| (a) A request for a review of the text of any Official
Texas Historical Marker (OTHM) that is the property of the State of
Texas and which falls under the jurisdiction of the Texas Historical
Commission ("Commission") may be submitted to dispute the factual
accuracy of the OTHM based on verifiable, historical evidence that
the marker:
(1) Includes the name of an individual or organization
that is not spelled correctly;
(2) Includes a date that is not historically accurate;
(3) Includes a statement that is not historically accurate;
or
(4) Has been installed at the wrong location.
(b) A request for review of OTHM text shall be submitted
on a form provided by the Commission for that purpose, accompanied
by no more than 10 single-sided pages of supplemental material printed
in a font size no smaller than 11.
(c) OTHM review requests shall be submitted to the
Commission at 1511 Colorado St., Austin, Texas 78701; by mail to P.O.
Box 12276, Austin, Texas 78711; or by email to thc@thc.texas.gov.
The Commission will send a copy of the request and supporting materials
to the County Historical Commission (CHC) for the county in which
the OTHM is located, return receipt requested. In the absence of a
formally-established CHC, a copy will be submitted to the county judge,
return receipt requested.
(d) The CHC or county judge shall have 10 days from
the date of receipt of the request to submit a response to the Commission
if they wish to do so. The CHC's or county judge's response shall
consist of not more than 10 single-sided pages of material printed
in a font size no smaller than 11 and shall be signed by the chair
of the CHC or by the county judge.
(e) Within 20 days of receiving the CHC's or county
judge's response to the request, or within 30 days of receiving the
request itself if there is no CHC or county judge response, the staff
at the Commission shall review the information submitted and respond
to the requestor and to the CHC or county judge with the staff recommendation
in writing, return receipt requested.
(f) During the period previously referred to in Section
(e) of this section, Commission staff may choose to refer the request
to a panel of professional historians for a recommendation.
(g) The panel will consist of three professional historians:
(1) the State Historian appointed by the Governor pursuant
to Texas Government Code Section 3104.051;
(2) the historian appointed by the Governor to serve
on the Commission pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 442.002;
and
(3) a professional historian selected by these two
historians from the faculty of a public college or university upon
receiving the request. If no professional historian has been appointed
by the Governor to serve on the Commission, the Governor's appointed
chair of the Commission or the chair's designee will serve on the
panel in place of that individual.
(h) In reaching its decision, the panel will review
the same information reviewed by the staff, as well as any additional
information provided by staff, which shall be no more than 10 single-sided
pages of supplemental material printed in a font size no smaller than
11. The panel shall be chaired by the State Historian who shall determine
whether the panel will meet in person or deliberate through electronic
or other means.
(i) The panel shall develop a written recommendation
supported by at least two of its members. The written recommendation
of the panel will be delivered to the Commission staff no later than
30 days following the panel's receipt of the background materials
as provided above. If the panel is unable to develop such a recommendation,
the panel chair shall so report in writing to the Commission's staff
within the same 30-day period. Commission staff will consider the
panel's report and send their final recommendation to the requestor
and to the CHC or county judge within 15 days after receiving the
panel's report, return receipt requested.
(j) If the requestor, or the County Historical Commission
or county judge are not satisfied with the staff recommendation, they
may choose to file an objection with the Commission's History Programs
Committee ("Committee"). Such objections must be postmarked no later
than 5 days following receipt of the staff recommendation. If no such
objection is filed, the staff or panel recommendation with accompanying
marker text revisions will be placed on the next consent agenda of
the Texas Historical Commission for approval.
(k) Review of objections filed with the Committee shall
be based on copies of the same information as was initially provided
to the panel of historians under section (g) above. If the matter
was not submitted to the panel of historians, the objection shall
be based on the material previously submitted by the requestor or
requestors and CHC or county judge to the marker staff under sections
(b) and (d) above, and on any additional information provided by marker
staff, which shall be no more than 10 single-sided pages of supplemental
material printed in a font size no smaller than 11.
(l) The Committee shall include the objection on the
agenda of its next scheduled meeting, assuming said meeting happens
at least 20 days after the objection is received by the Commission.
If the 20-day deadline is not met, the objection shall be on the agenda
of the following meeting of the Committee.
(m) The Committee may choose to take public testimony
on the objection, or not. If public testimony is invited, such testimony
may be limited by the Committee chair to a period of time allocated
per speaker, per side (pro and con) or both.
(n) The decision of the Committee, along with any recommendation
from staff and/or the panel, shall be placed on the consent agenda
of the full Commission for approval.
(o) If a request or objection is approved by the Commission,
the existing marker will be replaced, subject to the availability
of funds for that purpose. If such funds are not readily available,
a supplemental marker may serve in the interim.
(p) With all approved requests or objections, Commission
staff will write the replacement text. Markers will be produced by
the contracted foundry and production will be subject to the foundry's
schedule.
(q) The Commission will not accept subsequent requests
or objections that are substantively similar to a request or objection
that is already going through or has already gone through this request
process. A decision not to accept a request or objection under this
section may be made by the Executive Director.
(r) A request for review may only be filed against
a single marker, and no individual or organization may file more than
one request for review per calendar year.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §21.12 adopted to be effective November 28, 2018, 43 TexReg 7671; amended to be effective May 26, 2021, 46 TexReg 3250; amended to be effective August 21, 2022, 47 TexReg 4970 |
