Star-Telegram, other news outlets go to court over closed juvenile hearings
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Jan. 30, 2014 Six major media outlets in Dallas-Fort Worth joined Wednesday to file a plea in intervention in state District Judge Jean Boyd’s Tarrant County juvenile court to ask that any hearings regarding Ethan Couch be held in open court. The motion also asks that the media outlets be given a chance to be heard if the judge considers motions to close a hearing [...]
Complaint filed over judge’s order to remove Internet video
By Daniel Borunda El Paso Times Originally published Jan. 30, 2014 A Dallas-area lawyer has a filed a complaint against a federal judge in El Paso who ordered that a video be taken off the Internet in connection with the death of a man in Central Texas. Ty Clevenger, a civil case lawyer, accuses U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo of misconduct for issuing an order with information from only one [...]
Why Harold Simmons’ will should not be sealed
By Paul Watler Column published in The Dallas Morning News Jan. 27, 2014 The executor of the estate of billionaire Harold Simmons has asked a Dallas County probate court to seal the late billionaire’s will and probate file. The papers should be closed because people who disagree with Simmons’ controversial political activity might want to have a look, according to the motion. No one but his widow and sole heir [...]
FOI Foundation to co-host Open Government Seminar in El Paso
AUSTIN _ The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas announced details Wednesday of an upcoming Open Government Seminar in El Paso featuring training in the state’s public meetings and public records laws. The non-profit FOI Foundation, partnering with Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office, will offer the one-day seminar on Feb. 28. It is designed for government employees, journalists and members of the general public who want to learn [...]
Irving council members may have improperly picked finalist in closed meeting
By Avi Selk The Dallas Morning News Originally published Jan. 21, 2014 Irving City Council members may have broken transparency rules when, in closed-door talks, they told staffers to start negotiating with Steve Sarkozy to become the next city manager. The council was scheduled to interview three finalists for the job on Friday. After the interviews, according to people in the room, members told the staff to begin pursuing a [...]
George W. Bush library archives open to public
By Jamie Stengle Associated Press Originally published Jan. 21, 2014 Link to Corpus Christi Caller-Times DALLAS — The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on Monday began accepting Freedom of Information Act requests for records from Bush's presidency. The day marks five years from the end of Bush's presidency, on Jan. 20, 2009. Access to the records is governed by the Presidential Records Act, which says the records may be [...]
UT System launches interactive salary and debt database
By Reeve Hamilton The Texas Tribune Originally published Jan. 16, 2014 Touting it as a first-of-its-kind higher ed gadget, the University of Texas System on Thursday launched a new interactive website that includes salary and debt information for graduates of its institutions after one year and five years in the workforce. The new tool, seekUT, allows the public — including prospective students and their families — to access data on [...]
Documents in sheriff’s deputy shooting death unavailable
By Andrea Salazar The Eagle Originally published Jan. 10, 2014 Three weeks after the shooting death of a Burleson County Sheriff's Deputy, it is unclear where the documents detailing the incident are. During phone calls placed by The Eagle in the past week, representatives of the Burleson County Sheriff's Office, the district attorney, the district clerk, the Texas Department of Public Safety and District Judge Reva Towslee Corbett's office claimed [...]
FOI Foundation to partner in Texas Debates; first debate is Jan. 27
DALLAS/FORT WORTH – The four candidates in the Republican Primary for Texas Lieutenant Governor will square off in The Texas Debates: Race for Lieutenant Governor on Monday, January 27, 2014, at 8:00 p.m. CT. The one-hour live debate between Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, State Senator Dan Patrick, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples will be broadcast on television, radio and streamed online. Voters have a voice in [...]
Texas Supreme Court to consider online defamation case
By Alexa Ura The Texas Tribune Originally published Jan. 8, 2014 Robert Kinney says his former boss wrote false and defamatory things about him online, and he wants the state's highest civil court to order the remarks be deleted. In a case that could have far-reaching effects on individual freedom to post online, the Texas Supreme Court will hear arguments from both sides on Thursday about whether the Texas Constitution [...]
