HB4219

HB4219 requires a governmental body that determines it has no responsive information to notify the requester in writing by the tenth business day after receiving the request. If it relies on a previous determination allowing or requiring withholding, it must give written notice by that deadline and identify the specific determination relied on.

When asking the attorney general for a new withholding decision, the government must identify the specific exceptions it claims. The existing tenth-business-day deadline remains; the bill does not create a new ten-day waiting period before an agency may respond.

A requester may send the attorney general a written complaint if the government fails to respond as required by Section 552.221. The complaint must include the original request and any response correspondence. If the attorney general determines that the government improperly failed to comply, the government must arrange open-records training for its information officer or designee within six months and cannot charge the requester for producing information in response to that request.

If that government still seeks to withhold information, it must request an attorney-general decision within five business days after receiving the attorney general’s notice and release the information unless there is a compelling reason to withhold it. These consequences follow the attorney general’s determination; merely submitting a complaint does not automatically trigger free records or disclosure.

The law applies only to requests received on or after September 1, 2025, its effective date. Business days are governed by Section 552.0031, not simply ten consecutive calendar days.