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Tarrant Appraisal District Board violated open meetings act by locking doors, attorney says

FOIFT2022-07-01T12:07:03-05:00

By Sandra Sadek Fort Worth Report Originally published June 30, 2022 Tarrant County residents’ frustrations with property tax appraisals boiled to the surface June 30 when so many people showed up that officials locked the doors to a public meeting. ... Joe Larsen, a media attorney and a Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas board member, said the meeting was a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act because a large majority of the public wanting to attend was not allowed in. When the board realized its meeting room was not large enough for the public, it should have recessed the [...]

Tarrant Appraisal District Board violated open meetings act by locking doors, attorney saysFOIFT2022-07-01T12:07:03-05:00

FOI Foundation statement demanding transparency in Uvalde shooting investigation

FOIFT2022-06-22T11:13:56-05:00

June 22, 2022 Statement from Kelley Shannon, executive director of Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, urging transparency in Uvalde mass shooting investigation: The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas continues to urge law enforcement and other government officials at all levels – school, city, county, state and federal – to promptly release critical information related to the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Uvalde residents and the public at large have been subjected to the withholding of information about what took place that dreadful day. Information that has trickled out since the tragedy has sometimes [...]

FOI Foundation statement demanding transparency in Uvalde shooting investigationFOIFT2022-06-22T11:13:56-05:00

In Texas, a legal loophole may block access to Uvalde shooting records

FOIFT2022-06-21T10:32:41-05:00

By David Martin Davies Texas Public Radio Originally aired and published June 14, 2022 Since the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, officials have given out contradictory information. To get the facts, reporters often turn to public information, such as 911 calls, police dispatch recordings and body cameras. But in Texas, those records are tough to obtain. As Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies reports, the state can invoke something called the dead suspect loophole. Read or listen to the full story here.

In Texas, a legal loophole may block access to Uvalde shooting recordsFOIFT2022-06-21T10:32:41-05:00

Texas agencies fight releasing records that could clarify Uvalde school shooting response

FOIFT2022-06-20T16:08:04-05:00

By Lexi Churchill ProPublica co-published with The Texas Tribune June 15, 2022 A growing list of state and local officials are fighting the release of records that could help bring clarity to how the emergency response unfolded during last month’s deadly shooting in Uvalde. The governor’s office strayed from that broader opposition Monday, granting a request under the Texas Public Information Act from a Houston television station that sought the handwritten notes he used when he first spoke publicly about the shooting. The notes appear to support Abbott’s claim that he was misled when he initially praised law enforcement efforts during [...]

Texas agencies fight releasing records that could clarify Uvalde school shooting responseFOIFT2022-06-20T16:08:04-05:00

FOI Foundation of Texas to hold Open Government Seminars in San Antonio, Edinburg

FOIFT2022-06-04T12:52:55-05:00

By Kelley Shannon Executive Director Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas Perhaps you’ve heard the saying that information is power. It’s a fundamental principle in the founding of our nation. James Madison, pivotal in writing and ratifying the U.S. Constitution, spoke of the importance of information – of the knowledge people need to govern themselves. The “advancement and diffusion of knowledge” is the only true guardian of liberty, Madison warned. Certainly, those words resonate today, and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is doing its part to help Texans obtain the knowledge necessary to watch over government and participate in [...]

FOI Foundation of Texas to hold Open Government Seminars in San Antonio, EdinburgFOIFT2022-06-04T12:52:55-05:00

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