Release of Information Pursuant to the UPPS No. 01.04.30
Texas
Public Information Act Issue No. 8
Effective
Date: 2/15/2011
Review:
March 1 E10Y
01. POLICY STATEMENT
01.01 The purposes of this UPPS are to:
a. summarize the Texas
Public Information Act, hereafter referred to as the “Act”; and
b. explain the procedures to follow after
receiving a request for information from internal or external requestors under
the Act.
02. SUMMARY OF THE ACT
02.01 The Act provides that all information
collected, assembled, or maintained by governmental bodies is public
information and available to the public during normal business hours, unless
the information falls within certain exceptions specified in the Act. Many of those exceptions are summarized as follows:
a. information
that is confidential under other specific statutes or by judicial decisions;
b. certain personnel information that would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (employees who
wish to protect from disclosure their home
addresses, home telephone numbers, and whether they have family members may do
so by contacting the Human Resources Office. Social security numbers are
protected from disclosure);
c. certain information relating to litigation if
the litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated on the date the request is
made;
d. information relating to competition or
bidding;
e. information relating to the location or price
of property before public announcement or
award of contract;
f. certain legislative
documents;
g. certain legal
matters;
h. certain law enforcement records;
i. certain private communications of an elected
office-holder;
j. certain commercial or financial information;
k. certain memoranda containing advice,
opinions, or recommendations on policy matters;
l. certain information relating to regulation
of financial institutions or securities;
m. geological or
geophysical information;
n. certain
student records;
o. certain birth
and death records;
p. certain
audit working records;
q. certain
addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, and personal family
information;
r. official
prescription forms;
s. photographs
of peace officers;
t. certain
rare books and original manuscripts;
u. certain
documents held for historical research;
v. certain test
items;
w. names of
applicants for chief executive officer of institutions of higher education;
x. certain
library records;
y. certain
audits;
z. names of
applicants for superintendent of public school districts;
aa. certain
information submitted by a potential vendor or contractor;
bb. personal
information relating to participants in neighborhood crime watch organizations;
cc. motor vehicle
inspection information;
dd. certain motor
vehicle records;
ee. certain
economic development information; and
ff. crime victim
information.
02.02 Texas State is a governmental body; therefore,
records it maintains are subject to the Act's provisions. The Act applies to
records kept in all forms, including documents, photographs, drawings, videotapes,
computer records, and tape recordings.
02.03 Tangible items such as tools and keys are not
covered by the Act. Personal notes not made or kept in the course of university
business are not subject to disclosure under the Act.
03. PROCEDURES FOR RELEASE OF INFORMATION
03.01 Notifying the University Attorney.
Persons who receive requests for information under the Act should promptly
notify the university attorney.
a. The university attorney is the president's
designee as officer for public records for the purpose of complying with the
Act.
b. The Act requires that the university promptly
produce public records for inspection or
duplication or both within a reasonable time. Minimally, a written
acknowledgement of requests should be provided to requestors within ten days of
receipt of the request. If the university attorney, in consultation with other
university officials, believes that the information requested is excepted from
the required public disclosure, he or she must request a decision from the
attorney general within ten days after receiving a written request. If he or
she fails to request a decision, the information is presumed to be public
information.
03.02 Extending Courtesies. University
employees should extend to persons requesting public records all reasonable
comfort and facility for the full exercise of the rights granted by the Act.
University employees should treat each request for information uniformly
without regard to the position or occupation of the person making the request,
the person on whose behalf the request is made, or because the individual is a
member of the news media (see UPPS No.
06.05.02, Responding to Media Inquiries).
03.03 Limiting Inquiries. University
employees should not make any inquiry of any person who applies to inspect or
copy records except to establish proper identification, identify the public
records being requested and obtain clarifying details to assure accurate
compliance, or establish whether the university is authorized to refuse the
request.
03.04 Determine Availability. The university attorney
and the designated information owner for the office that maintains the
requested information will review the request and determine whether the
information is available to the requestor. If they believe that the information
is not available to the requestor, the university attorney will request a
decision from the attorney general on the issue. See the Data Ownership Guide
(under the University Standards and Guides section of the Web page) for a list
of the offices with ownership responsibility for commonly-requested
information.
a. The information owner may require that
applicants for records submit their applications
in writing on paper or via e-mail.
b. The Act does not require that the university
prepare new information, provide it in the
form requested, or comply with standing requests. However, if information is
readily available in the form requested, it should be provided in that form. If
there is uncertainty, the university attorney and information owner will
together determine the best means of providing information.
03.05 Determining Inspection Procedures. The university
attorney and the information owner for the office that maintains the records
will determine, on a case-by-case basis, the procedures by which public records
may be inspected efficiently, safely, and without delay.
03.06 Charges for Copies of Public Records.
The university may require persons requesting copies of university records to
pay a reasonable reproduction charge before delivering the copies to the
requestors. These costs are set forth on the Office of Attorney General Web site
by following the Cost Rules link at https://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/pia/. An itemized list of
charges (if any) and a statement that charges must be paid in advance should be
provided to the requestor, when applicable. The university may, in appropriate
cases, require a bond for payment of costs for the preparation of public
records.
04. REVIEWERS OF THIS UPPS
04.01 Reviewers of this UPPS include the following:
Position Date
University Attorney March 1
E10Y
Director, University
News Service March 1 E10Y
05. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
This UPPS has been approved by the
following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State
policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.
University Attorney; senior reviewer
of this UPPS
Special Assistant to the President
President