The Texas Public Information Act gives the public the right to request access to government information. The request must ask for records or information already in existence. The Act does not require the governmental body to create new information, to do legal research, or to answer questions.
The Texas Public Information Act makes most government information available to the public. But there are exceptions. If an exception might apply and the governmental body wishes to withhold the information, the governmental body must refer the matter to the Office of the Attorney General for a ruling on whether an exception applies. Alternatively, a Requestor may give the governmental body permission to withhold the information excepted from public disclosure thereby dispensing with the need to seek a ruling from the Attorney General (a process which can take at least forty-five (45) days).
For more information on the Texas Public Information Act, please visit the Texas Attorney General Website.
Requests for public information must be submitted in writing, via mail, email, or in person to the Galveston Central Appraisal District.
Each written request must include a contact name, phone number(s), email address, and indicate a contact preference.
To request documents from this governmental body, please contact:
Online Portal: https://galvestoncad.org/open-records-request/
By Email: gcadopenrecords@galvestoncad.org
By Mail or Hand Delivery Label Envelope or Cover Sheet as follows:
Galveston Central Appraisal District
Attention: Public Information Officer (Representative) / Public Information Request
9850 Emmett F. Lowry Expressway, Ste A101
Texas City, TX 77591
Hand Delivery requests should be made Monday through Thursday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. or on Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m.
General Processing Guidelines:
- Clarification & Narrowing. If a request is unclear or overly broad, GCAD may request clarification and/or discuss narrowing to reduce time and cost as permitted by the Texas Public Information Act.
- No Duty to Create New Records. GCAD is not required to create new records, perform legal research, or answer questions that require generating new information (beyond producing existing records).
Charges and Cost Guidelines:
Chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code permits a political subdivision to charge for providing a copy of public information an amount that reasonably includes all costs related to reproducing the public information, including costs of materials, labor, and overhead.
However, aside from the exception detailed below, if a request is for 50 or fewer pages of paper records, the charge for providing the copy of the public information may not include costs of materials, labor, or overhead, but shall be limited to the charge for each page of the paper record that is photocopied, unless the pages to be photocopied are located in:
(1) two or more separate buildings that are not physically connected with each other; or
(2) a remote storage facility.
Standard Items:
- $0.10 per page for paper copies
- $1.00 per CD
- $3.00 per DVD
- Actual Costs for a USB or hard drive
- $15.00 per hour for labor (non-programming)
- $28.50 per hour for programming
Non-Standard Items:
- Diskette—$1.00;
- Magnetic tape—actual cost;
- Data cartridge—actual cost;
- Tape cartridge—actual cost;
- Rewritable CD (CD-RW)—$1.00;
- Non-rewritable CD (CD-R)—$1.00;
- Digital video disc (DVD)—$3.00;
- JAZ drive—actual cost;
- Other electronic media—actual cost;
- VHS video cassette—$2.50;
- Audio cassette—$1.00;
- Oversize paper copy (e.g.: 11 inches by 17 inches, greenbar, bluebar, not including maps and photographs using specialty paper—$.50;
- Specialty paper (e.g.: Mylar, blueprint, blueline, map, photographic—actual cost.
If estimated charges exceed $40, GCAD will provide an itemized written statement of estimated charges before work begins.
Request Limits:
As provided by Section 552.275 of the Texas Government Code, GCAD has monthly and yearly limits on the amount of time that its employees and staff are required to spend on producing public information without recovering its costs attributable to that personnel time.
A requestor is limited to a total of 36 hours per calendar year and 15 hours per month.
Upon exceeding that time, GCAD will seek recovery of all costs as permitted by Texas law.
Third-Party or Confidential Information
If responsive records may impact third-party proprietary or privacy interests, Galveston Central Appraisal District may provide notices to such third parties and seek a decision from the appropriate authority before release.
NOTE: Depending on the nature of the request, a fee may be assessed. For a detailed description and list of charges, please click this link to the Public Information Request Policy.