Texas Public Information Act

Facing complaints of excessive fees, Texas counties release billing records of their opioid lawyers for free

FOIFT2018-10-11T15:10:51-05:00

By Daniel Fisher Legal NewsLine Originally published Oct. 10, 2018 Texas counties that demanded tens of thousands of dollars to provide billing records from outside attorneys representing them in opioid lawsuits have mostly agreed to hand them over for free, after complaints were filed with the Texas Attorney General's Office alleging the cost estimates were excessive and violated the Texas Public Information Act. A number of counties initially quoted costs of as much as $750 an hour for outside attorneys to review and redact privileged information from billing statements, which are considered public records under Texas law. The cost demands from [...]

Facing complaints of excessive fees, Texas counties release billing records of their opioid lawyers for freeFOIFT2018-10-11T15:10:51-05:00

Travis County sheriff sues AG’s office to keep inmate’s death records confidential

FOIFT2018-10-03T14:58:59-05:00

By Katie Hall Austin American-Statesman Originally published Oct. 2, 2018 Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez is suing to keep some information about a man who died at the county jail confidential after the American-Statesman requested the internal investigation report into the inmate’s death. Justin Daniel Dominguez, 24, was brought into the Travis County Jail on a domestic violence assault charge the night of June 10, 2016, and was pronounced dead the next morning. According to the unredacted parts of the investigation report, several inmates said Dominguez had been beating on the door and pressing the intercom button requesting medical attention, but [...]

Travis County sheriff sues AG’s office to keep inmate’s death records confidentialFOIFT2018-10-03T14:58:59-05:00

Show us the money, let us see how tax dollars are spent

FOIFT2022-03-31T17:08:28-05:00

By Kelley Shannon Executive Director Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas It’s quite simple, really. We Texans have a right to know how our taxpayer dollars are spent. It’s our money. We, the people, choose our government. Our elected public officials represent us. They manage and spend our tax money. But we, the people,get to decide whether they are doing it well. To do that, we need light shining on the workings of our government. But that essential element of our democracy is in jeopardy in Texas. Taxpayers are being denied information about government contracts with private companies and about tax [...]

Show us the money, let us see how tax dollars are spentFOIFT2022-03-31T17:08:28-05:00

Why everyone should care about government transparency

FOIFT2018-10-16T22:49:22-05:00

Why Everyone Should Care About Government Transparency By Kathleen Stone Government transparency in the state of Texas is the big issue that no one is talking about. Or that’s how it seems to me, the public relations student who joined the FOI Foundation of Texas as the digital marketing intern roughly two months ago. I came aboard to revamp the Texas Sunshine Coalition website and lay out a new social media plan. Beyond a few journalism classes and a media law class, I really didn’t know that much about the issues surrounding government transparency. After spending some time studying the cases, I’ve [...]

Why everyone should care about government transparencyFOIFT2018-10-16T22:49:22-05:00

Houston mayor’s former press secretary indicted, accused of withholding public records

FOIFT2018-07-19T23:23:39-05:00

By Mike Morris Houston Chronicle Originally published July 19, 2018 Mayor Sylvester Turner's former press secretary, Darian Ward, was indicted by a grand jury this week, accused of violating state law by failing to turn over public records in response to a reporter’s request late last year. The indictment, handed up Tuesday but released by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s office Thursday, says Ward misrepresented the number of emails responsive to a reporter’s request for correspondence about her personal business activities and unlawfully withheld public records. Read the full story here.

Houston mayor’s former press secretary indicted, accused of withholding public recordsFOIFT2018-07-19T23:23:39-05:00

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