Texas Public Records
State Level Information
The Public Information Act of Texas (TPIA) is a series of statues that guarantee access to public records of government bodies at all levels in the state .
Chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code affords its citizens the right to access records at all levels of Texas government without having to state a reason or intent for doing so. Until the law was formalized, the ability of a citizen to gain access to public records was at the discretion of the custodian of the records, except in those cases where records custodians were forbidden to allow access.
"Texas Government Code, Chapter 552, gives you the right to access government records; and an officer for public information and the officer's agent may not ask why you want them. All government information is presumed to be available to the public." - Texas State Library and Archives Commission
State of Texas Department of Public SafetyState of Texas Secretary of State
Texas Department of Agriculture
Texas Real Estate Commission
Window on State Government Texas Taxes
Texas Department of Transportation
Texas State Veterinary Medical Examining Board
Texas Department of State Health Services
Court Record Resources
Sec.411.082 (2) of the Texas Government Code defines "criminal history record information"
(CHRI) as follows:
"Criminal history record information" means information collected about aperson by a criminal justice agency that consists of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, and other formalcriminal charges and their dispositions.
The term does not include:
(A) identification information, including fingerprint records, to the extent
that the identification information does not indicate involvement of the
person in the criminal justice system; or
(B) driving record information maintained by the department under
Subchapter C, Chapter 521, Transportation Code.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Texas State Criminal Records
Texas Office of Administrative Hearings
Vital Records Facts
Texas State Library, Archives and Public RecordsState of Texas Public Records