State fights release of race records
By Jay Root Texas Tribune Originally published Oct. 22, 2014 The Texas Department of Insurance is fighting The Texas Tribune’s request for records that could shed light on why it has failed to collect racial data on injured workers, despite a 1993 law that requires it. On behalf of its Division of Workers’ Compensation, the department is citing numerous exemptions to state transparency laws and has asked Attorney General Greg [...]
Port Arthur refuses to release names of manager applicants
By Sherry Koonce Port Arthur News Originally published Oct. 22, 2014 In a move that Freedom of Information attorneys are calling “an obvious delay tactic,” or, worse yet, “a possible criminal act,” Port Arthur city officials are refusing to supply the names of candidates applying for the city manager job. On Oct. 8, The News submitted an open records request under the Texas Public Information Act for the names and [...]
Judge awards attorneys’ fees after TV station won anti-SLAPP lawsuit appeal
A Harris County judge has awarded Houston ABC affiliate KTRK-TV more than $250,000 in attorneys’ fees after the station won an appeal in an anti-SLAPP case, or anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation. Austin-based Partner Laura Prather of Haynes and Boone, LLP, and Of Counsel Catherine Robb represented KTRK in the case. “This matter is a prime example of why the anti-SLAPP statute was created - to protect the freedom of [...]
Council candidate sues Austin Bulldog claiming defamation
By Ken Martin The Austin Bulldog Originally published Oct. 15, 2014 District 6 candidate Donald Shelly “Don” Zimmerman has filed a defamation lawsuit against The Austin Bulldog, according to Courthouse News Service. The Austin Bulldog has not been served and has not seen a copy of the lawsuit, styled Don Zimmerman v. Austin Investigative Reporting Project dba The Austin Bulldog; Ken Martin Cause No. D-1-GN-14-004290. The Austin Investigative Reporting Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit for [...]
Police records: Are Amarilloans in the dark on crime?
By Russell Anglin and Matt Hutchison Amarillo Globe-News Originally published Oct. 11, 2014 On most days at the Amarillo Police Department, someone sifts through a maze of reports determining what the public should know about crime in the city. After the department determines what’s “newsworthy,” a summary is written about those incidents — usually 10 to 20 a week — and made available to the public. So who’s making the [...]
Accident witness: Officer threatened to take cell phone for taking photos
By Deborah McKeon Temple Daily Telegram Originally published Oct. 9, 2014 A Temple resident who witnessed an accident in which two men died on Thursday night said a Temple Police officer threatened to take his cellphone away because he was taking photographs and video. Sean Ramirez said the officer threatened to take his cellphone away if he didn’t stop taking pictures, so Ramirez said he stopped and started recording instead. [...]
Greg Abbott facing questions on open government
By Chuck Lindell Austin American-Statesman Originally published Oct. 4, 2014 Greg Abbott was the toast of open government advocates early in his 12-year tenure as attorney general, but recent decisions in favor of tighter secrecy have prompted some to re-evaluate his commitment to transparency. Since May, Abbott’s agency has reversed policy by allowing Texas to keep secret the source of its execution drugs and withhold inventory reports listing businesses that [...]
Texas Supreme Court refuses to hear Greater Houston Partnership case on Texans’ right to records
By Mark Collette Houston Chronicle Originally published Oct. 3, 2014 The Texas Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear a lawsuit by Greater Houston Partnership that could have limited the public's right to know about government money sent to private groups. The case applies to all businesses and nonprofits in Texas that receive public funds. It allows the state attorney general to decide on a case-by-case basis which organizations must [...]
Del Mar College resolves public information problem
By Dave Hendricks Corpus Christi Caller-Times Originally published Sept. 30, 2014 CORPUS CHRISTI - Del Mar College and accountant Ed Bennett, who's running for an at-large seat on the college's Board of Regents, publicly resolved a $26.7 million question on Tuesday afternoon. Concerned about bad debt write-offs at the taxpayer funded community college, Bennett had requested financial documents under the Texas Public Information Act. He requested 10 years worth of [...]
Abbott kept dealings of Texas Enterprise Fund under wraps
By Wayne Slater The Dallas Morning News Originally published Sept. 28, 2014 AUSTIN — A decade ago, Attorney General Greg Abbott invoked a cloak of secrecy around the Texas Enterprise Fund. When The Dallas Morning News requested, under the Texas open-records law, a copy of the application of a company seeking taxpayer subsidies, Abbott said no. He ruled that the applications for money from the $500 million job-creation fund might contain confidential [...]
