Open Records Reports
The following report is a biennial update mandated by section 552.274(a) of the Government Code. The update covers the eight quarters that started on March 1, 2006 and ended on November 30, 2007. Results were compiled and extrapolated based on the information provided by state agencies, as required by section 552.010 of the Government Code. We note that only 64% of the agencies complied with the required reporting.
The online reporting form has twenty-two categories of public information which, in general, are commonly collected, assembled, or maintained by state agencies, and easily reported. The “Other” category is to be used to report requests that do not fit under any of the stated categories, and are usually specific to a given agency. During the previous reporting period this category showed 825 separate types of requests. This large number, presumably caused by misspellings, misplaced periods, the use of different abbreviations, etc., has been reduced to 332 for the current period. We hope that agencies will continue to review their entries to eliminate mistakes and provide an accurate description of their requests. We continue to see agencies reporting blank forms and applications, referrals to their website, website hits, and verbal requests as “requests for public information,” under the PIA. Blank forms and applications that are a requirement to apply for certain licenses and information are not to be counted as requests. Please note that Open Records Decision No. 682 (2005) expressly states that referring a requestor to a website does not fulfill the agency’s obligation to respond to a request for public information.
According to the reported information, during the current period, the reporting agencies fulfilled over 4.8 million requests, collected $3.4 million dollars, and spent over 23,000 hours of employee time to fulfill public information requests. Below are the results for each agency, shown by quarter. The information may be viewed by agency, as well as by reporting measure.
How to view the information
Cumulative results: There is a report Menu along the top of each page, starting with "Reports" and ending with "Redacting". Click on the link of the report you wish to view and then, using the drop-down box, select the year you want to view, then click the "Submit" button.
Individual agency results: Click on the specific report link. Using the drop-down box, choose the year and the agency you want, then click the "Submit" button.
You may enter the Report from any of the sections listed below: