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Mount Pleasant council tables proposed limits on public-information requests after heated public comment
Summary
Council members tabled Ordinance 2025-24, which would formalize thresholds and cost-recovery for Texas Public Information Act requests, after extended public comment and concerns that it could hinder whistleblowers and ongoing investigations.
Mount Pleasant — The City Council on Dec. 2 tabled an ordinance that would set local thresholds for charging requesters under the Texas Public Information Act, after residents and a records requester raised concerns the proposal could impede transparency during ongoing investigations.
Austin Beck, the attorney who assisted in drafting Ordinance 2025-24, told the council the measure implements allowable procedural limits under the TPIA (chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code). He said the draft would trigger cost-recovery after a requester accumulates 36 hours of staff time in a year or 15 hours in a month, and that the Attorney General caps reimbursable staff time at $15 per hour. "All it does is guarantee…
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