Montgomery Court Watch

Guide

How to get public records in Texas

Everything on this site came out of records anyone may ask for. You do not need a lawyer, a reason, or a connection to the case. This is how the three routes work, what to do when you are told no, and the mistakes that get a request refused on its face.

Start from the request board if you want something already identified — each one has a letter you can fill in and send. Use this page when you want something that is not on it.

First: which act applies

Sending the wrong one is the most common way a request dies, and the answer depends on who holds the record, not what the record is about.

Public Information Act

Gov't Code ch. 552

Counties, cities, school districts, sheriffs, constables, DA offices, purchasing, the auditor, elections. Most things.

Rule of Judicial Administration 12

Not the PIA

Courts and judges. The PIA does not apply to the judiciary (552.0035). Rule 12 covers a court's administrative records — not case files, which you get from the clerk, and not a judge's decisions.

Election Code 18.066

Secretary of State

Voter registration data. Furnished at cost, with a statutory limit on what may be charged, and a restriction on commercial use.

What the law already gives you

  • You need no reason. Your identity and your purpose are not relevant to whether a record is public. 552.222(b)
  • Ten business days. If the body wants to withhold anything it must ask the Attorney General within ten business days and tell you it did. 552.301
  • Miss the deadline, it is presumed public. Records not covered by a timely AG request are presumed open. 552.302
  • Partial release is required. They cannot hold everything while arguing about part of it. 552.006
  • Over $40 needs a written estimate first. Ask for it itemised, and narrow the request if the number is silly. 552.2615
  • They may not ask what you want it for — though they may ask you to clarify which records you mean, and answering that honestly usually speeds things up.

Writing one that works

  1. Name the record, not the subject. "The bid tabulation sheet for Project 21-37" gets an answer. "Everything about towing" gets a clarification letter and a month's delay.
  2. Ask for the native file. A database export beats a PDF print of a report. Say so, or you will get scans.
  3. Bound it. A date range and a department turn an impossible request into a routine one.
  4. Offer to narrow. A line saying you will accept a smaller set if cost is the problem removes their easiest reason to refuse.
  5. Send it to the officer for public information, not to the official you are asking about.
  6. Keep the date you sent it. Every deadline runs from there.

When they say no

  • They asked the AG. Normal. You may write to the Attorney General's Open Records Division yourself and argue the other side — you do not need permission, and your letter is read.
  • They went quiet. Missing the ten-day deadline weakens their position; say so in writing and cite 552.302.
  • "No such record." Get it in writing. That answer is itself a finding — several things on this site are interesting precisely because the county says no written rule exists.
  • The cost is absurd. Ask for the itemised estimate the statute requires, then narrow. A quote is not a refusal.
  • A court said no under Rule 12. The appeal goes to the Office of Court Administration, not the Attorney General.

If you get something

Send it here. Records that arrive this way get published with the request and the response letter as their provenance, so anyone can check them — and if you would rather not be named, the submission form defaults to anonymous and seals what you send so only a key held offline opens it.

The request board → · Where everything here came from · Corrections

This is a plain-language summary of public statutes, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading them. The Attorney General publishes the Public Information Act Handbook, which is free and authoritative where this page is only a starting point.