Texas Supreme Court hears argument on whether PIA allows mandamus against governor, attorney general

May it please the court. The Texas Supreme Court heard oral argument in Paxton v. American Oversight on whether the Texas Public Information Act (PIA) permits a requester to seek a writ of mandamus against statewide constitutional officers — specifically the governor and the attorney general — or whether jurisdiction and venue provisions channel such suits to district courts or otherwise limit review.

The question matters because it determines which courts can review contested open-records claims involving the highest executive officers and what remedies requesters can obtain if an office refuses to produce records. Petitioners argued that the government code and existing jurisdictional rules reserve original mandamus against certain officials to this court and that the PIA’s venue provision did not displace that rule; respondents said the PIA’s plain language allows a requester to seek mandamus against a governmental body in district court, that naming an officer in official capacity is effectively a suit against the office, and that the statute should be construed to promote public access.

Miss Klusman, counsel for the petitioners, told the court that "American Oversight's mandamus petitions against the governor and the attorney general . . . That jurisdiction has been removed. The amendment to the PIA did not put it back." Klusman framed the dispute around…