Author Archives: Randlelaw
“Sovereign Citizens and Your Local Government”
IMLA, the International Municipal Lawyer’s Association, featured an article by our Executive Vice President, Judith El Masri, as their cover story for their July/August magazine. “Sovereign Citizens and Your Local Government” examines the historical roots of the movement, how and where municipal or government officials may encounter them in their city, and the justice… 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 »
COVID-19 Emergency Orders (UPDATED)
(Updated with Liberty County order) The pandemic of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has spurred the adoption of stay-at-home or stay-safe orders by local jurisdictions in the Houston region. We are linking to these documents here: Liberty County as well has issued an executive order with Stay Safe Emergency Measures, effective… Read More »
Texas Open Meetings Act – Videoconferencing/Teleconferencing
Please note that due to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, the state of Texas has relaxed requirements for local governments under the Texas Open Meetings Act. The Texas Municipal League has created a guide for local governments when opting to use videoconferencing or teleconferencing to hold public meetings. “Even as the State of Texas takes… Read More »
Vacancies, Resignations, Removals, and Holdovers
This blog entry is based on a presentation originally given by former Randle Law Office attorney Timothy Kirwin. Vacancies, Resignations, Removals, and Holdovers Topic Overview: Focus on Type A General law cities, but at times reference Type B and C cities These laws apply to cities with council terms of 2 years or less… Read More »
Public Officials, Social Media and the First Amendment
Should a public official be permitted to block the social media accounts of people who disagree with an official’s stated policies or other running commentary by the official? Courts around the country are seeing cases percolate on this issue. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed with a lower… Read More »
Fulshear Growth Gets Notice from Katy
The Katy Times recently posted a news article regarding the City of Fulshear, which we are republishing here with permission: Katy Adapts to Fulshear Growth (Katy Times) Katy Times subscribers can read the article on its website as well: Katy Adapts to Fulshear Growth Fulshear Mayor Aaron Groff
Trademarking a City Slogan to Enhance Economic Development
What’s in a name? Or, in a city slogan, for that matter? A city may adopt a slogan to boost civic morale, encourage economic development and increase tourism dollars. Further, a city may opt to trademark a slogan to protect its brand from dilution or imitation. Some slogans are unofficial, such as “the city… Read More »
White Paper: Texas Rules for City Annexation
The 85th Texas Legislature changed the rules of the road for cities in Texas seeking to annex surrounding areas, putting limits on the practice. We initially discussed this in a recent blog on annexation and here have expanded on the topic in a white paper you can read here.
Hurricane Harvey: Unprecedented in Scope, Overcome by Enduring Human Spirit
Randle Law Office is proud to serve multiple cities in southeast Texas within a region loosely referred to as “Houston,” and these communities are rising to an occasion of enormous scope. Despite this staggering strain, local officials and residents are finding new strength. In this week’s blog, we depart from our typical legal discussions… Read More »