(Austin, TX) — Along with a number of other new state laws, an update to the Texas Open Records Act takes effect this Sunday, September 1st.

The expanded law requires any public official who texts about public business to save the texts for at least two years.  The law applies to everybody who gets a public paycheck, including police officers, clerks, park employees, and utility workers.

It doesn’t distinguish between publicly issued phones and privately-owned devices, as long as the public official is sending texts about public business.

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