Yearly Archives: 2020
Risky Business for Open Meetings: Including Announcements and Future Agenda Items
The Texas Open Meetings Act generally requires that a governmental body give written notice of the date, hour, place, and subject of each meeting held by the governmental body, notice of which must be given at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting. Therefore, a governmental body is generally prohibited from discussing a… Read More »
Texas Law Provides for Cities to Adopt Cite and Release Ordinances for Some Offenses
As of June 26, 7,821 offenders and 1,321 staff have tested positive for COVID-19 in Texas prisons, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The spread of the virus has led to calls for many prisoners to be released, and state prisons have halted intake from county jails for the past three months…. Read More »
Government Employment in the Age of Covid
As of June 3, GA-26 (Governor Greg Abbott’s latest executive order implementing Phase III of his plan to re-open Texas) allowed most businesses to increase their occupancy limits from 25 percent to 50 percent. There is no occupancy limit, however, on local government operations, both county and municipal. With those restrictions lifted, many local… Read More »
Injuries from “Less Lethal” Crowd Control Measures Raise Questions amid Ongoing Protests
As protests have swept through cities across the country, the use of crowd control methods by law enforcement are on full display. The use of oleoresin capsicum (pepper spray), conducted energy devices (Tasers, stun guns), and impact rounds (beanbag rounds, rubber bullets) for crowd control purposes has come under increased scrutiny. Proponents hail these… Read More »
City Council Meetings in a COVID World: Maintaining Quorums and Technology
The onset of the COVID-19 crisis initially loosened the rules for how local governments may hold open meetings via teleconference, but earlier this month as Texas enters the latest operational phase for opening up regular business, the state of play has changed again for virtual city council meeting participation. When the Open Meetings Act… Read More »
Policing During Protests: How Cities Can Balance the First and Tenth Amendments
What happens when local police officers clear protestors from a traditional public forum, such as a city sidewalk? What if, in clearing the sidewalk, they also clear a journalist, protected by the First Amendment’s provision for freedom of the press? What if they arrest that journalist? In the battle of First Amendment protections versus… Read More »
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 »