Texas Public Information Act: How to Request Public Records

The Texas Public Information Act, Tex. Gov't Code ch. 552, is the state law that lets any person ask a Texas city, county, school district, state agency or other governmental body for its records. Chapter 552 is titled "Public Information," and the Act is usually called the PIA rather than "Texas FOIA," though people search for it both ways.

Texas runs one of the most distinctive records systems in the country. Where most states let the requester appeal a denial, Texas puts the burden on the government: if a governmental body wants to withhold something, it has to go to the Attorney General and defend that position, and it has to start that process fast.

This page covers Texas law only. For other states, see the public records laws by state hub, and for federal agency requests see how to file a FOIA request.

Who can file a Texas public information request?

Any person can. The Public Information Act is not limited to Texas residents, and there is no citizenship requirement of the kind Tennessee, Virginia and a handful of other states impose. You also do not have to explain why you want the records. A governmental body generally may not condition access on your purpose.

That makes Texas one of the easier states to use from out of state. An out-of-state journalist, researcher, insurer or family member can send the same request a Texas resident would send.

What you do have to do is put it in writing. A written request creates the paper trail the Act's deadlines run from, and it is what triggers the governmental body's Section 552.301 clock if it decides to withhold.

What is the deadline for a Texas records request?

This is the single most misunderstood point in Texas public records law, so it is worth stating carefully.

Section 552.221(a) is the production rule. It says an officer for public information "shall promptly produce public information," and it defines the word for you:

"In this subsection, 'promptly' means as soon as possible under the circumstances, that is, within a reasonable time, without delay."

That is a reasonableness standard rather than a delivery date. Nothing in Section 552.221 gives a Texas agency a fixed period of 10 days, or 20 days, or any other count in which it must hand records over.

Section 552.221 does contain a number, though, and it is a useful one. Subsection (d) provides that if the officer for public information cannot produce the information within 10 business days after the date the information is requested, the officer shall certify that fact in writing to the requestor and set a date and hour within a reasonable time when the information will be available. Subsection (c) is the parallel certification for information that is in active use or in storage: the officer certifies that fact in writing and sets a date and hour within a reasonable time when the record will be available.

Neither subsection is a deadline to deliver. Both are deadlines to tell you, in writing, when delivery will happen. That distinction is practical rather than academic, because a written certification naming a date and hour is a far more useful thing to hold an agency to than the word "promptly." If 10 business days pass with no records and no certification, you have a specific, citable failure to raise.

The 10 business day figure that circulates widely comes from a different section and does a different job. Section 552.301 governs what happens when a governmental body wants to withhold information. It must ask the Attorney General for a decision, and state the specific exceptions it is relying on, "within a reasonable time but not later than the 10th business day after the date of receiving the written request." Section 552.0031 defines a business day so that Saturdays, Sundays, and state and national holidays do not count.

So the correct way to read the two provisions together, as of August 2026:

Treating the 10 business days as your delivery deadline sets you up to argue the wrong point. If a governmental body is 12 business days into a large request and has not withheld anything, it has not necessarily broken any deadline; the question is whether its pace is reasonable under the circumstances. If instead it told you it is withholding records and never went to the Attorney General, that is the deadline that matters.

How the Texas attorney general ruling process works

Texas does not have an independent records tribunal the way Pennsylvania does, and it does not simply send you to court the way South Carolina and Tennessee do. It has a referral system.

When a governmental body concludes that some or all of what you asked for falls within one of Chapter 552's exceptions, it does not just deny you and wait for you to fight. It must submit the question to the Attorney General's Open Records Division within 10 business days under Section 552.301, identifying the specific exceptions it claims. The Attorney General then issues an open records letter ruling deciding whether the information must be released.

Three practical consequences follow for a requester:

• You are a participant, not a bystander. The governmental body has to notify you that it has sought a ruling. You can write to the Open Records Division and explain why the information should be public.
• A denial letter that mentions the Attorney General is not the end. It usually means the file is now with the AG and a written ruling is coming.
• A denial letter that never mentions the Attorney General is a red flag. If a governmental body is withholding information under a claimed exception and did not seek a ruling, ask it directly, in writing, for its Section 552.301 request date and the AG assignment number.

Certain categories, such as information that has already been the subject of a previous determination, do not need a fresh ruling each time. That is why some denials cite an earlier AG ruling number rather than a new one.

What can a Texas agency charge?

Section 552.261(a) sets the standard:

"The charge for providing a copy of public information shall be an amount that reasonably includes all costs related to reproducing the public information, including costs of materials, labor, and overhead."

The same section adds a rule that matters for ordinary consumer requests: if a request is for 50 or fewer pages of paper records, the charge is limited to the per page photocopy charge, with exceptions where the records are kept in a separate building or in remote storage.

Two habits keep costs down. Ask to inspect first and copy only what you need, because inspection avoids duplication charges on documents you do not want. And ask for records in the electronic format the agency already keeps them in, which avoids paper copy charges entirely for records that live as PDFs or spreadsheets.

