Open Records Requests

1. City Information is presumed to be open to public inspection and copying unless an exception to disclosure applies.
2. In the normal course of conducting business, it is necessary for the City to provide public information to any requestor including residents, government officials, vendors and others
3. It is the policy of the City to provide access to and copies of the City information maintained by the City as reasonably prompt as possible after a request is made, except where the requested information may be exempted from disclosure or a request for an Attorney General Ruling is made. City information not exempt from disclosure is available for inspection by the public during posted business hours, as provided by policy.

Request Procedure

The City must respond to written requests within 10 business days or exceptions to disclosure are waived as a matter of law.

1. A request for City information is considered received by the City when it is received in writing (including hand delivery, mail, email, fax, or physical delivery at the City Office).
2. If the request is received via electronic mail or facsimile, the request must be made to the City Manager as the TPIA Response Officer or his/her designee to be considered a written request.
3. If the written request is unclear, with the respect to the information or records being sought, the TPIA Response Officer, may ask the requestor to clarify the request.
4. State Law prohibits the City’s TPIA Response Officer or any employee from asking a requestor the purpose or reason for the request.

Records Request Processing

1. The City Manager as the TPIA Response Officer, in consultation with City’s legal counsel, may designate certain categories of information that may be released directly upon request by the public.
2. After review and consultation with legal counsel, the TPIA Response Officer shall either (1) release the requested City Information to the requestor with statement for costs related to copying and preparation; or (2) refer the City Information request to legal counsel to determine through the Texas Attorney General’s Office if the requested City information is accepted from public disclosure.

Public Information Response Fees

The service charges for copying governmental and public records shall be as follows:

1. For 50 or fewer pages of information that are responsive to a request, the charge shall be $0.10 per page. There shall be no charge for labor or overhead.
2. For 51 or more pages of information that are responsive to a request, the charge shall be ten cents $0.10 per page plus labor and overhead. All charges shall conform to the state building and procurement commission guidelines.
3. The City will not charge for making available for inspection information maintained in standard paper form, unless the information must be reviewed, redacted and recopied prior to inspection, in which case the charge will be $0.10 per page. Charges are permitted only where the City is asked to provide for inspection information that either:
   (a) Contains confidential information and public information that must be edited; or
   (b) Includes certain information that is old or voluminous, pursuant to Texas Administrative Code section 111.65.
4. The City will require the payment of all outstanding balances due from a requestor for previous information requests that were prepared by the City, and for which the requestor was notified yet failed to pay the assessed charges. The City is not obligated to process new requests for information until the outstanding balances have been paid in full.
5. Itemized estimate. If a request for information will result in the imposition of a charge that exceeds $40.00, the City shall provide the requestor with an itemized written estimate in accordance with Tex. Gov’t Code Ann. section 552.615. A copy of the estimate shall be sent to the City administrator. If an alternative less costly method of viewing the records is available, the statement must include a notice of the alternative method. A request is considered to have been withdrawn by operation of law if the requestor fails to respond in writing to the itemized statement within 10 business days after the statement is sent to the requestor that:
   (a) The requestor will accept the estimated charges; or
   (b) The requestor is modifying the request in response to the itemized statement.
6. Programming or manipulation of data. If a requestor asks that information be provided on a diskette or other computer-compatible media, and the requested information is electronically stored, the City shall provide the information on computer-compatible media if the City has the technological capability to do so. The City is not required to purchase any hardware, software or programming capabilities that it does not already possess to accommodate a particular kind of request. If the City is unable to comply with a request to produce a copy of information in a requested medium for any of the reasons described by this section, the City shall provide a paper copy of the requested information or a copy in another medium that is acceptable to the requestor. The City is not required to copy information onto a diskette or other material provided by the requestor but may use its own supplies. Fee of $2.00 or maximum allowed by law, whichever is higher.
7. Maps.
   (a) 11″ x 17″: $2.00.
   (b) 2′ x 3′: $7.00.
   (c) 3′ x 3′: $15.00.
   (d) 3′ x 4′: $25.00.