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PIAs & The Holidays

A number of clients have reached out regarding Public Information Act requests that have come in this week and whose deadlines may be impacted by the upcoming holidays. We wanted to send out a quick reminder to our clients that for the purposes of the Texas Public Information Act, “business days” includes days the district is closed for holidays with limited exceptions. One such exception is found in Tex. Govt. Code §552.0031(a)(2), which designates the following as nonbusiness days as they are federal holidays under Tex. Govt. Code §662.003(a):

1. the first day of January, “New Year’s Day”;
2. the third Monday in January, “Martin Luther King, Jr., Day” in observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.;
3. the third Monday in February, “Presidents’ Day”;
4. the last Monday in May, “Memorial Day”;
5. the fourth day of July, “Independence Day”;
6. the first Monday in September, “Labor Day”;
7. the 11th day of November, “Veterans Day,” dedicated to the cause of world peace and to honoring the veterans of all wars in which Texans and other Americans have fought;
8. the fourth Thursday in November, “Thanksgiving Day”; and
9. the 25th day of December, “Christmas Day.”

In addition, the following are designated as nonbusiness days by Tex. Govt. Code §552.0031(a)(3) as they are state holidays under Tex. Govt. Code §662.003(b):

1. the 19th day of January, “Confederate Heroes Day,” in honor of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and other Confederate heroes;
2. the second day of March, “Texas Independence Day”;
3. the 21st day of April, “San Jacinto Day”;
4. the 19th day of June, “Emancipation Day in Texas,” in honor of the emancipation of the slaves in Texas in 1865;
5. the 27th day of August, “Lyndon Baines Johnson Day,” in observance of the birthday of Lyndon Baines Johnson;
6. the Friday after Thanksgiving Day;
7. the 24th day of December; and
8. the 26th day of December.

Tex. Govt. Code §552.0031(c) also allows “an optional holiday,” defined by Tex. Govt. Code §662.003(c) as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, or Good Friday to count as a nonbusiness day–but only if the officer for public information for the governmental body observes the optional holiday.

To complicate matters further, Tex. Govt. Code §552.0031(e) states that the Friday before, or Monday after, a federal or state holiday is not a business day if the holiday occurs on a Saturday or Sunday and the governmental body observes the holiday on that Friday or Monday.

School districts are unique in that Tex. Govt. Code §552.0031(f) allows them to designate up to 10 additional nonbusiness days for purposes of the Texas Public Information Act. Such designation must be made by the board of trustees and must not exceed 10 days per calendar year.

What does all this mean for requests coming in before Thanksgiving? Likely, unless your board has designated the week of Thanksgiving as nonbusiness days, the first three days of the week will count as business days for purposes of the Act even if your district’s offices are closed.  Thanksgiving is a nonbusiness day as it is a federal holiday under Tex. Govt. Code §662.003(a), as is the Friday after as it is a state holiday under §662.003(b)(6). We recommend planning accordingly to ensure you factor these into your workflow for complying with a request. Longer term, consider meeting with your board to designate your allotment of nonbusiness days via annual board resolution. Best practice is to designate your nonbusiness days with your longer holidays so even if a request does come in over a holiday you do not have to respond to it until you return. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the attorneys at Leasor Crass if you need resolution language for designating your days, we’re here to help!