Lump sum payments from campaign and political action committees to consultants are blocking the public view of Texas campaign spending.
At the moment, the public is being asked to trust that these dollars have valid final destinations. That’s because they are simply reported, sometimes in six-figure amounts, as “consulting” or “consulting fees,” according to a recent San Antonio Express-News article.
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Read More… from Editorial: Disclosure on lump sum payments in Texas
If you’ve seen news reports on suspicious state contracts or chemical waste pits or officials’ text messages in the Waco biker shootout, you may notice a recurring theme: Government records obtained through the Texas Public Information Act.
Fortunately, our state’s public information law, created in the early 1970s, presumes government records are open unless a specific exemption in the law keeps the documents off limits.
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Read More… from Your rights, responsibilities when seeking public records in Texas
A new Texas website allows the public to access many of the details of every officer-involved shooting that results in injury or death.
The website was launched by the Texas Attorney General’s office in response to a new state law that requires law enforcement agencies to report all officer-involved shootings within 30 days from when the incident occurred. Continue…
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Read More… from Texas website allows public access to details of officer-involved shootings
A private vendor of the publicly-owned utility CPS Energy is suing the state Attorney General’s office in record time over an open records ruling favoring the public.
The AG ruled on July 7 that Cassidy Turley Real Estate Services/DTZ Americas has to turn over a contract it has with the San Antonio-based energy supplier as well as payment details, including incremental payouts for the completion of certain duties. Continue>>>
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Read More… from Texas: CPS Energy – A feisty public utility with a trail of open records contests
In a 6-3 opinion with profound reach on the state's open government laws, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday decided that Greater Houston Partnership doesn't have to open its check registers, even though it receives funds from the city of Houston.
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Read More… from Texas: Supreme Court limits reach of open government law; GHP can keep books closed
AUSTIN — Texans are likely to get greater access to campus police records and public meetings online.
But after a group secretly taped lawmakers in Austin, some are wary of legislation that could make it harder to record audio without the consent of all recorded.
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Read More… from Open-government advocates optimistic about Texas legislative session
Saying that executions in Texas are becoming “increasingly difficult to carry out,” state officials Wednesday urged lawmakers to send Republican Gov. Greg Abbott a bill that would prevent even death row inmates from knowing the identity of lethal injection drug suppliers.
The debate in the Legislature took place just hours before the sixth person this year was set to die in Texas, where the nation’s busiest death chamber is again running low on inventory.
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Read More… from Texas lawmakers press to shield suppliers of execution drugs
The public’s right to know about how executions take place in Texas – including current, controversial secret information regarding the lethal drugs used to administer the death sentence – would be dramatically strengthened under legislation filed on Wednesday, February 18, by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg.
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I have a 20-year frustration about something in Texas, a problem I’ve never solved, an itch that won’t go away.
Texas has a remarkable law. It’s called the Texas Public Information Act. The TPIA is supposed to remove any steel doors protecting local, county, school and state governments from prying eyes — and replace them with glass walls.
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Read More… from Watchdog: Open-records site designed to pull back curtain on Texas government
A bill filed Wednesday seeks to limit the scope of the Texas Public Information Act to Texas residents.
The legislation, filed by Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Katy, would allow members of a governmental body to decide if they want to deny or comply with open records requests filed by non-Texas residents. Current law stipulates public information in Texas must be made available to all members of the public, without regard to residency.
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Read More… from Bill would limit Public Information Act to Texans
