nature of the material described in this section, the material may be used by the General Land Office in the enforcement, by administrative proceeding or litigation, of the laws governing the sale and lease of public lands and minerals, the regulations of the land office, the school land board, or of any board for lease, or the terms of any lease, pooling or unitization agreement, or any other agreement or grant.

(i) An administrative hearings officer may order that confidential material introduced in an administrative proceeding remain confidential until the proceeding is finally concluded, or for the period provided in Subsection (d), whichever is later.

(j) Confidential material examined by an administrative hearings officer during the course of an administrative proceeding for the purpose of determining its admissibility as evidence shall not be considered to have been filed in the General Land Office to the extent that the confidential material is not introduced into evidence at the proceeding.

(k) This section does not prevent a person from asserting that any confidential material is exempt from disclosure as a trade secret or commercial information under Section 552.110 or under any other basis permitted by law.

(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information in a student record at an educational institution funded wholly or partly by state revenue.

(b) A record under Subsection (a) shall be made available on the request of:

(a) A birth or death record maintained by the bureau of vital statistics of the Texas Department of Health or a local registration official is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021, except that:

(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a general birth index or a summary birth index is not public information and is not available to the public if:

(c) Subsection (a)(1) does not apply to the microfilming agreement entered into by the Genealogical Society of Utah, a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Utah, and the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

(d) For the purposes of fulfilling the terms of the agreement in Subsection (c), the Genealogical Society of Utah shall have access to birth records on and after the 50th anniversary of the date of birth as shown on the record filed with the bureau of vital statistics or local registration official, but such birth records shall not be made available to the public until the 75th anniversary of the date of birth as shown on the record.

(a) An audit working paper of an audit of the state auditor or the auditor of a state agency, an institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, a county, a resolution or other action of a board of trustees of a school district, including an audit by the district relating to the criminal history background check of a public school employee, a municipality, or a joint board operating under Section 22.074, Transportation Code, is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021. If information in an audit working paper is also maintained in another record, that other record is not excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 by this section.

(b) In this section:

(a) Information is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 if it is information that relates to the home address, home telephone number, or social security number of the following person or that reveals whether the person has family members:

(b) All documents filed with a county clerk and all documents filed with a district clerk are exempt from this section.

(a) This section applies only to:

(b) Information that relates to the home address, home telephone number, or social security number of an individual to whom this section applies, or that reveals whether the individual has family members is confidential and may not be disclosed to the public under this chapter if the individual to whom the information relates:

(c) A choice made under Subsection (b) remains valid until rescinded in writing by the individual.

(d) This section does not apply to information in the tax appraisal records of an appraisal district to which Section 25.025, Tax Code, applies.

(e) All documents filed with a county clerk and all documents filed with a district clerk are exempt from this section.

(a) Information that relates to the home address, home telephone number, electronic mail address, social security number, or date of birth of a person licensed to practice law in this state that is maintained under Chapter 81 is confidential and may not be disclosed to the public under this chapter if the person to whom the information relates:

(b) A choice made under Subsection (a) remains valid until rescinded in writing or electronically by the person.

(c) All documents filed with a county clerk and all documents filed with a district clerk are exempt from this section.

(1) information on or derived from an official prescription form filed with the director of the Department of Public Safety under Section 481. 075, Health and Safety Code; or

(2) other information collected under Section 481.075 of that code.

(a) A photograph that depicts a peace officer as defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, the release of which would endanger the life or physical safety of the officer, is excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 unless:

(b) A photograph excepted from disclosure under Subsection (a) may be made public only if the peace officer gives written consent to the disclosure.