Legal Services

	"There's been an uptick lately in the amount of public information requests the county receives. The requests don't always come through the same person or office, which causes unnecessary delay in our response. Is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening in the future?"

May the county designate a mailing address or email address to receive PIA requests?

Yes, a county may designate one mailing address and one email address for receipt of written public information requests. Under Government Code §552.234, if the county does so and includes the addresses on its PIA posters and the county website, it is not required to respond to a request for information unless the request is received at one of the designated addresses, by hand delivery or by another appropriate method that has been approved by the county. For more information, see TAC's Public Information Act handbook.