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A More Informed Public
The backlog does not, however, explain why agencies sent nearly 3,000 requests for opinion in 1997. Coaxum argues that as Texans have learned more about their rights under the open records statute, they have become increasingly likely to request information held by governmental bodies. As governments receive more and more inquiries for information they cannot or do not want to release, this boosts the number of governmental requests for AG opinions on open records issues, which in turn leads to a greater number of open records letters being issued.
Coaxum also contends that Attorney General Morales' efforts to publicize the Act through open records conferences and press coverage since 1991 led to greater citizen awareness of the statute and produced tremendous growth in the number of requests for information. "The general public is demanding more information from its government and they know that the government can't just withhold the information without asking the Attorney General," says Coaxum. 40
On the other hand, the PIA was enacted in 1973 and generated a great deal of press coverage throughout the 1970s and 1980s. There is no reason to expect that citizens were unaware of the statute until the 1990s. A case might be made that population growth, combined with continued press coverage of open records issues, may have fueled an increase in citizen requests for information. However, it is not possible to quantify this effect because governmental entities in Texas have not made a systematic effort to collect reliable statistics on the number of citizen inquiries they receive.
The 73rd Legislature attempted to remedy this situation in 1993 with passage of H.B. 1009. The bill required the state General Services Commission (GSC) to undertake-beginning in 1993-a biennial survey of all state agencies and universities regarding open records issues.41 (The GSC subsequently expanded the survey to include cities, counties and school districts, but only state agencies and universities are required to respond.) On each survey, the GSC asked agencies and universities to estimate the number of public records requests they received during the previous fiscal year.
Consumers Union reviewed surveys sent to 15 state agencies and the University of Texas System since 1993, and found that nine failed to respond to the survey at least once, while one-the Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA)-ignored the entire survey on two occasions. Moreover, the Department of Transportation and TDHCA provided no information regarding the number of open records requests they received during any of the three survey periods, even though each agency responded to the survey at least once.42
Responses indicate that most agencies have not collected reliable data across time regarding open records requests. Agencies report improbable jumps or declines in requests from one survey to the next. For example, the Department of Banking reported just 43 requests in FY92 but 6,000 requests in FY94. The Public Utility Commission reported 39,902 requests in FY92 but less than 1,000 requests four years later. The Parks and Wildlife Department reported 480 requests in FY92 but more than 100,000 requests in FY97.43 These fluctuations suggest that agencies have not developed methods to systematically collect open records request data.
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