Course description
What You Need to Know about Texas Public Records and Open Meetings
Understand public records and open meetings law in Texas so you can stay compliant and use them to your advantage. As a governmental entity, you are required to comply with the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA) and the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA). However, many governmental entities do not understand the requirements of the TPIA and TOMA and are likely at risk for noncompliance. This topic provides a broad overview of the TPIA and helps the persons responsible for handling open records requests to accurately and efficiently respond to such requests, to clarify such requests, to understand the timelines for requests, and to know how/when to send a request for information to the Attorney General for an opinion. The material will follow a sample request through the process to help explain the process a governmental entity should use upon receiving an open records request. Failing to understand how the process works is the most common error governmental entities make and can often lead to the required disclosure of protected documents. This topic will also provide a basic overview of TOMA as well as some of the common mistakes made by governmental entities. This material will provide a checklist for compliance prior to the meeting through the conclusion of the meeting.
Learning Objectives
Do you work at this company and want to update this page?
Is there out-of-date information about your company or courses published here? Fill out this form to get in touch with us.
Who should attend?
Training content
- Purpose of Open GovernmentTexas Public Information Act
- Public Information Contained in Records of All Forms–Text Messages and Personal Email Communications–Personal Notes
- Inspection – Use of Cell Phone Camera
- General Rule – Presumption That Documents Held by Governmental Entity Are Public–Most Common Exceptions to Disclosure
- Sample Request–Receipt of the Request–Clarification of the Request–Cost Estimate–Requesting Opinions From the Texas Attorney General–Reviewing and Redacting DocumentsTexas Open Meetings Act
- Before the Meeting–Notice–Agenda–What Constitutes a Meeting
- At the Meeting–Open Session–Closed Session
- Enforcement–Criminal Penalties–Voidable Action
Costs
Contact this provider
Lorman Education Services - Live and On-Demand Courses
Lorman Education Services is a leading provider of online professional development and corporate training for organizations and individual professionals. For more than 30 years, Lorman has delivered relevant, high-quality, professional-level courses that cover a broad range of business and technical...