Category Archives: Local Governmental Entities
Texas Cities Remain Limited by Governor’s Order Over Pandemic Restrictions
We continue to live in confusing and unprecedented times amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past six months, we’ve seen a number of emergency orders and disaster declarations at both the local and state level, which are aimed at keeping Texans safe and helping to slow the spread of the coronavirus. As discussed… Read More »
Extent of Liability for Texas Cities Depends on Whether Functions Are Governmental or Proprietary
A question that often comes up for municipalities all over the state is whether they can be held liable for actions taken as a governmental entity. At one time in our history this was technically true, but in 1969, Texas enacted what is now known as the Texas Tort Claims Act. Prior to the… Read More »
Texas Cities Facing Tight Budgets Could Be Pressured by State on Police Funding
Calls for police reform and defunding the police are not new. A social movement has existed at least for as long as I can remember calling for police reform, and I am a member of Generation “X”. For those of you that don’t know, Generation “X” is smack dab between Baby Boomers and Millennials…. Read More »
Rescheduling Open Meetings in Texas Across a Range of Catastrophes
What do you do if you cannot hold your properly posted City Council meeting at the scheduled time? This is an issue many municipality’s face in Texas at some point, and more so than ever now that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. Anyone that has lived in Texas for more… Read More »
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Grand Jury Subpoenas
What happens if the City receives a grand jury subpoena with a secrecy clause or gag order? Can a Texas District Attorney prevent you from informing your client, or the city manager or the mayor or the city council? As a city attorney, who is your client? What duty do you owe your client… Read More »
Texas Measures Regarding Law Enforcement Interaction with the Public
Since the murder of George Floyd, law enforcement both at the local and federal level has been in the news. Admittedly, it is not fair to judge all law enforcement officers based on the illegal, racist, or unprofessional behavior of a few but many states, including Texas, have had police encounters that have led… Read More »
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 »