About The Texas Register Section
Established by the Texas Legislature in 1975, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. These rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code, also maintained by the Office of the Secretary of State.
Publication of the Texas Register began in January, 1976. Demand for rules in electronic format prompted the release of the Texas Register on diskettes in 1991, and later through a dial-up electronic bulletin board. The Texas Register was made available through the Secretary of State's web site beginning in January, 1996 as directed by HB 2304 (74th Legislature). The Texas Register was made available first in a "plain text" version and is now available in both .html and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format.
Senate Bill 1177 (75th Legislature) decreased the publication frequency of the Texas Register from twice-weekly (Tuesdays and Fridays) to weekly (Fridays only). This change went into effect in September, 1997. Beginning with the September 9, 2005 issue, LexisNexis Matthew Bender & Company took over the printing and distribution of the print Texas Register. The Secretary of State remains responsible for editorial content in the Texas Register.