2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB4214
HB4214 requires each governmental body to tell the Texas attorney general its current designated mailing and email addresses for public-information requests by October 1 each year.
Official caption: Relating to public access to the mailing address and electronic mail address designated by a governmental body to receive a request for public information under the public information law.
Official report lists House author(s): Curry. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- HB4214 requires each governmental body to tell the Texas attorney general its current designated mailing and email addresses for public-information requests by October 1 each year.
- This is a directory of where to send requests, not a database containing all requested government records.
- The law took effect immediately on June 20, 2025.
What does it do?
HB4214 requires each governmental body to tell the Texas attorney general its current designated mailing and email addresses for public-information requests by October 1 each year. The attorney general must create and maintain a publicly accessible database of those addresses on the office’s website.
This is a directory of where to send requests, not a database containing all requested government records. It does not make the attorney general the recipient of every request or require all agencies to use one submission portal.
The law took effect immediately on June 20, 2025. The annual October 1 reporting requirement is separate from that effective date.
What changed along the way?
Existing Government Code Section 552.234 already allowed a governmental body to designate one mailing address and one email address and required it to provide them on request. When it posts those addresses as specified by existing law, it generally need not respond to requests sent elsewhere, subject to hand delivery and other approved methods. HB4214 adds annual reporting and a central public directory without replacing those submission rules.
The introduced bill proposed the same annual deadline and database. The House substitute clarified that the reported addresses must be current and designated under Subsection (c), and revised drafting language. The engrossed, Senate committee and final texts retained the substitute’s provisions. The amendment index lists no floor amendments. The official history confirms the governor’s signature and immediate effect.
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Residents, journalists and others seeking public records gain a central way to find designated request addresses. Governmental bodies must report their information annually, and the attorney general must maintain the directory. Accurate entries may help avoid misdirected requests, but the law does not guarantee an address never changes between annual reports.
The latest fiscal note anticipated no significant state or local-government fiscal impact and assumed technology costs could be absorbed using existing resources. It did not estimate how much requester time would be saved.
Review boundary: This explains the directory requirement, not an audit of every agency’s compliance or a change to disclosure exemptions, response deadlines or request charges.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.