Texas does have a public interest fee waiver, and it is worth asking for by name. Section 552.267(a) provides:

"A governmental body shall provide a copy of public information without charge or at a reduced charge if the governmental body determines that waiver or reduction of the charge is in the public interest because providing the copy of the information primarily benefits the general public."

Read the sentence carefully, because the discretion is not where people assume it is. The governmental body decides whether providing the copy primarily benefits the general public. Once it makes that determination, the waiver or reduction is mandatory: the statute says "shall provide."

That is what should shape how you ask. A request that says "please waive fees" gives the body nothing to determine. A request that names the public benefit concretely, who besides you learns something from these records and why that matters to people other than you, is asking the body to make the finding the statute turns on.

Section 552.267(b) adds a second waiver that is purely practical: a governmental body may waive the charge for a copy of public information if it determines that the cost of processing the collection of the charge will exceed the amount of the charge. That is the provision to point at when an agency proposes to invoice you a few dollars, though granting the waiver is the body's call, not an entitlement.

If a charge looks wrong, the Attorney General's office publishes cost rules and handles complaints about overcharging, separately from the open records ruling process.

Police records, body camera video and 911 audio in Texas

Law enforcement records are where Texas requests most often stall, and the reason is usually Chapter 552's exception structure combined with the AG referral system. A police department that considers a case open will typically withhold under a law enforcement exception and send the question to the Attorney General, which means the answer arrives as an AG ruling rather than as a fast yes or no.

Body worn camera footage in Texas is governed by its own statutory scheme in the Occupations Code in addition to Chapter 552, and departments frequently require the requester to describe the recording with enough specificity to locate it, including date, time and location. Expect a longer timeline and a real possibility of redaction rather than release in full.

Emergency call audio raises its own set of questions in every state. We cover the general framework in are 911 calls public records.

For records that are not held under the Public Information Act at all, do not send a Chapter 552 request. Texas death certificates run through the state vital statistics system with its own eligibility rules, covered in Texas death records, and deeds and property files sit with the county clerk, covered in Texas property records.

How to file a Texas public information request

There is no central Texas portal that reaches every governmental body. You send the request to the specific entity that holds the records.

1. Identify the right governmental body. City records go to the city secretary or the department's public information coordinator, county records to the county clerk or the county's designated officer, state agency records to that agency's public information officer.
2. Put it in writing. Email is fine for most Texas bodies, and many publish a dedicated public information email address or web form. Keep a copy with the date.
3. Describe the records, not the answer you want. The Act reaches existing records. It does not require a governmental body to answer questions, do research, or create a document that does not exist.
4. Give a date range and a custodian. "All emails between the city manager and the police chief mentioning the Elm Street contract, January 1 to March 31, 2026" is a request that can be filled. "Everything about the Elm Street project" invites a clarification letter that restarts your practical timeline.
5. Say how you want to receive it. Electronic delivery of records already kept electronically is usually the cheapest option.
6. Ask to be told about any AG referral. A single line asking the body to notify you if it seeks an Attorney General decision, and to send you a copy of its briefing, costs nothing and puts you in the loop.

You can build a written request with the correct Texas statutory language using our free public records request generator, which produces a letter you can copy, print or email. Nothing you enter is saved.

What to do when a Texas request is denied

Work through it in this order.

Read the denial for a statutory citation. Chapter 552 denials should name the exception relied on. A denial with no cite is worth challenging on that basis alone.

Find out whether the body went to the Attorney General. If it is withholding under an exception and did not request a ruling within 10 business days under Section 552.301, say so in writing and ask it to release the information or explain its authority for withholding without a ruling.

Participate in the AG review. If the referral did happen, send the Open Records Division your written argument. This is free and does not require a lawyer.

Consider suit. Section 552.321(a) allows a requester to file suit for a writ of mandamus compelling a governmental body to make information available when it refuses to request an attorney general's decision, or refuses to supply public information, or refuses to supply information that the attorney general has determined is public. The provision is disjunctive, which matters: you do not have to show all three branches, or even two. A refusal to hand over information the Attorney General has already ruled public is on its own a basis for mandamus, and so is a refusal to seek a ruling in the first place. This is the enforcement backstop, and it is worth talking to a lawyer before filing, though nothing in Chapter 552 requires you to have one to make a request.

Note the asymmetry that makes Texas unusual: the pressure point is normally the governmental body's own obligation to justify withholding, not a requester's appeal window. There is no 15 business day requester appeal deadline in Texas the way there is in Pennsylvania. Missing an internal timer is rarely what sinks a Texas request; failing to press the AG referral question is.

This article is general legal information about Texas law as of August 2026, not legal advice. The statutory language quoted here was read directly from the Texas Legislature's official publication of Government Code Chapter 552. Body camera specifics outside Chapter 552, and current per page copy rates set by the Attorney General's cost rules, were not re-verified for this page and should be checked against the agency you are dealing with. For advice about your own situation, speak with a lawyer licensed in Texas.

For deadlines, fees, and appeal routes in the other fifty jurisdictions, start at our public records laws by state hub.