Texas journalists battle for media access
By Lena Williams Right to Report Originally published Sept. 24 A year ago, the Texas Legislature amended the state’s Public Information Act to give citizens and journalists greater access to public records and the discussions of public officials. Gov. Rick Perry signed it into law, but did he mean it? Officials across Texas are circumventing some of the key provisions of the state’s 41-year-old Public Information Act, considered by many [...]
KRIS-TV reports on Del Mar College’s $26 million charge for public records
Reporter Rick Spruill of KRIS-TV investigates the fallout over a $26 million fee quoted by Del Mar College to turn over public information. Open government experts wonder whether Del Mar is unlawful or just incompetent. View the story here: http://www.kristv.com/news/6-investigates-del-mar-college-public-information-fallout/
Open records request shows Texas football team drug testing rate doubled under Charlie Strong
By Brian Davis Austin American-Statesman Originally published Sept. 24, 2014 The number of drug tests administered to University of Texas football players has skyrocketed under first-year coach Charlie Strong, according to university data obtained by the American-Statesman through an open records request. According to university records, an average of 104 tests were administered annually to football players from 2010 to 2013, the last four years under former coach Mack Brown. A [...]
FOI Foundation partners in ‘The Texas Debates’
DALLAS/FORT WORTH – KERA, the North Texas public television and radio stations, will host Attorney General Greg Abbott and state Sen. Wendy Davis in The Texas Debates: The Race for Governor. The live, one-hour debate is a co-production with NBC 5/KXAS-TV and Telemundo39/KXTX-TV,The Dallas Morning News and Texas Association of Broadcasters. Sponsored by AARP, the program will be broadcast on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, at 8:00 p.m. CT on television, radio [...]
Rule 12 grants access to judges’ emails, payroll information
By Angela Morris Texas Lawyer Originally published Sept. 19, 2014 Lawyers might be interested in a little-known tool to request copies of courts' administrative records such as emails, calendars and payroll records. During a Sept. 12 panel at the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas annual conference, solo Joel White said that in 1998 he helped draft the tool—Rule 12 of the Rules of Judicial Administration. The Texas Public Information [...]
Texas court tosses out ‘improper photography’ law as a free speech violation
By Chuck Lindell Austin American-Statesman Originally published Sept. 17, 2014 The state’s highest criminal court on Wednesday tossed out a state law banning “improper photography” — photos or videos taken in a public place without consent and with the purpose of sexual gratification — as a violation of free-speech rights. In an 8-1 ruling, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said photos, much like paintings and films, are “inherently expressive” and [...]
Commentary: Why we need FOIA reform now
By Anne L. Weismann Roll Call Originally published Sept. 17, 2014 Congress has returned from a month-long recess with a full plate and few legislative days left. Although it faces many competing priorities, Congress must pass the FOIA Improvement Act of 2014, a bill that enjoys bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. If enacted, this legislation truly will be a game changer, restoring the Freedom of Information [...]
Former ‘Eagle’ editor, publisher Donnis Baggett honored at FOI Foundation conference
The Eagle Staff Report Originally published Sept. 13, 2014 Veteran journalist Donnis Baggett, former publisher and editor of The Eagle, was honored Friday by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas for his work in fighting for open government and the First Amendment. Baggett, who is executive vice president of the Texas Press Association, leads the group's governmental affairs program, which focuses on protecting open records, open meetings and public [...]
Legal contracts, details of Perry’s representation, now secret
By Angela Morris Texas Lawyer Originally published Sept. 9, 2014 When Gov. Rick Perry, facing two felony charges, chose to pay his lawyers from his campaign account instead of using state funds, the move eased the burden on taxpayers but also drew a veil of secrecy across details of Perry's representation. Using the Texas Public Information Act, Texas Lawyer asked the Office of the Governor for legal contracts and payment [...]
Free speech case springs from fracking dispute
By Jim Malewitz The Texas Tribune Originally published Sept. 5, 2014 Steve Lipsky’s tainted water well had already stirred national debate about the impacts of oil and gas production. Now it stars in a free speech dispute that has landed in Texas’ highest court – the biggest test of a state law meant to curb attempts to stifle public protest. So much methane has migrated into the well on Lipsky’s [...]