Last week, state legislators heard dozens of hours of testimony about the Texas Public Information Act’s ( TPIA )’s viability and whether it was intended to work.
While some officials claimed the accountability legislation was being used as a weapon, some claimants claimed it was being used as a helmet and lacks sufficient enforcement mechanisms.
The Texas House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight reviewed the TPIA, and Committee Chairman Cody Vasut (R-Angleton ) pointed out that the act’s preamble declares that the “government is the servant and not the master of the people.”
Yet, Angelina County Judge Keith Wright claimed in his evidence that the TPIA is being “weaponized.” He described how he and his state have received hundreds of requests for more than 800,000 products in one request from only one guy who used harsh language.
” I adore clarity. I have no issue with openness. I don’t mind providing details, Wright said. ” I do have issues with being abused.”
According to Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp, the number of requests her office receives has increased by 35 % over the previous year. She noted that little governments only have the staff to process and respond to requests within the 10-day screen set forth by the TPIA.
Tharp even raised objections to the release of images of violence images or descriptions of those images, which might be vulnerable for victims or their families.
According to Tamara Smith of the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s ( OAG ) Open Records Division ( ORD), her office issued more than 45, 000 decisions on open records last year and is projected to increase by about 10 % this year.
Smith explained that the most frequently raised exceptions to TPIA statements are those involving” common law privacy,” which she explained cover a wide range of sensitive information, including details of a physical abuse allegation or dates of birth. Smith added that ORD receives as many as 300 problems each quarter.
However, the majority of testimony expressed disapproval of some government agencies ‘ methods of violation.
According to Kelley Shannon of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas ( FOIFT), the legislation has changed in many ways over the course of recent years, urging lawmakers to stick to that process as they consider shifts because Texas has a “presumption of accessibility” that “gives power to the people of the state.”
Shannon claimed that the three main issues with TPIA were delays, misuse of the numerous TPIA exceptions, and the absence of “teeth” in the laws to punish noncomplianced governments.
Officials may ask the OAG to decide whether the data should be withheld after receiving a request for information, and in some cases the ORD will take months to respond. The federal holding the information may therefore provide a cost estimate even if the ORD decides that the documents may be released. Witnesses noted that some governments appear to follow orders by releasing heavily redacted or inaccurate records.
FOIFT found that the City of Flower Mound sent 55 % of TPIA requests to the OAG for a ruling, while the City of Starbase sent 22 % and the Texas Education Agency sent 17 %. The City of Round Rock spent the most on private lawyers handling TPIA calls, accounting for$ 480 and$ 564 in 2025, out of those figures.
According to James Quintero of the Texas Public Policy Foundation ( TPPF), some governments may be dissuading from using high-cost estimates.
Quintero claimed in one instance that he had gotten the exact number of details from several public school districts. While some did it for free, some demanded fees that ranged from hundreds of dollars to just over$ 1, 000, but Northside Independent School District demanded$ 33, 000.
Quintero added that Highland Park Independent School District sued the organization for disclosing an inspection record in 2013, but the organization maintains that the file is attorney-client luxury protected because an attorney was copied on letters. The Supreme Court of Texas is also reviewing the situation.
According to Quintero,” I believe we need to reform the attorney-client privilege exception but that communications are protected only in situations where energetic litigation or a severe threat of active litigation exists.” This will stop the bad and growing practice that is, in my opinion, especially observable among local government organizations where they CC an attorney on matters they don’t want to disclose to keep it from the public.
Quintero and Kelley both suggested that lawmakers repeal the TPIA’s 20 percentage costs charge, and Quintero directed the committee to a list of the 75 TPIA exceptions, many of which TPPF claims should be revised or eliminated completely because they are supposedly ridiculous, abused, or even manipulative.
Smith claimed it has been decades since the OAG filed a petition of mandamus to require an agency to cooperate with TPIA needs. However, Smith claimed it has been decades since the OAG filed a writ of mandamus to get an organization to comply. Librarianship can file a complaint with the neighborhood district attorney or file a complaint, but either choice may take decades to overcome.
Quintero suggested imposing fines on government bodies that refuse to comply with requests, break legal deadlines, or “vexatiously complaint” the ORD to withhold information.
Tony Hopkins, president of the Texas Association of School Boards ( TASB), stated before the committee that the coordinated commercial requests that AI systems generate to gather school district data appear to be a new source of concern for governments. He noted that a new Alabama law classifies demands as” normal” or “time-intensive” requests, allows school boards to require certification that files will not be used for request, and limits requesters to in-state people.
Hopkins said some of the details about his organization may be obtained by contacting the affiliated authorities organizations, even though authorities organizations like TASB and schooling foundations are exempt from the TPIA’s transparency requirements.
Some school districts have been requiring kids to go through a public information officer to get information about their own children, according to state representative Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood ).
The commission also heard testimony from state legislators who urged them to reconsider a 2025 bill that would stop some unfounded issues from being made public through TPIA requests.
Vasut suggested that making the most of requests online would reduce requests, but he acknowledged the difficulties that governmental bodies experience in doing so and questioned how lawmakers could” thread the needle” in changing TPIA’s requirements to reduce abusive requestors while making authorities more transparent.
Mitch Little, a representative for Lewisville, said he thought governments were “using the process as an obstacle to conformity.”
He said,” I don’t understand how we are not automating the process.” People are using AI to make the requests, the county prosecutor for Angelina said in a complaint I heard earlier. Use AI to produce the outcomes! In a info site place it. Ten minutes later, that is.
Little added that Little and the County fundamentally do not own the details. It is our knowledge as the general public.
