2023 Texas Statutes › Government Code › Title 5 - Open Government; Ethics › Subtitle A - Open Government › Chapter 552 - Public Information › Subchapter A. General Provisions › Section 552.003. Definitions

Sec. 552.003.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
(1)  "Governmental body":
(A)  means:
(i)  a board, commission, department, committee, institution, agency, or office that is within or is created by the executive or legislative branch of state government and that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members;
(ii)  a county commissioners court in the state;
(iii)  a municipal governing body in the state;
(iv)  a deliberative body that has rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or municipality;
(v)  a school district board of trustees;
(vi)  a county board of school trustees;
(vii)  a county board of education;
(viii)  the governing board of a special district;
(ix)  the governing body of a nonprofit corporation organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that provides a water supply or wastewater service, or both, and is exempt from ad valorem taxation under Section 11.30, Tax Code;
(x)  a local workforce development board created under Section 2308.253;
(xi)  a nonprofit corporation that is eligible to receive funds under the federal community services block grant program and that is authorized by this state to serve a geographic area of the state;
(xii)  a confinement facility operated under a contract with any division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice;
(xiii)  a civil commitment housing facility owned, leased, or operated by a vendor under contract with the state as provided by Chapter 841, Health and Safety Code;
(xiv)  an entity that receives public funds in the current or preceding state fiscal year to manage the daily operations or restoration of the Alamo, or an entity that oversees such an entity; and
(xv)  the part, section, or portion of an organization, corporation, commission, committee, institution, or agency that spends or that is supported in whole or in part by public funds; and
(B)  does not include:
(i)  the judiciary; or
(ii)  an economic development entity whose mission or purpose is to develop and promote the economic growth of a state agency or political subdivision with which the entity contracts if:
(a)  the entity does not receive $1 million or more in public funds from a single state agency or political subdivision in the current or preceding state fiscal year; or
(b)  the entity:
(1)  either:
(A)  does not have the authority to make decisions or recommendations on behalf of a state agency or political subdivision regarding tax abatements or tax incentives; or
(B)  does not require an officer of the state agency or political subdivision to hold office as a member of the board of directors of the entity;
(2)  does not use staff or office space of the state agency or political subdivision for no or nominal consideration, unless the space is available to the public;
(3)  to a reasonable degree, tracks the entity's receipt and expenditure of public funds separately from the entity's receipt and expenditure of private funds; and
(4)  provides at least quarterly public reports to the state agency or political subdivision regarding work performed on behalf of the state agency or political subdivision.
(1-a)  "Contracting information" means the following information maintained by a governmental body or sent between a governmental body and a vendor, contractor, potential vendor, or potential contractor:
(A)  information in a voucher or contract relating to the receipt or expenditure of public funds by a governmental body;
(B)  solicitation or bid documents relating to a contract with a governmental body;
(C)  communications sent between a governmental body and a vendor, contractor, potential vendor, or potential contractor during the solicitation, evaluation, or negotiation of a contract;
(D)  documents, including bid tabulations, showing the criteria by which a governmental body evaluates each vendor, contractor, potential vendor, or potential contractor responding to a solicitation and, if applicable, an explanation of why the vendor or contractor was selected; and
(E)  communications and other information sent between a governmental body and a vendor or contractor related to the performance of a final contract with the governmental body or work performed on behalf of the governmental body.
(1-b)  "Honorably retired" means, with respect to a position, an individual who:
(A)  previously served but is not currently serving in the position;
(B)  did not retire in lieu of any disciplinary action;
(C)  was eligible to retire from the position or was ineligible to retire only as a result of an injury received in the course of the individual's employment in the position; and
(D)  is eligible to receive a pension or annuity for service in the position or is ineligible to receive a pension or annuity only because the entity that employed the individual does not offer a pension or annuity to its employees.
(2)  "Manipulation" means the process of modifying, reordering, or decoding of information with human intervention.
(2-a) "Official business" means any matter over which a governmental body has any authority, administrative duties, or advisory duties.
(3)  "Processing" means the execution of a sequence of coded instructions by a computer producing a result.
(4)  "Programming" means the process of producing a sequence of coded instructions that can be executed by a computer.
(5)  "Public funds" means funds of the state or of a governmental subdivision of the state.
(6)  "Requestor" means a person who submits a request to a governmental body for inspection or copies of public information.
(7)  "Temporary custodian" means an officer or employee of a governmental body who, in the transaction of official business, creates or receives public information that the officer or employee has not provided to the officer for public information of the governmental body or the officer's agent.  The term includes a former officer or employee of a governmental body who created or received public information in the officer's or employee's official capacity that has not been provided to the officer for public information of the governmental body or the officer's agent.
Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.  Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 1035, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995;  Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 62, Sec. 18.24, eff. Sept. 1, 1999;  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 633, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001;  Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1004, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1276, Sec. 9.014, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1204 (S.B. 1368), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2013.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1216 (S.B. 943), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2020.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1340 (S.B. 944), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2019.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 590 (S.B. 841), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2021.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 915 (H.B. 3607), Sec. 21.001(35), eff. September 1, 2021.