Transparency

UT-Austin Cancels Regent’s Records Requests

2013-09-30T20:24:12-05:00

By Reeve Hamilton, Texas Tribune Originally posted, 08.07.13 Over two dozen boxes containing open records requests from the University of Texas system have been retrieved for use by UT Austin. (Image source: Texas Tribune) Kevin Hegarty, the chief financial officer and custodian of records for the University of Texas at Austin, informed the University of Texas System on Monday that all pending records requests from embattled Regent Wallace Hall are considered “cancelled, effective immediately.” The House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations is in the process of investigating Hall’s behavior as a regent and considering whether or not to [...]

UT-Austin Cancels Regent’s Records Requests2013-09-30T20:24:12-05:00

Open government efforts are cause for celebration

2013-09-30T19:37:54-05:00

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published 13 August 2 An editor and reporter whose work in El Paso exposed a school test-rigging scandal and a state legislator from Corpus Christi who has worked to improve public access to government information are being recognized by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. In short, the group’s scheduled annual conference Friday in Austin is expected to be a celebration of and workshop on open government and the First Amendment. The accomplishments of these recipients are particularly suited for celebration. El Paso Times editor Robert Moore and former Times reporter Zahira Torres used the Texas Public Information Act to [...]

Open government efforts are cause for celebration2013-09-30T19:37:54-05:00

Rep. Todd Hunter named Open Government Lawmaker of the Year

2013-09-19T16:16:32-05:00

AUSTIN -- Rep. Todd Hunter, who has authored legislation to improve public access to government and protect First Amendment rights, is receiving the Open Government Lawmaker of the Year Award from the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, is chairman of the House Calendars Committee. He served in the House from 1989-97 and returned in 2009. He has long been an advocate for open government. Hunter will receive the award during the FOI Foundation’s annual conference Aug. 9 in Austin. During the 83rd Legislature this year, Hunter worked to modernize the Texas Public Information Act to reflect the [...]

Rep. Todd Hunter named Open Government Lawmaker of the Year2013-09-19T16:16:32-05:00

Transparency Committee Proceeding With Probe of Hall

2013-09-19T17:03:52-05:00

By Evan Smith Published July 27, 2013 The co-chairs of the Texas House’s Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations have formally asked the University of Texas System to preserve all documents related to Regent Wallace Hall, against whom articles of impeachment are being considered, and to avoid retaliation against employees who may be called to testify. In a letter sent Thursday to Gene Powell, the chairman of the UT Board of Regents, and obtained Saturday by The Texas Tribune, state Reps. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, and Dan Flynn, R-Van, request “that any and all documents relating to Regent Hall, his [...]

Transparency Committee Proceeding With Probe of Hall2013-09-19T17:03:52-05:00

Tables Turn as Sandefer Requests Zaffirini’s Records

2013-09-30T20:27:55-05:00

By Reeve Hamilton Originally published 2013 July 19 In June, a new entrant quietly joined the fray in the ongoing open records wars between the Legislature and the University of Texas System: Austin businessman Jeff Sandefer, who filed an open records request with state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, the former chairmwoman of the Senate Higher Education Committee Sandefer — the founder of the Acton School of Business, a private MBA program — is largely known in higher education circles for drafting a set of controversial reform proposals that Gov. Rick Perry encouraged university system regents to implement starting in 2008. The [...]

Tables Turn as Sandefer Requests Zaffirini’s Records2013-09-30T20:27:55-05:00
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