How to Request Open Public Records in Texas: Deadlines and Costs

To request public records in Texas, send a written request to the Officer for Public Information at the agency that holds the records, describe the documents you want, and state that you are making the request under the Texas Public Information Act. The agency then has ten business days to release the records, tell you when they will be ready, ask the Attorney General for permission to withhold them, or confirm that no responsive records exist.¹ You don’t have to be a Texas resident, and the officer handling your request is not allowed to ask why you want the information.²

Who Can Ask, and Who to Ask

Any person can request public information in Texas. The Act uses phrases like “the people,” “the public,” and “any person,” and it creates no special access categories for journalists, residents, or citizens.³ If a clerk asks why you want the records, you don’t have to answer.

Requests go to the agency’s Officer for Public Information or to someone that officer has designated. Most state agencies, cities, counties, school districts, and other governmental bodies list this contact on their websites, often under “public information,” “open records,” or “records requests.” Sending your request to the wrong office can delay things, so take a minute to find the right person before you send anything.

How to Write the Request

The request must be in writing, but Texas law doesn’t require a particular form, and you don’t need to cite statutes. It helps to state clearly that you are requesting records under the Texas Public Information Act, which flags the request for proper routing and starts the legal clock.

Describe existing documents rather than asking questions. The Act does not require an agency to conduct research, analyze data, or create records that don’t already exist.³ “Please explain how the department spent its budget last year” is a question. “Please provide all check registers and purchase orders for the parks department from January 1 through December 31, 2024” describes records.

Specificity matters for another reason: vague requests trigger clarification requests, and asking the agency to guess what you want typically resets the response timeline. Include date ranges, department names, document types, and any identifying numbers you already have. If you want emails, name the accounts and the search terms or subjects. If you want a contract, name the vendor.

Delivery Methods That Start the Clock

You can deliver a request by U.S. mail, email, or hand delivery. Agencies can also approve additional methods such as fax or an online submission portal on their website.⁴ A social media message or a phone call is not a valid written request and does not start the agency’s obligation to respond.

Keep proof of delivery. Online portals usually generate a confirmation number. Certified mail gives you a postmark and a return receipt. If you hand-deliver, ask the clerk to date-stamp a copy for you. That paper trail is what you’ll rely on if the agency later disputes when it received the request.

What Happens in the First Ten Business Days

Within ten business days of receiving your written request, the agency must do one of four things: release the records, notify you in writing of a date and time when the records will be available, ask the Attorney General for a ruling on whether it can withhold the records, or tell you it has nothing responsive.¹ The count uses business days only and excludes weekends, holidays, and days the agency is closed for weather or emergencies.⁵

Silence is not one of the options. An agency that ignores your request has violated the Act, and you have legal remedies.

What It Will Cost

Agencies can charge for copies, but the charges are capped at the actual cost of reproduction. The Attorney General sets a standard fee schedule that begins at ten cents per page for standard paper copies.⁶ Reproduction fees can include materials, labor directly involved in making the copies, and overhead, but they cannot include the cost of locating, compiling, or pulling records together.⁷ Local governments may set their own schedules, but generally cannot charge more than 25 percent above the Attorney General’s rates without a specific exemption.⁸

If the estimated cost of your request exceeds $40, the agency must give you a written, itemized estimate before starting work.⁷ That estimate lets you narrow the request, accept the cost, or walk away. An agency that skips the required estimate may lose the right to charge you at all.

For larger requests, an agency can require a deposit up front. The threshold is $100 for agencies with more than 15 full-time employees and $50 for smaller agencies.⁹ If you have unpaid balances from earlier requests totaling more than $100, an agency can require you to settle those before it processes a new one.³

You can also cut costs by inspecting records in person at the agency’s office, then requesting copies only of the pages you actually need. For most recent records, inspection is the cheapest route.

Agencies can waive or reduce charges when releasing the records primarily benefits the general public rather than just you, or when the cost of collecting the fee would exceed the fee itself.¹⁰ There’s no formal waiver application; you ask, and the agency decides.

When Records Can Be Withheld

Some records are exempt from disclosure. The broadest exception covers any information that another state or federal law makes confidential, which sweeps in student records under FERPA, health information under HIPAA, Social Security numbers, and certain financial details. Attorney-client communications between an agency and its lawyers are exempt, as is information tied to pending or anticipated litigation. Law enforcement can withhold investigative details that would interfere with an active case, though basic arrest information such as the person’s name and the charges filed remains public. When an agency redacts portions of a document under an exception, it must still release the rest.

An agency cannot simply label a record confidential and refuse to release it. If it wants to withhold, it must ask the Attorney General’s Open Records Division for a ruling, and it must do so within ten business days of receiving your request. Within that same window, the agency must send you written notice that it’s seeking to withhold, along with a copy of what it sent to the Attorney General. Within a further five business days, so 15 business days total, the agency must submit its full written arguments and the records at issue to the Attorney General.¹¹ You’ll receive a copy of the agency’s comments and can submit your own arguments for release.

The Open Records Division generally issues its ruling within 45 business days of receiving the agency’s request.¹² If the ruling says the records aren’t exempt, the agency must release them.

If the Agency Won’t Comply

When an agency refuses to release records, refuses to seek an Attorney General ruling, or ignores an Attorney General determination that records are public, you can file suit in district court asking for a writ of mandamus, a court order compelling the agency to produce the information. You file in the district court for the county where the agency’s main offices are located.¹³ The Attorney General can also bring mandamus suits in Travis County on behalf of the public interest.

The Act also makes it a misdemeanor for a public information officer to refuse access with criminal negligence, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in county jail, or both, and it counts as official misconduct.¹⁴ Prosecutions under that provision are rare in practice. Mandamus is the tool most requesters actually use.

Don’t Wait Too Long

You can only request records that still exist. Every state agency follows a records retention schedule that sets the minimum period each type of record must be kept before it can be destroyed, subject to any longer period required by other law.¹⁵ Once a record hits the end of its retention period, an agency can lawfully destroy it. It cannot destroy records after receiving a request for them, but it has no duty to hold onto records past their scheduled destruction date just in case. For time-sensitive materials like police reports, personnel files, or older contracts, file the request as soon as you know you want them.

1
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Responding to a PIA Request
2
Texas Secretary of State. Open Records Policy
3
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Public Information Act Handbook 2024
4
State of Texas. Texas Government Code 552234 – Method of Making Written Request for Public Information
5
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Public Information To-Do List – Manage Your Requests, Hit Your Deadlines, Improve Your Service
6
Cornell Law Institute. 1 Texas Admin Code 70.10 – The Attorney General Charge Schedule
7
State of Texas. Texas Government Code 552261 – Charge for Providing Copies of Public Information
8
State of Texas. Texas Government Code GOVT 552262
9
Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Public Information Act Cost Rules 101
10
State of Texas. Texas Government Code GOVT 552267
11
State of Texas. Texas Government Code 552301 – Request for Attorney General Decision
12
Office of the Attorney General. What to Expect When You Receive an Open Records Letter Ruling
13
State of Texas. Texas Government Code 552321 – Suit for Writ of Mandamus
14
State of Texas. Texas Government Code GOVT 552353
15
Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Texas State Records Retention Schedule