AG Paxton rules against Monitor request

Posted 10/5/16

Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, has issued a ruling agreeing with the city of Mineola attorney that documentation of a closed meeting in which the position of building inspector was discussed …

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AG Paxton rules against Monitor request

Posted

Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, has issued a ruling agreeing with the city of Mineola attorney that documentation of a closed meeting in which the position of building inspector was discussed does not have to be released to the newspaper.

Paxton issued the ruling citing Section 551.146 of the Open Meetings Act which makes it a criminal offense to disclose a certified agenda or tape recordng of a lawfully closed meeting to a member of the public.

The city conducted a closed session during a special meeting on May 31 with an agenda item stating it was to deliberate the position of building inspector. This meeting occurred after Todd Peterson resigned. The Monitor believed the closed meeting was in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act which states that while discussions about personnel can occur in a closed door meeting, the deliberation about a class of employees must be held in open session.

The attorney general stated his opinion based on representations made by City Attorney Blake Armstrong, who had advised the city that the executive session could be held, and was “limited to the facts as presented.”

The AG stated that the city must withhold the information under Texas Government Code 552.101 which “excepts from disclosure `information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision.’”

The city did release documents requested by the Monitor that were viewed by the council during that closed meeting in May that showed a comparison of expenses using an in-house building inspector versus a third party.