Category Archives: Local Governmental Entities
Attorney-Client Privilege Beware
Clients, beware, not every communication with your attorney is protected from disclosure. Municipal officers often see requests, made under the Texas Public Information Act, and demands, through subpoenas and the discovery process, for attorney-client communications and correspondences made between municipal officials and their respective City Attorneys. The attorney-client privilege encourages free discussion between a… Read More »
Shootout Over the Commerce Clause Begins with Suppressors
The 87th Texas Legislature was perhaps the most favorable legislature to gun rights in Texas history. In previous blogs, our office has discussed the passage of “permitless carry,” also known as “constitutional carry,” and legislation prohibiting certain governmental contracts with companies that discriminate against firearm and ammunition industries, all of which came out of… Read More »
Annexation and Right-of-Way
The annexation process in Texas is an ever-evolving landscape. It seems as though every year or two the process undergoes significant changes as the legislature continues to fine tune state law on the subject. Legislative changes in 2019 created a perplexing situation in a fairly common scenario. The issue arose when a city was… Read More »
HUBs and the Benefits of Using Them
Many of the small businesses operating in the State of Texas are known as “HUBs”, or Historically Underutilized Businesses. These businesses are classified as those in which at least 51 percent of the business is owned, operated, and controlled by one or more minority groups who are economically disadvantaged and who have been historically… Read More »
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Employees have protections afforded by Federal and State law and can’t be terminated from employment nor denied employment for discriminatory reasons. It is fairly common knowledge that pregnant women may not be discriminated against in the hiring process or in the workplace due to their pregnancy. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) is an amendment… Read More »
Construction Procurement Update
As of September 1, 2021, all construction contracts procured using a method other than competitive bidding must publish, in the solicitation, a detailed methodology for the scoring criteria used in evaluating submissions. Widely regarded as a best practice for all solicitations, the 87th Texas Legislature makes publishing such information a required procurement practice for… Read More »
Constitutional Rights of Public Employees: Moonlighting on Onlyfans Edition
News broke last week about a female deputy sheriff in Colorado who separated from employment—reportedly with a $30,000 severance package—after her colleagues discovered that she had a webpage on a social media platform known as “only fans” where she posted nude and sexually explicit photos and videos of herself. I say “separated from employment”… Read More »
Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates
In November of 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule which was effectively a nation-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. The mandate is applicable to the vast majority of Medicare and Medicaid certified providers and their employees. This interim final rule was immediately challenged by a… Read More »
Municipal Donations: Practices and Pitfalls
Texas Cities, both general law and home rule, have certain restrictions placed on them by the Texas Constitution when donating money or making investments into private companies (Tex Const, Art 11, Sec 3). The Constitution likewise prohibits the State from compelling investment or donation in the same manner. (Tex. Const. Art. 3, Sec 52). … Read More »
Municipal Building Code Updates
Have you considered adopting or amending your city’s Building Codes lately? If not, now may be the time. In 2021, the legislature passed revisions to Local Government Code §214.212 and §214.216 which updated the requirements for adopting and amending the International Residential and Building Codes. Local Government Code §214.212 now adopts the 2012 International… Read More »