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An open government is the cornerstone of a free society.
Learn more about:
THE ROLE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
The Attorney General is responsible for ensuring that Texas government is open and accessible to all citizens. Several divisions of the agency are involved in this effort.
The Open Records Division issues rulings and decisions that determine whether information is open to the public under the Public Information Act and other applicable laws. This division also takes action to enforce these decisions and sponsors conferences to educate citizens and government officials about the state's open government laws.
| The Open Records Division also provides an Open Government Hotline, staffed by investigators who specialize in both the Public Information Act and the Open Meetings Act. These investigators can answer questions regarding these laws and can help resolve disputes involving the open government laws. However, the Hotline cannot provide legal advice to private citizens or governmental entities. The Hotline can be reached at (512) 478-OPEN
(6736) or toll-free at (877) OPEN TEX (673-6839). |
The Intergovernmental Relations Division, through its Municipal Affairs and County Affairs Sections, gives legal advice to local governmental entities and officials. This division also provides speakers to numerous conferences and seminars concerning open government laws.
The Opinion Committee issues advisory opinions on various legal issues. The Open Meetings Act
is one area of the law that the committee regularly addresses in its opinions.
The Public Information Coordinator handles open records requests made to this agency.
Individuals seeking documents maintained by the Office of the Attorney General should submit those
requests to the Public Information Coordinator. Governmental bodies requesting open records decisions or individuals submitting information pertaining to those decisions should submit that information to the Open Records Division.
Listed below are the main categories of information contained on the Open Government area of the
Office of the Attorney General's website. A short explanation of the types of information located
in each category follows.
Open Government Laws
The Open Meetings Act and the Public Information Act are codified at chapters 551 and 552,
respectively, of the Government Code. These unannotated versions of the Acts include changes
made by the 78th Legislature. Both Acts are available online in HTML and PDF for viewing or downloading.
Open Records Decisions
Open Records Decisions are formal opinions relating to the Public Information Act (formerly the
Open Records Act). These decisions usually address novel or problematic legal questions and are
signed by the Attorney General. Open Records Decisions may be cited as precedent in briefing to
the Open Records Division. An electronic search engine is available in this area to search these
decisions as well as other types of Attorney General opinions.
Open Records Letter Rulings
Open Records Letter Rulings comprise the bulk of the Open
Records Division's workload. Over 15,000 Open Records Letter
Rulings were issued in 2006. These informal letter rulings
are based on established law and practice and are signed
by assistant attorneys general in the Open Records Division.
Unlike Open Records Decisions, these informal letter rulings
are applicable only to the specific documents and circumstances
surrounding them; therefore, Open Records Letter Rulings
should not be cited as precedent when briefing to the Office
of the Attorney General. These rulings are searchable via
the electronic search engine offered on this site.
Open Records Questions (ORQs)
When an issue or a request for decision is identified for issuance as a formal Open Records Decision, it is assigned an Open Records Question (ORQ) number. Upon issuance, the decision will be assigned the next available Open Records Decision number. This area lists the ORQs currently
pending with the Open Records Division.
Open Government Conferences
Each year the Office of the Attorney General sponsors a Statewide Open Government Conference
in Austin to further the awareness of the state's open government laws.
This area provides a list of upcoming open government conferences and contact information.
Open Government Resources
This area includes viewable and downloadable versions of open government handbooks, required
forms, and articles. Note that beginning January 3, 2000, all governmental bodies are required to
display a public information sign.
Frequently Asked Questions
This area provides a number of questions and answers relating to the Public Information and Open
Meetings Acts.
Revised: July 25 2007
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Open Government
