Category Archives: Local Governmental Entities
City of Meadows Place Wins Lawsuit over Sexual Offender Residency Restriction Ordinance
General Law City Prevails to Maintain Criminal Ordinance HOUSTON, May 19, 2017 – The City of Meadows Place, Texas, the first city in Fort Bend County to enact a Sexual Offender Residency Restriction Ordinance (SORRO), recently prevailed in a lawsuit brought on behalf of a homeowner illegally maintaining a residence within a restricted area… Read More »
Gated Communities, Private Roads and Public Services: a Practical Guide
A general law city has exclusive control over its city streets, and private citizens cannot restrict access to public roads; therefore, all roads in a gated community must be private roads. The city can sell public streets to private interests by following certain procedures. Once the roads are private, however, the city cannot enforce… Read More »
City Real Estate Sales 101
How do you sell city-owned real estate? Is it hard? Can it take a long time? The answer to all these questions is yes, as I told the Mayor. The first question you have to ask is: what type of property is it? The second question is: what type of city is selling its… Read More »
A Tale of Three Cities: Economic Development Strategies
True economic development goes well beyond providing incentives here and there for a shiny new establishment or single employer. While such initiatives are welcome in any community, a city should gather a set of tools to foster economic growth that is renewable and expandable over time. Ideally, a community seeks to bring together businesses… Read More »
The ABCs of Economic Development: It’s Easy as 1,2,3….
The Jackson Five number one hit in 1970 was the song “ABC,” knocking The Beatles hit “Let It Be” off the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Draft the proper economic development agreement and you can be in the Hot 100. So, as the lyrics go, You went to school to learn, girl, Things… Read More »
A Guide to Home Rule Cities of Fort Bend County
Not all city governments in Texas are created alike, as there are two categories: general law cities and home rule cities. The latter have their own charters and the composition of those can vary from one home rule city to the other. For example, Fort Bend County has seven home rule cities, and as… Read More »
Free Speech in Texas Depends on Where You Stand, Literally
Have you watched the recent town hall meetings? Congressmen and senators getting yelled at by either paid protestors or angry constituents. Is this democracy? Do you have a right to address your leaders? Must you be civil or can you exercise a little Civil Disobedience à la Thoreau? Do you, like me, have a… Read More »
Vetting Exceptions to the Texas Public Information Act is No Simple Task
The Texas Public Information Act, which governs public access to information held by governmental bodies in Texas, begins with the following policy statement: Under the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government that adheres to the principle that government is the servant and not the master of the people, it is… Read More »
How May a Home Rule City Annex Land?
Everything is bigger in Texas, they say, and sometimes cities grow in size by annexation. Such an expansion is governed by sets of procedures under state law as well as city charter for home rule cities. A home rule city may manage its own affairs and looks to state law to see what it… Read More »
Love it… Hate it… An Attorney’s Perspective
As 2016 draws to a close, I’m reflecting on what I love and hate, respectively, about being an attorney. Let’s start with the good part of this story: what I love about being an attorney. As many of you know, I spend most of my time practicing municipal law. I am a City Attorney,… Read More »