The original version of House Bill No. 1969 was directed solely at enforcing the attorney general's decisions that information is public. It is an offense to fail or refuse to give access to, or to permit or provide copying of, public records to any person upon request as provided in this Act. Legislative history, as seen in the introduced version of House Bill No. 1969 and the analyses of the enacted version, reveal the legislative intent to punish the wrongful failure to release public information. See V.T.C.S. art. A defendant could withhold complete public information by permitting access but refusing copies of voluminous public records.
Some information is, moreover, subject to inspection only in the form of copies.
See, e.g., Open Records Decision Nos. A requestor will have to find other means to dispute prices charged for photocopies under the Open Records Act.