State’s Bingo Enabling Act does not prohibit advertising

Q: A veterans’ organization in town wants to advertise their bingo. I am somewhat familiar with the rules prohibiting raffle advertising but can’t find the relevant AG stance on bingo. Can you direct me to the specific law regarding advertising for bingo?

A: I checked Texas Attorney General opinions and did not find anything to share with you about bingo advertising. However, the Bingo Enabling Act, Occupations Code Sec. 2001.415, ADVERTISEMENTS, contains the following language: 
(a) A person other than a licensed authorized organization, licensed commercial lessor, or the commission may not advertise bingo.
(b) A licensed authorized organization, licensed commercial lessor, or the commission may include in an advertisement or promotion the amount of a prize or series of prizes offered at a bingo occasion.
From that, you may infer that advertising is allowed if the organization is licensed/authorized by the state to conduct bingo occasions. Check www.texaslegalnotices.com and do a search on the word bingo. You will see bingo advertisements that appeared in various Texas newspapers. The content and design of those ads might be of some help to you and the bingo license holder who wants to advertise in your newspaper.

Q: We’ve had a request from an individual to place a classified ad of a type we’ve not seen before, except in cases of estate probate, when placed by an attorney. The individual wishes to state that “Jane Doe, as of X date, is not responsible for any liability or finances of John Doe.” This is related to a divorce. What concerns should we have about this before we decide if we’re going to publish it?

A: This type of classified ad is often found in the legal or public notice section of a newspaper. I found a few of them just now by searching www.texaslegalnotices.com.
Our tendency is to trust people who pay for these ads to be published, but an ad may not necessarily be a legal notice unless a law office brings it to the newspaper and pays for it to be published. 
So, prepayment with cash or a local check might be a better idea than accepting the ad and agreeing to bill the person, or accepting a credit card or out of town check before clearing.
Also it’s not a bad idea to be concerned over the possibility that if you don’t know the parties named in the ad, it could be a spoof. People have caused newspapers to publish false information in the form of advertising, such as ads congratulating someone on the birth of a child or a marriage or a birthday, etc., when the real purpose is to publicly shame another, for example.

Q: I just received an e-mail reply from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission informing me that Sec. 11.39 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code does not specify that the newspaper must be a paid publication, only that it be of “general circulation published in the city or town in which (the) place of business is located” and an applicant may publish their notice in a free publication, provided it meets the criteria described in Sec. 11.39. What do you think about that?

A: You can help whoever fielded your concern at TABC by providing them with a relevant citation from Texas Government Code. It’s Government Code Sec. 2051.044, TYPE OF NEWSPAPER REQUIRED, the section of law that defines the type of newspaper that is qualified to publish public/legal notices. This definition does not have to be restated in Alcoholic Beverage Code 11.39 in order to be valid. It’s the overarching statute, and that is why it is included in Chapter 2051 of Government Code, GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS, PUBLICATIONS, AND NOTICES, SUBCHAPTER C, NOTICE OF PUBLICATION IN NEWSPAPER. 
SOURCE: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.2051.htm
Now, under 2051.044, you will find that: (a) The newspaper in which a notice is published must:
(1) Devote not less than 25 percent of its total column lineage to general interest items;
(2) Be published at least once each week;
(3) Be entered as second-class postal matter in the county where published; and
(4) Have been published regularly and continuously for at least 12 months before the governmental entity or representative publishes notice.
(b) A weekly newspaper has been published regularly and continuously under Subsection (a) if the newspaper omits not more than two issues in the 12-month period.

Q: What information is public on grand jury indictments?

A: Information you might request and receive about a grand jury indictment includes the name of an indicted person, city of residence, ZIP code, the person’s age, a brief description of the offense, date of alleged offense and potential range of punishment, e.g., Second Degree Felony, 2 Years to 20 Years + $10,000 fine.
You can learn more at: http://www.scjc.texas.gov/public-information/rule-12/
Also, while grand jury deliberations are secret, this is a rich resource on grand juries and what is and is not subject to public disclosure: https://hccla.org/grand-jury/
And, on p. 13 of the Texas Attorney General’s 2018 Texas Public Information Act Handbook, there is this:
Open Records Decision No. 513 (1988) — records held by a district attorney on behalf of a grand jury are in the grand jury’s constructive possession and are not subject to the Public Information Act. However, records a district attorney collects, prepares, and submits to grand jury are not in the constructive possession of the grand jury when that information is held by the district attorney.
Finally, be sure to find time to read in David McHam’s “Law & The Media in Texas” the section about grand juries and grand jury processes at:
https://www.texaspress.com/law-a-the-media-in-texas-01.