Dallas ISD pays hefty bill for TOMA case

DALLAS — A district judge ordered the Dallas school district to pay $219,052 in attorney fees to residents who won a lawsuit that found school board members violated the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Fees for four residents who brought the suit totalled $190,694 and the judge ordered the district to pay an additional $28,358 for a separate attorney for one trustee.

In November the judge ruled that the board violated the act by meeting behind closed doors to discuss redistricting and that the meeting had not been properly posted.

Hidalgo County judge rules for open government

EDINBURG — A Hidalgo County district judge last month ruled that the Weslaco Development Committee is subject to the Open Meetings Act.

The Valley Morning Star in Harlingen sued the WDC in November 2000 to force the board, which operates on sales tax funds, to comply with the act. The Weslaco City Commission and Weslaco Economic Development Corp. both agreed last year that the EDC should open its meetings to the public.

The Star did not seek damages but only to recoup court costs.

Police force records may be public info

AUSTIN — The Texas Supreme Court Jan. 10 declined to hear the city of San Antonio’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that found it must make police use of force records public.

The San Antonio Express-News filed suit in 1999 to gain access to the police records. The city argued that the records were part of the officers’ personnel files and not subject to the Public Information Act.

The high court’s decision to not hear the appeal in effect upholds two lower court rulings that agreed the documents should be released. The city still could ask for a motion for rehearing.

New Braunfels councilwoman puts citizenship before office

 NEW BRAUNFELS — A city councilwoman took an odd approach during a Jan. 14 council meeting by using the citizen comment period to voice concerns about a non-agenda item, the Herald Zeitung reported.

The council member voiced concerns about the New Braunfels Lodging and Restaurant Association’s proposal to expand the civic center.

According to the attorney general’s Open Government Handbook, “the Open Meetings Act permits a member of the public or a member of the governmental body to raise a subject that has not been included in the notice for the meeting, but any discussion of the subject must be limited to a proposal to place the subject on the agenda for a future meeting. Section 551.042 of the act provides for this.”

Cheerleaders sue school district over records’ release

 SAN MARCOS — Three families have sued the San Marcos school district for releasing what they say was confidential information on their high school students.

The suit alleges the district gave the names of three girls at the center of a cheerleading controversy to the San Marcos Daily Record.

The girls last spring tried out for the cheerleading squad and then challenged the scoring and selection process after they were not chosen. The district voted in June to put the girls on the squad but a month later withdrew the offer after a petition protesting the decision.

The district released some student information at a public meeting but redacted the girls’ names.

School officials said they followed open records’ law and student confidentiality laws in the case.