What Does the Texas Tribune and the Texas State Comptroller Have in Common?

Simple. They both share an interest in transparency and open government. Of course the Texas Tribune is a new non-profit journalistic on-line publication with a primary focus on Texas government, elected officials and political wannabes, while the Texas Comptroller oversees all expenditures and tax policy in the state. Texans owe a big thanks to both for working to make sure governmental records are easily available to the public and we hope other journalistic organizations and elected officials follow their lead.

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February 8th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

“Don’t Mess With Texas” Open Government !

From the Executive Director

By now, you have no doubt heard there are some troubling efforts underway to try and change Texas’ Open Meetings Act.  But why – and does the law really need to be changed?  We don’t believe it does and this is why.  According to the Texas Attorney General, the law “…requires meetings of governmental bodies to be open to the pubic, except for expressly authorized closed sessions, and to be preceded by public notice of the time, place and subject matter of the meeting.”  To simplify it even more, the public’s business needs to be discussed, debated and acted on in public view – after the governmental entity has posted adequate notice to the public.  Any binding decisions must also be made by a quorum, or majority vote of the governing body in the official record.  Pretty simple stuff, right?  The statute also provides a penalty, a Class B misdemeanor offense, if those entrusted by the public violate this law and get caught conducting business in secret, of a $500 fine and up to six-months in jail.

In other words, if you try and short-change the taxpayers who you are supposed to be working for and who pay your salary you might end up spending some time in the slammer.  But don’t worry.  Jail overcrowding across the Lone Star state has nothing to do with these potential violators.  So far, we have only found one instance in Texas in the last 43 years that jail time was ever served!  ONE !

So, what’s so scary about this law that has a few elected officials, and cities, running to the federal courthouse claiming the law is unfair and restricts their ability to conduct business?

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February 5th, 2010 | Category: Uncategorized | One comment

Breaking News!

State files motion to dismiss cities’ anti-open government suit. See Motion to Dismiss (PDF)

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February 2nd, 2010 | Category: News Release | Leave a comment

Welcome!

Welcome to our new site design.  With a new look comes a lot of new features for FOIFT!  If you support the FOIFT cause, subscribe to our RSS feed via the box at the top of our sidebar!  Whenever something big happens in the world of Texas freedom of information, FOIFT is there, and by subscribing you can keep yourself updated on our posts (once daily only on days when a new post is made).

We also intend on adding interactive chat and webinar features soon, as well as widgets to help people stay up to date on the current happenings of freedom of information.

Please send us your feedback on the new site design, or on anything you would like to see added to our site, and as always, we appreciate your support!

Thanks!

-FOIFT

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February 2nd, 2010 | Category: General | Leave a comment

60 Seconds to: What is allowable when requesting public information?




It is not uncommon to feel like you are being grilled by a governmental employee when you have filed a public information request. What is appropriate and what is illegal? Knowing the difference can not only help you avoid unnecessary harassment, but possibly assist you in obtaining the information even faster.

Find out in 60 seconds! http://www.foift.org

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February 2nd, 2010 | Category: Videos | Leave a comment

Big Lake Texas and Texas Open Meetings Act

For Immediate Release

January 21, 2010

Contact:
Keith Elkins – 512.377.1575

Keith.Elkins@foift.org – www.foift.org

The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas applauds the brave, courageous and responsible action taken by the Big Lake City Council, earlier this week.  During Tuesday night’s council meeting that governing body voted to remove its name from a federal lawsuit filed by the

“ Elected officials are rarely rewarded when they do the right thing, “ said Keith Elkins, Executive Director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, “ but all Texans should applaud the Big Lake City Council for rethinking its decision and voting to uphold existing law.  Hopefully, the other cities named as plaintiffs will follow their lead.”

According to today’s online edition of the Big Lake Wildcat, Big Lake’s newspaper, councilman Terry Jones is quoted as saying, “…After reading the lawsuit a little closer I don’t think it’s a good idea to join.”

Mayor Cindy O’Bryan agreed, saying the council delayed formally adopting a resolution to join the lawsuit at its December 15 meeting, “…to allow everyone more time do some research.”  By then, however, the City of Big Lake was already named as a plaintiff supporting efforts to weaken the Texas Open Meetings Act.  She said they were simply considering a request they had received in a letter from the Texas Municipal League, an Austin based lobbying organization for cities and municipalities.

Referring to Tuesday’s vote Mayor O’Bryan added, “I think we did the right thing by not joining.”

Since the City of Big Lake does not have a city attorney the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas offered to provide free legal services to have its name removed from the suit and Mayor O’Bryan accepted.  Former State Senator Don Adams will be the lead attorney providing the City of Big Lake pro bono legal services.  Laura Prather, an Austin attorney and President of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, will assist.

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The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to enhancing the public’s right to know about their government and other public entities.  The organization is supported by tax-deductible donations, as well as grants from foundations and private citizens. Membership information is available at www.foift.org.  The Freedom of Information Foundation’s main offices are at 3001 North Lamar, Suite 302 in Austin, Texas 78705.

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January 25th, 2010 | Category: News Release | 2 comments