| (a) A request for a review of the text of any marker
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 marker 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 marker 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) Marker review requests shall be submitted to the
Commission at 1511 Colorado St., Austin, TX 78701; by mail to P.O.
Box 12276, Austin, TX 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 marker 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 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 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 marker staff
at the Commission shall review the information submitted and respond
to the requestor and to the CHC or county judge with the marker staff
recommendation in writing, return receipt requested.
(f) During the period previously referred to in subsection
(e) of this section, marker 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. In reaching its decision,
the panel will review the same information reviewed by the marker
staff, as well as 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. 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.
(h) 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 marker 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 marker
staff within the same 30-day period. Marker 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.
(i) If the requestor, or the County Historical Commission
or county judge are not satisfied with the marker 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 marker staff or panel recommendation
with accompanying marker text revisions will be placed on the next
consent agenda of the Texas Historical Commission for approval.
(j) 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 subsection (g) of this section. 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 subsections
(b) and (d) of this section, 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.
(k) 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.
(l) 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.
(m) 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.
(n) If a request or objection is approved by the Commission,
marker staff will determine if the existing marker requires replacement
or if it can be corrected through the installation of a supplemental
marker. The cost of such correction shall be paid by the Commission,
subject to the availability of funds for that purpose.
(o) With all approved requests or objections, THC marker
staff will write the replacement text. Markers will be produced by
the contracted foundry and production will be subject to the foundry's
schedule.
(p) 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.
(q) 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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