HBA-NIK S.B. 744 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 744
By: Shapleigh
Corrections
4/15/1999
Engrossed



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, under Section 552.028(a) (Request for Information From
Incarcerated Individual), Government Code, a governmental body is not
required to accept or comply with a request for public information from an
individual who is imprisoned or confined in a correctional facility.  This
does not cover information requests from an "agent" of an incarcerated
individual, such as a parent.  In an informal letter ruling in a case
concerning a request by an inmate's mother for copies of the voter
registration applications of several individuals, including law enforcement
personnel, the attorney general determined that the county elections
administrator could decline to comply with the information request that was
submitted by the agent of an incarcerated individual.  S.B. 744 authorizes
a governmental body to refuse to accept or comply with a request for public
information from the agent of an individual imprisoned or confined in a
correctional facility, unless the agent is the individual's attorney. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subsections (a) and (b), Section 552.028, Government
Code, to include that a request for information from an agent of an
individual who is imprisoned or confined in a correctional facility, other
than a request from that individual's attorney, among the requests which
with a governmental body is not required to accept or comply. Makes
conforming changes. 

SECTION 2. Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.