Texas Public Information Act

Headliners Foundation of Texas announces FOI grants program

2016-09-13T14:41:05-05:00

Headliners Foundation of Texas Sept. 6, 2016 AUSTIN - The Headliners Foundation of Texas has embarked on a one-year pilot program of grants to reimburse small-market and community news organizations in Texas for extraordinary expenses charged by governmental bodies for Open Records searches. The grant application process will open September 6, 2016, and will continue until the 2016 Foundation funding for the grants is awarded. Click here for the Foundation’s media release announcing the grant program. Here is information for you to determine if your news organization is eligible and how you can apply. The goal is to help community journalism organizations overcome [...]

Headliners Foundation of Texas announces FOI grants program2016-09-13T14:41:05-05:00

Open Government Champions: Capriglione pushes ahead with transparency agenda in Legislature

2016-08-24T16:46:11-05:00

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one in an occasional series of opinion pieces on legislators and other Texans who are openly committed to sustaining government transparency and accountability. The articles are being prepared and distributed by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and the Texas Press Association. By DAVE MONTGOMERY During the 2015 Texas Legislature, while most other transparency and ethics reform proposals were headed toward the trash heap, Rep. Giovanni Capriglione secured near-unanimous passage of a new law that has enabled the public to see who benefits financially from dealings with the government. His victory in pushing through House Bill [...]

Open Government Champions: Capriglione pushes ahead with transparency agenda in Legislature2016-08-24T16:46:11-05:00

Joe Larsen: How to make Texas government less transparent

2016-08-19T15:27:30-05:00

By Joe Larsen FOI Foundation of Texas Board Member Published in The Texas Tribune Aug. 18, 2016 The bedrock laws providing Texans with access to information of and regarding their government were passed in 1973 in the wake of the Sharpstown scandal. All areas of government, with very few exceptions, benefit from transparency. But sunlight is perhaps most beneficial and necessary at that juncture where private enterprise is paid out of the public burse. That is why the ruling in the 2015 Texas Supreme Court case of Boeing v. Paxton is so pernicious. It allows both governmental bodies and the people [...]

Joe Larsen: How to make Texas government less transparent2016-08-19T15:27:30-05:00

Victoria sheriff stops releasing jail mug shots

2016-08-16T14:55:41-05:00

By Jessica Priest Victoria Advocate Originally published Aug. 13-14, 2016 The Victoria County Sheriff is not releasing mug shots to the public at the same time others in the region are becoming more transparent. Sheriff T. Michael O'Connor is concerned he will be sued by those whose mug shots he releases who are later found innocent of a crime. However, no sheriff has ever been sued for that reason and lost, said Joe Larsen, a board member for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. The Louisville, Ky., police department was sued by a man whose picture it included on a [...]

Victoria sheriff stops releasing jail mug shots2016-08-16T14:55:41-05:00

Texas high court carves “monstrous loophole” for government secrets

2016-08-08T14:54:29-05:00

By Jim Malewitz The Texas Tribune Originally published Aug. 5, 2016 Thanks to the Texas Supreme Court, McAllen taxpayers cannot find out how much their city paid Enrique Iglesias to belt out his Latin pop lyrics at a holiday parade. And Houston cannot release, among other information, how many driver permits it has issued to ride-hailing giant Uber. A Kaufman County school district’s food service deal? Much of that is now secret, as are details of a Texas Department of Insurance contract for interpretation services. Those are a few instances among many over the past year in which Texas Attorney General [...]

Texas high court carves “monstrous loophole” for government secrets2016-08-08T14:54:29-05:00

CONTACT INFO

  • Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas
    Kelley Shannon, Executive Director
    3001 N. Lamar Blvd., Suite 302
    Austin, Texas 78705

  • (512) 377-1575

  • [email protected]

TEXAS FOI NEWS

QUICK LINKS

MENU

RESOURCES

© Copyright 2024 | The Freedom of Information Foundation | All Rights Reserved | by HelixSEO

Toggle Sliding Bar Area
Go to Top