Category Archives: Local Governmental Entities
Contract Zoning and When It’s Okay
Texas is a very property rights conscious state. For example, we have some of the most robust homestead protections in the nation, contracts involving interests in real property are subject to the statute of frauds, and even the simplified provisions for probating a “small estate” in Texas can apply to real estate having substantial… Read More »
Disclosures and Annexation
Annexation laws in Texas have been an ever-evolving landscape over the past few years, and the 2021 legislative session has provided additional changes once again. Effective September 1, 2021, cities must provide a number of written disclosures to property owners prior to entering into an annexation agreement. Following the legislative overhaul of Texas annexation… Read More »
Natural Disasters and the PIA
On September 1, 2021, more than 600 new laws in Texas went into effect from the legislative session and the emergency sessions called by the governor. These laws range from such controversial issues as voting and handguns to more generic issues that municipalities face daily, such as the Texas Public Information Act (PIA), found… Read More »
City Growth through Economic Development
Every city wants to grow, but to grow, you must understand the wheel on which growth occurs. Growth means bringing in more businesses and more businesses attract more consumers, while also providing more jobs. More jobs and consumers mean more people, and more people means more development of homes. For a city, this means… Read More »
Texas Unmanned Aerial Aircraft Device Update
In my last blog on drones in December 2020, I wrote about the federal suit members of the media have brought regarding First Amendment challenges to Texas drone laws, found in Chapter 423 of the Texas Government Code. [National Press Photographers Assoc, et al v. Steven McCraw, Director of DPS] The case is scheduled… Read More »
MSD: What’s in Your Groundwater?
A Municipal Setting Designation (a “MSD”) places a limitation on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) requirements for the investigation or remediation of property parcels containing contaminated groundwater, when that groundwater is not used and will not be used as potable water now or in the future, located within a city or a… Read More »
Delayed Census Causes Texas Legislature to Go Back to the Future
The Texas Constitution prohibits the Legislature from passing any local or special law regulating the affairs of counties, cities, towns, wards, or school districts. Necessity being the mother of invention, when the Legislature desires to regulate, in effect, a specific county, city, town, ward, or school district, it passes a general law with bracketed… Read More »
City Contracts and State Statutes
In a previous blog post, this firm addressed some instances of first amendment issues implicated by state laws. Particularly of note, was a state statute which prevented Cities from contracting with companies who take a particular political stance. As a brief recap, in 2017, the Texas legislature passed H.B. 89 which provided that a… Read More »
Social Media and Cities: When Is It a Public Forum?
With the growing number of social media platforms and their rapidly increasing potential to attract audiences and disseminate information, local government leaders, management, and staff seeking to engage the community often wonder what can be done about potential internet trolls and keyboard warriors. The chimeric landscape of social media, the vastly growing “like, comment,… Read More »
What is a Mayor Pro Tempore?
To understand what a Mayor Tempore (usually abbreviated as Mayor Pro Tem) is you need to understand the duties of the Mayor. These duties are dependent on the type of city the Mayor has been elected in. The different types of cities in Texas are home-rule cities or general law cities and our firm… Read More »