Thought Leadership

Changes Coming to the Texas Public Information Act: Is Your School District Prepared? 

HB 3033 passed during the 88th Legislative Session, effective September 1, 2023, makes significant changes to the Texas Public Information Act (PIA), prompting a need for districts to update their procedures and for the board of trustees to take action. 

Various provisions throughout the PIA require a governmental entity to act within a prescribed number of “business days.” The statute previously did not define the term “business days,” However, for years, the Attorney General’s Office interpreted the term “business days” to not include days the governmental entity was closed for business or holidays the governmental entity chose to observe. For school districts, this meant that closures such as fall break, winter break, and spring break were not counted as business days when calculating applicable deadlines. 

This longstanding interpretation has now been changed by the legislature. Under HB 3033, the only days that do not count as business days are the following: 

• Weekends – Saturday or Sunday; 
• National Holidays – New Year’s Day; Martin Luther King, Jr., Day; President’s Day; Memorial Day; Independence Day; Labor Day; Veterans Day; Thanksgiving Day; and Christmas Day; 
• State Holidays – Confederate Heroes Day; Texas Independence Day; San Jacinto Day; Emancipation Day; Lyndon B. Johnson Day;  
• Optional Holidays – Rosh Hashanah; Yom Kippur; and Good Friday (only if the governmental body observes the holiday); 
• The Friday before or the Monday after a holiday described above if the holiday occurs on a Saturday or Sunday and the governmental body observes the holiday on that Friday or Monday; and  
• Up to 10 additional days each calendar year when the district’s administrative offices are closed or operating with minimal staff. 

To take advantage of the 10 additional “non-business days” each calendar year, the board of trustees must officially designate these days. We recommend this action be done through a board resolution on an annual basis.  

A few other important changes to be aware of include: 

• All requests for an attorney general opinion must be submitted electronically via the OAG’s electronic filing system unless (1) the governmental body has fewer than 16 employees or is located in a county with a population of less than 150,00; (2) the amount or format of the responsive information makes use of the electronic filing system impractical or impossible; or (3) the request is hand delivered to the OAG’s office.  
• Upon receipt of an attorney general’s opinion, the district must inform the requestor and take certain actions “as soon as practicable but within a reasonable period of time.” The bill defines “reasonable period of time” as “not later than the 30th day after the date the attorney general issues the opinion.” 

If you have questions about these new requirements or your district needs assistance developing a resolution, updating procedures, or training staff, please contact any member of our team.