Our Blogs

Texas Cities Remain Limited by Governor’s Order Over Pandemic Restrictions

• Brandon Morris
• September 11, 2020

We continue to live in confusing and unprecedented times amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past six months, we’ve seen a number of emergency […]

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Extent of Liability for Texas Cities Depends on Whether Functions Are Governmental or Proprietary

• Carl R. Allred
• September 3, 2020

A question that often comes up for municipalities all over the state is whether they can be held liable for actions taken as a governmental […]

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Texas Cities Facing Tight Budgets Could Be Pressured by State on Police Funding

• Judith El Masri
• August 28, 2020

Calls for police reform and defunding the police are not new. A social movement has existed at least for as long as I can remember […]

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Criteria for Attorney-Client Privilege to Apply in the Real World

• Byron L. Brown
• August 21, 2020

Most people are aware that the attorney-client privilege exists, even if they have never been represented by an attorney themselves. However, partially due to its […]

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Rescheduling Open Meetings in Texas Across a Range of Catastrophes

• Carl R. Allred
• August 7, 2020

What do you do if you cannot hold your properly posted City Council meeting at the scheduled time? This is an issue many municipality’s face […]

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Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Grand Jury Subpoenas

• J. Grady Randle
• July 31, 2020

What happens if the City receives a grand jury subpoena with a secrecy clause or gag order? Can a Texas District Attorney prevent you from […]

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Texas Measures Regarding Law Enforcement Interaction with the Public

• Judith El Masri
• July 24, 2020

Since the murder of George Floyd, law enforcement both at the local and federal level has been in the news. Admittedly, it is not fair […]

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Risky Business for Open Meetings: Including Announcements and Future Agenda Items

• Byron L. Brown
• July 17, 2020

The Texas Open Meetings Act generally requires that a governmental body give written notice of the date, hour, place, and subject of each meeting held […]

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Texas Law Provides for Cities to Adopt Cite and Release Ordinances for Some Offenses

• Brandon Morris
• July 6, 2020

As of June 26, 7,821 offenders and 1,321 staff have tested positive for COVID-19 in Texas prisons, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. […]

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