Settlement letters between a bingo machine company and the Texas Lottery Commission are public under the Texas Public Information Act, a Texas appellate court has ruled.

And in coming down on the side of access in the case, the court has reversed an earlier district court ruling. On one side: Attorney General Greg Abbott, arguing for disclosure of the records. On the other side: the Nevada bingo company GameTech, the head of the lottery commission and the commission itself.

According to the appeals court ruling issued last week, the request for information came from Steve Hieronymous. In 2002, Hieronymous, a former distributor of GameTech machines, filed a complaint with the Texas Lottery Commission alleging the company had engaged in price fixing and unlicensed distribution of bingo equipment, the ruling says. He filed additional complaints in 2003 and 2004.

In 2005, the Texas Lottery Commission voted to settle. The Austin American-Statesman reported that GameTech "admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to pay $250,000 and hire a person responsible for ensuring compliance with Texas laws."

Later that year, Hieronymous filed two public information requests with the commission, for copies of "documents and communications exchanged between the Commission and GameTech or GameTech's attorney," the court ruling says. The commission released information responding to the request but withheld settlement letters.

The appeals court has ruled those letters are also open under Texas public information laws. The court said the Public Information Act is "to be liberally construed in favor of granting requests for information," and exceptions are to be "narrowly construed."

Contact Ann Raber at 713-980-9777 or news@texaswatchdog.org.

Photo of bingo chips by flickr user hownowdesign, used via a Creative Commons license.