Texas Legislature

San Antonio Express-News: Form special committee on public records

2017-10-23T14:32:20-05:00

Editorial Board San Antonio Express-News Originally published Oct. 22, 2017 There are several glaring and troubling loopholes in Texas’ public records law. The most troubling example comes courtesy of a 2015 Texas Supreme Court ruling that allows businesses contracting with public entities to keep those contracts and other key details secret. For years, such information was public record, the idea being the public should know how its money is being spent. But thanks to that 2015 ruling, all kinds of formerly routine information has been kept secret under the guise that its release would place private companies at “competitive disadvantages.” For [...]

San Antonio Express-News: Form special committee on public records2017-10-23T14:32:20-05:00

Parks and Wildlife Department keeping report on three Scouts’ deaths secret

2017-10-17T14:00:26-05:00

By Jo Lee Ferguson Longview News-Journal Originally published Oct. 17, 2017 The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wants to keep secret a report on the deaths this summer of three Boy Scouts who were electrocuted while sailboating on Lake O' the Pines. The News-Journal had requested a copy of the report once it was completed, but an attorney for the agency said Monday that Texas Parks and Wildlife "believes the requested records may be confidential" because the accident involved "two children." One of the three boys was 17. The accident occurred Aug. 5, when the mast of a sailboat struck a [...]

Parks and Wildlife Department keeping report on three Scouts’ deaths secret2017-10-17T14:00:26-05:00

Dallas Morning News: We urge Texas legislative leaders to get moving on protecting the public’s right to know

2017-10-04T14:33:06-05:00

Dallas Morning News Editorial Originally published Oct. 3, 2017 Imagine getting the devastating news that your son died in police custody. Then imagine not being able to find out exactly what happened to him for months because officials won't release information. That describes the case of Tony Timpa, who died August 2016, less than an hour after calling 911 from a parking lot of a Dallas porn store. Dallas Morning News investigative writer Cary Aspinwall reports we still don't have all the answers more than a year later because the Dallas Police Department, citing an ongoing investigation, has denied access to records. [...]

Dallas Morning News: We urge Texas legislative leaders to get moving on protecting the public’s right to know2017-10-04T14:33:06-05:00

Editorial: Government agencies are holding our records and trying to keep us from seeing them; that’s not right

2017-09-27T15:36:09-05:00

Editorial Dallas Morning News Originally published Sept. 21, 2017 Here's an alarming new threat to the public's right to know: More and more government agencies around the country are suing private citizens who request access to public information, in order to keep them from seeing the records. Outrageous. There's no better protection to our democracy than our ability to hold the people we elect to public office accountable for how they're spending our tax dollars and conducting our business. These are our records, after all, and these agencies are stomping on citizens' right to keep track of what government is doing. [...]

Editorial: Government agencies are holding our records and trying to keep us from seeing them; that’s not right2017-09-27T15:36:09-05:00

Clarification sought on release of police body camera videos in Texas

2017-09-20T20:44:46-05:00

By Chuck Lindell Austin American-Statesman Originally published Sept. 19, 2017 Trying to make sense of an emerging area of law, a state senator has asked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to determine whether certain footage from police body cameras could be withheld — not just from the public, but from civilian supervisors of a law enforcement agency as well. Specifically, Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, wanted to know if state open record laws give a police chief or sheriff the discretion to withhold body camera footage if they determine that viewing the video could interfere with the “detection, investigation or prosecution [...]

Clarification sought on release of police body camera videos in Texas2017-09-20T20:44:46-05:00

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