TX PIAs - Obtaining Records Using Texas Law
TBTX takingbacktexas.org
This is designed to help simplify the process of Public Information Act Requests in Texas, with a slight lean towards requesting election records.
Enjoy and good luck!
I. Drafting Your Request for Records
Presumption of Openness
All records—paper, email, audio, video, or any other medium—are presumed public under the Texas Public Information Act (PIA) unless a statute explicitly exempts them. A written request is required to invoke the PIA.Scope of “Public Information”
Applies to any document or data created, received, or maintained by a government agency (or its employees), including non‑governmental entities and nonprofits funded with public dollars.
Exception: Judicial‑branch records are not covered by the PIA; those must be sought from the court’s Custodian of Records.
Existing Records Only
Agencies must provide only materials already in existence; they are not required to compile new analyses, reports, or data.
Fees & Delivery Formats
Agencies may charge reasonable compilation and reproduction fees (per the Secretary of State’s fee schedule).To minimize costs and delays, specify electronic delivery (e.g. “PDF preferred”).
Addressing Your Request
Direct your written request to the agency head or the Public Information Coordinator (by name if known; generic office addresses are acceptable).No Technical Citations Required
You need only clearly describe the records you seek—there is no requirement to quote the PIA or any other statute, though we recommend some citations to ensure government compliance.
II. Timeline for Agencies to Respond
Day 0: Request Filed
The agency logs and begins processing your written request.By Day 10 (business days): Acknowledgment & Notice of Exemptions
Acknowledge Receipt: The agency must confirm in writing that it has received and is processing your request.
Identify Exemptions: If any portion appears exempt, the responsible public employee must file, within these 10 days (plus up to 5 days to finalize), a formal letter with the Attorney General’s (AG) Open Records Division detailing each claimed exemption and its legal basis.
Third‑Party Notification: The agency must notify you of any delay and alert any third parties whose interests may be affected.
By Day 15 (business days): Submission of Justification
The agency must deliver to the AG:
A written narrative of each exemption invoked, citing the precise statutory authority
Supporting factual information
The original date the request was received
Within 45 Business Days (plus one 10‑day extension): AG Ruling
The AG issues a binding decision on release versus withholding.
Extension: The AG may extend once by 10 business days, but must notify you in writing of the extension.
Burden of Proof: At every stage, the public employee responsible for processing your request bears the burden of demonstrating why each claimed exemption applies. Failure to meet deadlines or substantiate exemptions results in a presumption of openness and immediate release.
III. What to Expect
Automatic Release on Missed Deadlines
If the agency fails to request an AG ruling within Day 10, its refusal triggers a presumption that the records are open and must be released.Penalties for Agency Violations
Officials who wrongfully withhold information or ignore PIA deadlines may face:Civil fines
Criminal penalties (up to six months in county jail)
Removal from office for official misconduct
Challenging a Denial
File suit—or seek a writ of mandamus—within 30 days of a denial.
Alternatively, lodge a civil or criminal complaint with your local District Attorney, the Travis County DA, or the Attorney General’s office if you are denied records by the agency without a fresh opinion from the Attorney General on the very records requested.
For example, the author of this blog requested Public Testing Tapes from the HART machines used in Tarrant County. Tarrant County Election Administrator Heider Garcia asked Texas AG Paxton to back him up in denying me those records. Paxton did not back him up, but instead ordered the records be released to me. In response, Heider had Tarrant County sue the AG to protect the testing tapes that I had already viewed during the testing but also filmed a portion of. The lawsuit ended up being rendered null and void as the legislature that session clarified that all of the records must be given to us, though I still have not received the Public Machine Testing tapes I requested from Heider. Heider has since left Tarrant County to manage neighboring Dallas County’s elections, where the county government is less scrutinizing of his procedures and logic than Tarrant County leadership.
Requester Protections
You cannot be sued for making a lawful open‑records request, and you may intervene in any litigation challenging an AG ruling if a third party seeks to block disclosure.Record Preservation
It is a crime for any official to destroy, alter, or remove public information to evade a lawful PIA request, and ALL election records must be preserved for the federally mandated minimum of 22 months.Best Practices
Be Specific: Narrow your request by date range, topic, or document type to expedite processing. Officials will act confused if they do not want to wade through the paperwork, specificity is important.
Request Electronic Delivery Where Feasible: Minimizes costs and accelerates turnaround. Viewing the physical records and even filming them where allowed, are other options for record inspection.
Plan for 60+ Days for “Controversial” Records: The process will take longer for records that the agencies do not want to release. From filing to final AG ruling typically takes at least two months for any kind of resolution—file early if time‑sensitive.
Anticipate Exemptions: Sensitive or high‑profile topics often prompt exemption claims—remember, the agency must prove each and every one to the AG in order to deny your requests.
Special Provision: Election Records (Election Code § 1.012)
General Availability: All election records—including ballots, applications, notices, reports, images of voted ballots, and cast‑vote records—are public, subject to reasonable custodian rules.
Electronic Access & Fees:
Current law says that records must be available electronically by 15 days after election day, for a fee not to exceed $50 per Texas Election Code 1.012(e) and compiling electronic images of files already scanned into a database does not take much time to compile. Let them know you know that and would like electronic copies where you can use them in place of physical records. Also consider visiting to view the records and filming them where it is allowed by law and where filming would not be in violation of any individual rights.
Voted‑ballot images and cast‑vote records must be released immediately following the final canvass of an election or made immediately available for the purposes of an audit or recount.
Original voted ballots become available to the general public 61 days after election day, though for counties using countywide vote centers, that is also the day they are able to be removed from their original polling location ballot bags, preventing the public from knowing which ballots came from what location. This is one way that an auditable paper trail is destroyed.
Other items like machine tapes and judges’ bags, voter rosters, daily reconciliation forms, precinct/ location turnout reports and more are covered under this Act and must be made available for public inspection.
Redactions: Custodians must redact any personally identifiable voter information from ballots before release, with examples given of instances where a voter might write their name or information on the ballot. This does not give a pass to redact any official information marked on the ballot in the course of the official election procedure. All ballots and all voting systems must be designed to inherently provide ballot secrecy, and no information added to the ballot should be able to be tied back to a voter per Texas Election Code 122.001 (a)(1).
©Aubree Campbell 2022