The city has added a new section of it’s web site that allows us to make open records requests.
Follow this link to get to the page. It looks like the city has made a good start in making it easier for us to make these requests.
As is unfortunately often the case much of what the city has posted on the page is either wrong or incomplete to the point of being misleading.
Texas law controls the handling of these requests. The city site does point you to Texas sites that are authoritative and complete.
Understanding the rules takes some studying and I encourage you to spend some time learning them if you want to be successful with your request.
I only spent a few minutes looking at what the city has put on the web site.
Issues that jumped out at me at first glance were:
They fail to point out that you do not have to receive paper copies of documents responsive to your request. You may request to view the documents in person.
Allowable charges vary depending upon circumstances (number, age, and location of documents).
The city will charge $15 per hour for labor but generally may not charge if you are requesting fewer than 50 pages that are stored in one building. The city says they will charge $3.50 per hour overhead if they actually charge for labor. Texas says that the maximum overhead charge is 20% which would put the city maximum at $3.00 per hour.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
Cato
elpasospeak 