REPORT ON PROCEDURES FOR CHARGING AND COLLECTING FEES FOR PROVIDING COPIES OF PUBLIC INFORMATION
This report is made pursuant to Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, §552.274(b), which reads:
Before the 30th day after the date on which a regular session of the legislature convenes, each state agency shall issue a report that describes that agency’s procedures for charging and collecting fees for providing copies of public information. A state agency may comply with this subsection by posting the report on the agency’s open records page or another easily accessible page on the agency’s website on the Internet.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) charges for copies of public information in accordance with the Office of the Attorney General’s rules that establish costs for various components of charges for providing copies of public information (1 TAC §70.1-§70.11). The TSLAC charges are also set forth in rules promulgated by the Commission (13 TAC §2.51).
In accordance with those rules other governmental bodies are not charged for copies of public information. In addition, pursuant to Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, §552.264, information requested by a member, agency, or committee of the legislature to use for legislative purposes, is provided free of charge.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission is unique in that it responds not only to requests for public information found in the Commission’s records but also to requests for information found in the very large volume of inactive records that have been permanently transferred from other state agencies to TSLAC for placement in the State Archives. In FY2006, TSLAC staff responded to 3,281 requests for public information. Charges collected for copies created in response to those requests totaled $37,970. In the first four months of FY 2007 Commission staff responded to 1,218 public information requests for which they collected $11,769 in fees for copies.
Because the Commission and its staff understand that in a democratic society citizens need to know what their government has done and is doing, we are strongly committed to providing access to public information in all of the public records in our custody in strict conformity with the provisions of the Texas Public Information Act.
If you have any questions regarding this report or require any additional information, please contact Chris LaPlante.
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