Charter school board member sues, claiming open meetings violation
By Jeff Mosier The Dallas Morning News Originally published Jan. 7, 2014 A Prime Prep Academy board member has filed a lawsuit accusing the board chairman and the school’s sponsoring nonprofit of violating state open meetings laws. The lawsuit, filed the week before Christmas, seeks to overturn the board’s votes to suspend executive director Kimberly Carlisle and to appoint former Dallas ISD trustee Ron Price as interim superintendent. Plaintiff Okey [...]
State Bar seeks Texas Gavel Awards entries
The State Bar of Texas began seeking entries Tuesday for its 2014 Gavel Awards, which recognize excellence in legal reporting. The prestigious awards will be presented Sept. 12 in Austin during the annual conference of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. Entries will be accepted in print, broadcast and online categories until April 1. Submissions are for journalism produced in the 2013 calendar year. "Excellent journalism about our laws [...]
Fight over UT’s Powers buried university in records requests
By David Barer The Dallas Morning News Originally published Jan. 5, 2014 AUSTIN — A University of Texas System regent’s requests for hundreds of thousands of documents from UT-Austin sparked accusations of a witch hunt against the school’s president. But the avalanche of demands on UT had only begun. Wallace Hall’s requests totaled 800,000 records, and university officials have said they felt besieged and had difficulty complying. Documents have to [...]
Bush Center prepares for open records onslaught in 2014
By Caty Hirst Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Dec. 21, 2013 UNIVERSITY PARK — Though hundreds of thousands of people have visited the George W. Bush Presidential Center over the past six months, the lifeblood of the library — the billions of pages of archives — has yet to open. Presidential records are not available to the public for five years after a president leaves office, but that period is up Jan. 20 for [...]
San Benito mayor’s case to be dismissed after probation program, including Open Meetings Act training
By Fernando Del Valle Valley Morning Star Originally published Dec. 18, 2013 SAN BENITO — A special prosecutor said Wednesday that he will dismiss a misdemeanor charge against San Benito Mayor Joe Hernandez upon his completion of a Cameron County District Attorney’s Office probation program. State District Judge Rolando Olvera heard the status of Hernandez’s case Wednesday in 445th District Court in Brownsville. Special Prosecutor Ruben Peña said he will [...]
Privately run taxpayer-funded Texas schools often withhold information
By Morgan Smith The Texas Tribune Originally published Dec. 16, 2013 On a recently approved Texas charter school application, blacked-out paragraphs appear on almost 100 of its 393 pages. Redactions on the publicly available online version of the application often extend for pages at a time. They include sections on the school’s plan to support students’ academic success, its extracurricular activities and the “extent to which any private entity, including [...]
Light of Day project stories under way
University students have been using the Texas Public Information Act to request details on student fees as part of this year's Light of Day project of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. The first story in the project this school year was recently published by Texas State University students. Read the report in The University Star. Reporting is continuing the rest of this semester and early spring as students [...]
Texas Supreme Court justice: Open government ‘difficult, serious’ business
Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Boyd said Monday his judicial perspective on open government comes from years spent on both sides of the issue and that public access laws can be too easily abused from either end. "The great challenge in this business is figuring out where to draw the line," said Boyd, who has worked in the Texas Attorney General's Office and as chief of staff for Gov. Rick [...]
Suit alleges SAPD withheld puppy shooting records
By Guillermo Contreras San Antonio Express-News Originally published Dec. 4, 2013 SAN ANTONIO — What happened during a San Antonio police raid at a Babcock Road apartment last spring in which two puppies were allegedly shot and killed? Only police know, and they refuse to release details, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday against the city and its police chief, William McManus. Patricia Taylor, a member of the grass-roots organization Texas [...]
Houston Chronicle: Secret Police Beatings and Public Records
Editorial Houston Chronicle Originally published December 3 On a list of Texas higher education stereotypes, the entry for Rice University begins: "I live in the fourth biggest city in the country, yet I can go weeks without leaving campus." That inside-the-hedges mentality is fine for studious undergrads, but not the campus police department. With the Rice University Police Department (RUPD) refusing to open the books on a recent police beating, those green hedges are [...]