The Texas Public Information Act is the state's main open records law, administered by the Office of the Attorney General, which describes it on its open government pages as determining how information is made available to members of the public, with the Open Meetings Act covering how public meetings must run. The Attorney General's overview sets out the structure that makes Texas unusual. The Act generally requires a governmental body to release information in response to a request, but where the body decides the information is excepted from disclosure, both the request and the information must be reviewed by the Attorney General's Open Records Division, which then issues a decision on whether the body may withhold it or must release it. The practical effect is that a refusal in Texas is rarely final at the agency's own say so.
Making the request is simple and tightly specified. The guidance for requesters says a request must be in writing to the governmental body believed to hold the information, and that since September 1, 2019, under section 552.234 of the Government Code, a person may make a request only by delivering it to the body's public information officer or their designee by United States mail, by electronic mail, by hand, or by any other method the body has approved. The request must be for information already in existence, because a governmental body is not required to answer questions, perform legal research, or create new information. The Attorney General's practical advice is to keep a copy of the request and proof that the body received it, and to check the body's website first, since the information may already be published and many bodies post their own request instructions and standard forms. For Texas records held locally, see the Texas county pages.
- Ten business days: the body must release, give a written date and time, seek a ruling, say it has nothing, or name the previous determination it relies on.
- The referee: withholding normally requires a ruling from the Attorney General's Open Records Division, and the requester must be told the ruling was sought.
- Redaction: allowed without a ruling only in a short list of cases, each needing a prescribed form and each open to appeal by the requester.
- Complaints: the division takes complaints about no response, non compliance with a ruling and overcharging, and a district or county attorney can also be asked.
Written by SearchSystems.net from Texas's own systems: the Texas Attorney General open government page, the Attorney General's overview of the Public Information Act, the Attorney General's how to request public information page, the Attorney General's page on responding to a Public Information Act request, the Attorney General's redacting public information page, the Attorney General's charges for public information page, the Attorney General's members of the public page, each read on October 14, 2026 by the SearchSystems editorial team.
The five answers, and the ten business days
The Attorney General's guidance to governmental bodies is the clearest statement of what a requester should expect. The best response is prompt release, but where that is not straightforward the body must still respond promptly to every request, and generally within ten business days it must do one of five things: release the information; give the requester written notice of the date and time when the information will be available; seek to withhold the information by asking the Open Records Division for a ruling; notify the requester in writing that it has no information responsive to the request; or notify the requester in writing that the information is being withheld under a previous determination, identifying the specific determination relied on.
The overview page explains what promptly means for production itself: a reasonable amount of time, with no delay, varying with the facts, and where a body will take longer than ten business days to produce the information it must tell the requester when the information will be released. Two duties run alongside that. Governmental bodies must treat all requesters equally, and they must notify a requester when a ruling request has gone to the Attorney General, so a requester who hears nothing has grounds to ask why.
What the Open Records Division decides
Where a body asks to withhold, the division reviews both the request and the information and issues a decision. Any interested party may take part: comments on a pending ruling request can be submitted in writing by United States mail, by commercial carrier or through the division's electronic filing system, which means a requester is not limited to waiting for the outcome. Two categories sit outside the ordinary ruling process.
Information made confidential by statute generally cannot be released at all, whatever the body might prefer, while information that is not confidential by statute may be withheld at the body's option in certain circumstances, which is the discretion the ruling system polices. And section 552.108(a)(1) carries a previous determination of its own, known as the 108 determination, which lets a body withhold some law enforcement records relating to pending criminal cases without asking for a ruling, provided it meets the requirements attached to it, including releasing at least basic information within five business days of receiving the request.
When redaction is allowed without a ruling
The default is strict: usually a governmental body must seek a ruling before it can redact anything from the documents it releases. The redaction rules then set out the exceptions. A body may redact without a ruling where it holds a previous determination covering that information; where the information is student records under section 552.114 or Social Security numbers under section 552.147; and where the information falls under one of five further sections and the body gives the requester the prescribed form, namely section 552.024 for a public employee's personal information held in the employer capacity, section 552.1175 for an employee's personal information held in a non employment capacity, section 552.130 for motor vehicle record information, section 552.136 for account and access device numbers, and section 552.138 for information about a family violence shelter centre, a victims of trafficking shelter centre or a sexual assault programme.
The Attorney General attaches a note that requesters should read: the withholding of information under those sections can be appealed, and the administrative rules for reviewing redactions are published alongside the forms.
Charges, and complaints about them
Cost is handled centrally rather than agency by agency. The charges page explains that the Open Records Division discharges the duties set out in Government Code chapter 552 at sections 552.009, 552.205 and 552.261 through 552.274, which give direction to governmental bodies and to requesters on charges for public information. The division determines the charges and the methods for charging for copies, handles complaints from requesters about overcharging, and decides requests from governmental bodies for exemptions from the cost rules.
It publishes a cost estimate model and guidance for bodies on responding to a cost complaint. For a requester faced with a bill that looks wrong, that means the complaint goes to the state rather than to the body that issued it.
Reporting a body that does not comply
The Attorney General lists the situations in which a requester can seek help. Where a governmental body fails to respond to a request, or fails to ask for an Attorney General ruling, within ten business days, the requester may seek assistance from the Open Records Division. Complaints can also be filed against a body that fails to comply with an Attorney General ruling, and against a body that a requester believes is overcharging for a copy or for inspection.
A formal complaint may additionally be made to the local district or county attorney. The open government hotline answers on (512) 478-6736 or toll free on (877) 673-6839, and the office publishes an updated Public Information Handbook every two years, free and publicly available, alongside online training and an annual open government conference.
Reading a Texas response
A Texas answer usually arrives in one of the five forms the Act allows, and each tells the requester something different. Release or a date and time means the matter is over. A notice that the body is seeking a ruling means the records exist and the fight is now in Austin, where comments can be filed. A notice that there is no responsive information closes the request unless the requester can point to where the records should be.
And a notice relying on a previous determination must name that determination, which can then be checked. Where a response is silence, ten business days is the point at which to call the hotline rather than to wait.
Questions about public records requests in Texas
Related Texas records
Texas's other public records guides on this site are the Texas background check guide for the Department of Public Safety criminal history service, the Texas court records guide for the district and county clerks, the Texas arrest records guide for what a booking makes public, and the Texas county pages for every county office.