FOI Foundation statement demanding transparency in Uvalde shooting investigation
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 [...]
In Texas, a legal loophole may block access to Uvalde shooting records
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 [...]
Texas agencies fight releasing records that could clarify Uvalde school shooting response
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 [...]
FOI Foundation of Texas to hold Open Government Seminars in San Antonio, Edinburg
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. [...]
Wuhan lab can delete data in ‘explosive’ legal agreement with Texas lab
By Emily Kopp U.S. Right to Know April 20, 2022 The Wuhan Institute of Virology has the right to ask a partnering lab in the U.S. to destroy all records of their work, according to a legal document obtained by U.S. Right to Know. A memorandum of understanding between the Wuhan lab and the Galveston National Laboratory at the University of Texas Medical Branch states that each lab can ask [...]
Federal judge rules Texas drone law violates First Amendment
Federal Judge Robert Pitman struck down Texas' drone photography law, ruling it violates the First Amendment. The law prevented journalists from gathering news. As attorney Jim Hemphill, an FOI Foundation of Texas board member, explains in this article by Alicia Calzada, the decision confirms drone photography is "an integral tool in 21st-Century journalism.” Read Calzada's full article here, published by the National Press Photographers Association, the plaintiff in the lawsuit.
At the root of democracy: Free flow of information
By Kelley Shannon Executive Director Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas As Ukrainians fight and die for democracy, Russia is arresting its own citizens who are protesting the war and threatening prison for journalists who report the truth. The attempt to crush a democratic government and stop the flow of information comes as American news organizations and transparency advocates observe Sunshine Week from March 13-19, a time for highlighting government [...]
How the University of Texas defers to business interests in public records requests
By Asher Price Axios Originally published March 2, 2022 Axios Austin is currently embroiled in three open records disputes with the University of Texas. Why it matters: University officials acknowledge they are deferring to business interests — instead of simply releasing information to the public. Details: UT officials are refusing to say how much money the public university has agreed to pay one outside firm to assist in its ongoing [...]
Mother of man killed by Denton County deputies in 2019 still holding out for footage
By Zaira Perez Denton Record-Chronicle Originally published Feb. 23, 2022 More than two years after her son’s death at the hands of Denton County deputies, Cheryl Kristin Adams said she still thinks about the fatal shooting every day. Adams said she still doesn’t have closure because she said the sheriff’s office isn’t sharing the body camera footage from that night even though she has requested body camera footage showing the [...]
Judge dismisses Odessa American’s open records lawsuit
By Hannah Burbank CBS7/KOSA Originally published Feb. 16, 2022 ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - A judge dismissed the Odessa American’s lawsuit against the City of Odessa. On Tuesday, City Council discussed the court's order. The Odessa American claims the city violated the Texas Public Information Act; however the City said it did nothing wrong. The Odessa American said the city was redacting information but city officials said they were only redacting [...]
After backlash, Texas comptroller abandons plan to hide details of controversial tax break program
By Mike Morris, John Tedesco Houston Chronicle Originally published Jan. 28, 2022 Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar is backing away from a proposal to reduce the information his office collects on the state’s largest corporate incentive program amid an avalanche of criticism from Texans concerned about the future cost to the state. Hundreds of residents and some lawmakers submitted comments on the proposal after Hegar’s office made it public in November [...]
Texas AG Ken Paxton must turn over Trump rally records or face lawsuit, Travis County DA says
By Lauren McGaughy, John Tedesco and Jay Root The Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle Originally published Jan. 13, 2022 The Travis County district attorney has determined that Attorney General Ken Paxton violated Texas' open records law by not turning over his communications from January 2021, when he appeared at the pro-Trump rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The district attorney gave Paxton four days to remedy the [...]
Threats from Gov. Abbott among reasons why a Texas school district keeps book challenges secretive
By Talia Richman The Dallas Morning News Originally published Jan. 10, 2022 Fear of retribution from Gov. Greg Abbott contributes to Keller school officials’ push to keep deliberations about which books to ban from libraries private. ... Joe Larsen, an attorney on the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas board of directors, reviewed Keller ISD’s arguments. But despite the district’s concerns, he said, book challenge committee meetings should be open [...]
Texas AG rules government expenditures to Home Depot subsidiary can be withheld from public
By John Tedesco Houston Chronicle Originally published Dec. 17, 2021 The Houston Chronicle reports on lack of transparency in New Braunfels' taxpayer-funded expenditures on a private corporation. Read the full story here.
Houston Chronicle Editorial: Texans need more information on wasteful ‘313’ corporate welfare program – not less
Houston Chronicle Editorial Originally published Dec. 10, 2021 There’s a reason Texas lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, got rid of the biggest corporate welfare program in Texas. ... Chapter 313, as it’s known, is a $10 billion boondoggle. The program let wealthy corporations keep a portion of their property values off school district tax rolls for a decade, when property values are often at their peak. It was rife with abuse [...]
Open records bill would have prevented Rio Grande City from exploiting loophole
By Valerie Gonzalez The Monitor Originally published Nov. 27, 2021 An open government advocate said this week that if Texas legislators are one day successful in closing a loophole in the state’s public information act, municipalities such as Rio Grande City would no longer be able to work around certain requirements — such as responding to requests. The handling of a recent request for public information from Rio Grande City [...]
FOIFT remembers dedicated service of former president Ralph Langer
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is forever grateful for the dedicated service of former organization president Ralph Langer, who passed away in August at age 84. FOIFT honored Langer at our Sept. 24, 2021, state conference with the following remembrance delivered by current board president Arif Panju: In Memoriam, Ralph Langer Ralph Langer was the former long-time president of the Freedom of Information Foundation and the guiding light [...]
Texas open government advocates notch legislative wins but want more
By Daniel Van Oudenaren The Austin Bulldog Originally published Nov. 10, 2021 Advocates who pushed for changes to Texas’s public information laws at the legislature this year are celebrating a handful of wins but fell short on some of their agenda. Two new transparency laws took effect September 1st, the fruit of a bipartisan effort: Senate Bill 930 by state Senator Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo), which ensures that families of nursing [...]
IDEA Public Schools sues attorney general to keep hotel purchase records secret
By Dave HendricksProgress TimesOriginally published Oct. 29, 2021 IDEA Public Schools filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in mid-October, attempting to block the release of records that may explain why the charter school system purchased a hotel in Cameron County. IDEA purchased the Inn at Chachalaca Bend, a boutique hotel in Los Fresnos, during October 2019. Less than a year later, Chief Financial Officer Wyatt Truscheit abruptly [...]
Researchers examine Texas, other state laws on public records response requirements, times
Five research papers were accepted to the third annual National Freedom of Information Coalition FOI research competition, which was presented online Sept. 28, 2021, at the national FOI Summit. In all, seven one-page proposals were entered and five selected through double-blind peer review for final consideration. Then, a team of eight expert judges rated the full manuscripts based on importance, relevance to practitioners, and strength of methodology. Three of the [...]