Author Archives: Judith El Masri
Sovereign Citizens
Municipal courts across Texas in cities of all sizes have encountered individuals that claim to be “sovereign citizens”. Often encountered in municipal court but their numbers are rising so they may also be employees, residents or municipal utility customers. It is likely that all municipal prosecutors, municipal court administrators and judges have encountered individuals… Read More »
Texas Water Primer
Texas has the second largest state economy and the ninth largest in the world. The Texas economy and the 29.5 million Texas residents are entirely dependent upon access to adequate water. According to the Texas Comptroller, the State Water Plan prepared by the Texas Water Development Board anticipates that municipal water need (amount by… 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 »
Texas Municipal Courts
The Texas Constitution Art. V. Section 1 states; “the legislature may establish such other courts as it may deem necessary and prescribe the jurisdiction and organization thereof. . .” . The “other” courts (meaning those that are not Justice of the Peace, District or County Courts) are municipal courts. Municipal courts share jurisdiction with… Read More »
What is a PID?
Texas cities, or local governments, historically use collections from property taxes and sales tax revenues to fund, or provide security for municipal bonds, in order to pay for public improvements. An example of municipally funded public improvements that are crucial to sustain residential development are water and wastewater services. Cities in Texas can pay… Read More »
Texas Unmanned Aerial Aircraft Device Update
In my last blog on drones in December 2020, I wrote about the federal suit members of the media have brought regarding First Amendment challenges to Texas drone laws, found in Chapter 423 of the Texas Government Code. [National Press Photographers Assoc, et al v. Steven McCraw, Director of DPS] The case is scheduled… Read More »
What is a Mayor Pro Tempore?
To understand what a Mayor Tempore (usually abbreviated as Mayor Pro Tem) is you need to understand the duties of the Mayor. These duties are dependent on the type of city the Mayor has been elected in. The different types of cities in Texas are home-rule cities or general law cities and our firm… Read More »
Community Development Block Grants
It’s hurricane season here on the Gulf Coast of Texas, and it is unlikely any of us missed NOAA’s prediction of an active hurricane season. Hurricanes, heavy rain events and flooding are part of living in this part of the U.S. and flooding is a legitimate concern world-wide. It was announced recently that Houston… Read More »
City Ordinances and Child Safety Zones
Parenting is a hard job, but most parents do their best to protect their children and keep them safe. Cities in Texas are interested in the same thing. Kyle, Texas is in the news because it recently adopted a city ordinance creating child safety zones with an accompanying map of areas prohibiting residency by … Read More »
ERCOT & Sovereign Immunity
Texas is 80 degrees this weekend. If not for the dead foliage, brown grass, ruined dry wall and furnishings piled on the side of streets and long lines at home improvement stores I might be able to forget about last week. Texans should not forget. This week lawsuits have been filed against ERCOT for… Read More »