Monthly Archives: May 2020
Constitutionality of Legislative Prayer for Local Governments
City councils and other local governments that include an opening prayer in their business meetings find themselves straddling parallel lines of religious freedom and religious tolerance. After all, one man’s prayerful welcome could be taken by another man as exclusion or even a violation of the Establishment Clause. As we have written before, there… Read More »
For Texas Voting By Mail, Debate over Definition of Disabled Appears Headed to U.S. Supreme Court
In Texas, eligible voters can participate in an election by mail, frequently referred to as absentee ballots, if they are going to be out of their home county during early voting and on election day, if they’re in jail but eligible to vote, if they’re 65 years or older, or if they are disabled…. Read More »
Elections Ahead: How Will Texas Governments Hold Certain Elections in 2020?
Since the arrival of Covid-19 in the state of Texas, local governments have repeatedly found themselves in uncharted waters. One particularly hot topic for local governments right now has been the subject of general and special elections. Due to the need to social distance, the Governor’s office allowed local governments with an election date… Read More »
Covid-19’s New Normal: What’s Next & The Future For Local Government?
In Texas, many of us are headed back to work in offices that have been empty. What is next? What does the future hold? Can you envision a post-pandemic existence? In Texas it appears social distancing has worked, but it is impossible to know since our testing levels are reportedly low. You can check… Read More »
Cancelled: Scratching a Public Notice under the Texas Open Meetings Act
The Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, sets out the minimum requirements for providing public notice of a meeting of a governmental body and prohibits a governmental body from meeting unless the meeting has been properly noticed. The Act is replete with highly technical requirements for not only providing… Read More »