Texas Open Meetings Act
From Sunshine Review
Contents |
Which government meetings are open to the public?
All meetings where action, discussion or votes may be taken must be open, except for a few situations provided for in the Open Meetings Act.[1]
[edit] Meeting process
Elected and appointed public officials in Texas complete a training course (between one and two hours long) about open meetings and their obligations to this act so that they are fully aware of their responsibilities as the Open Meetings Act defines.
A governmental body prepares and keeps minutes or makes a tape recording of each open meeting of the body. The minutes have to state the subject of each deliberation and indicate every vote, order, decision, or other action taken. These minutes and tape recordings are public records and will be available for public inspection. The public may also request of the governmental body's chief administrative officer or designee to copy the recordings.
A person attending the meeting as an audience member is allowed to record all or any part of a governmental body's open meeting, using a tape recorder, video camera, or other aural or visual record-keeping. The governing body may, however, determine the rules regarding the recording as they relate to the location of recording equipment and the manner in which the recording is conducted. This ability to determine these rules cannot stand in the way of the person's right to record.[1]
Notice
The governmental body must give written notice of the date, hour, place, and subject of each meeting held at least 72 hours before the meeting and in a public place easily accessible by citizens. If the meeting is actually following a recess from the day prior, the body is not required to post notice if the action is taken in good faith and not to circumvent the public's rights under the Open Meetings Act. If the meeting continues onto a third day, the body must give written notice that the meeting will continue, as already defined.
If there is a catastrophe that prevents the meeting from convening on schedule, the body may convene it in a convenient location within 72 hours if the action is taken in good faith and not to circumvent the rights of the public under the Open Meetings Act. If they cannot convene within 72 hours, they must give written notice again, explaining the specifications of a new meeting time. A catastrophe would include a natural disaster, power failure, transportation failure, interruption of communication facilities, epidemic, riot, civil disturbance, enemy attack, or other actual or threatened act of lawlessness or violence.
These notice provisions do not apply when a subject is raised by a member of the public at the meeting that was not expected or covered by the notice's explanation.
The secretary of state, however, must post notice on the Internet of a meeting of a state board, commission, department, or officer having statewide jurisdiction for at least seven days before the day of the meeting. A computer terminal at a place convenient to the public should be available in the office of the secretary of state so that the public may use it to view notices of meetings. This policy does not apply to the Texas Department of Insurance, the commissioner of insurance, the commissioner of workers' compensation, or the governing board of an institution of higher education.
In an emergency, notice of a meeting or new and urgent agenda added to an existing meeting must be posted at least two hours before the meeting is convened. This is only valid if there is immediate action required of a governmental body because of an imminent threat to public health and safety or there is a reasonably unforeseeable situation. All other notice provisions apply to this situation. The body is required to notify the media in an emergency situation only if the outlet has filed at the headquarters of the governmental body a request containing all pertinent information for the special notice and agreed to reimburse the governmental body for the cost of providing the special notice.
The notice of a legislative committee meeting is as provided by the rules of the house of representatives or of the senate.[1]
[edit] Exceptions
One exception in which a governmental body may hold a closed meeting is when it is meeting with its attorney. This is only permissible if the body seeks the advice of its attorney about pending or contemplated litigation or a settlement offer. It is also permissible to close the meeting if the duty of the attorney to the governmental body under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of Texas clearly conflicts with the act.
A governing body may also hold a closed meeting to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property if deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the governmental body in negotiations with a third person.
County commissioners courts of a county with a population of at least 400,000 may hold closed meetings only to deliberate business and financial issues relating to a contract being negotiated. This is only permissible if, before conducting the closed meeting the commissioners court votes unanimously that deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the commissioners court in negotiations with a third person and if the attorney advising the commissioners court issues a written determination that deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the commissioners court in negotiations with a third person. These meetings must be recorded by the commissioners court.
The Texas Facilities Commission can hold a closed meeting to deliberate business and financial issues relating to a contract being negotiated if the commission votes unanimously before conducting the closed meeting that deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the state in negotiations with a third person and if the attorney advising the commission issues a written determination finding that deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the state in negotiations and procedure with a third person. The Texas Facilities Commission is responsible for recording this meeting as well.
A governmental body can hold a closed meeting to deliberate a negotiated contract for a prospective gift or donation to the state or the governmental body if deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the governmental body in negotiations with a third person.
The governmental body does not need to hold an open meeting if they are deliberating the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer, employee or advisory board member or if they are to hear a complaint or charge against an officer, employee or advisory board member. If this officer, employee or advisory board member requests a public hearing, it may be so.
The board of trustees of the Texas growth fund can hold a closed meeting to receive information from the employees of the Texas growth fund or a third party relating to an investment or a potential investment by the Texas growth fund in a private business entity. It may also hold this meeting as closed if the information would give advantage to a competitor or a business entity whose securities are publicly traded, if the investment or potential investment is not required to be registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [2], or if the board is to question the employees of the Texas growth fund or the third party regarding an investment or potential investment and the answers would give a competitor an advantage. Members of the board of trustees of the Texas growth fund may not deliberate public business or agency policy that effects public business.
The meeting may be closed if there will be deliberation about the deployment, or specific occasions for implementation, of security personnel or devices or about a security audit.
Agencies entirely federally funded do not have to hold open meetings in Texas. Medical board or medical committee do not have to hold open meetings that deliberate any private or medical information. The other exceptions outlined in the Texas Open Meetings Act include situations that would disclose information not open to the public.[1]
Executive sessions
Executive session is a meeting where governing boards or legislative bodies are said to be engaged in executive business. Executive business can be hiring or firing discussions, contract negotiations, or other strategic discussions.
These meetings can be open to the public though usually they cannot participate. Executive sessions in regards to local bodies or smaller organizations often are closed door, forbidding the public from attending the meeting or restricting access to those records.
Executive sessions are designed to protect individual members of the board from public rancor over their specific input. In most deliberative bodies, individual members sometimes need the freedom to speak their minds, or engage in sensitive topics without being individually targetable by the public. Despite this need, the final results or decisions by the board at large are always subject to public scrutiny.
[edit] If violated
If any provisions of this act are violated and action was taken during the illegal meeting, the action can be voided. Violators are subject to judicial review and punishments of fines and/or jail time.
[edit] Relevant legal cases
- See also: Court cases with an impact on state FOIA
Here is a list of open meetings lawsuits in Texas. For more information go the page or go to Texas sunshine lawsuits.
(The cases are listed alphabetically. To order them by year please click the icon to the right of the Year heading)
| Lawsuit | Year |
|---|---|
| Tovar v. Texas | 1998 |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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