OVERVIEW
Facing a dramatic surge in public records requests, the City of San Antonio transformed how it manages open records to keep pace with growing transparency demands. By implementing Granicus Records Request Management (GovQA), the city reduced average request processing time by 66% — even as request volume increased more than sixfold. Now San Antonio efficiently handles over 46,000 requests annually with zero penalties, ensuring timely, compliant responses across all departments.
SITUATION
The Government and Public Affairs (GPA) Department in San Antonio is responsible for the City’s Open Records Request (ORR) process. The volume of requests for documents received by San Antonio has increased by more than 600% over the last 5 years as the general public has demanded more transparency from their governments.
SOLUTION
San Antonio implemented the Granicus Records Request Management (GovQA) solution to facilitate the processing of ORR organization-wide.
RESULTS
Despite the increase in request volume, San Antonio has decreased the average number of days to complete ORR from 24 days to just 8 days.
To date, the Office of the Attorney General in Texas has not assessed any penalties against San Antonio for failure to properly respond to an Open Records Request. The system allows San Antonio to efficiently manage the over 500 Public Records Requests received across all departments on a daily basis. Automated workflow rules assign requests based on information provided by a requester. Staff members receive automatic reminders as request due dates approach, ensuring no requests slip through the cracks without proper response. Staff in various departments communicate and collaborate with each other using tools within the Granicus system.
