Tornillo ISD in Violation of Texas Open Meetings Act?
According to a handbook put out by the Texas Attorney General's Office it appears that Tornillo ISD may be in violation of the Open Meetings Act. You can read the handbook here.
Section VII B (starting on page 27 of the handbook) states that Section 551.043(a) of the Texas Code indicates "The notice of a meeting of a governmental body must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least 72 hours before the schedule time of the meeting, except as provided by Sections 551.044-551.046"
That means that the written notice has to be physically posted where the general public can have access to it, for at least 72 hours before the meeting. At least meaning not less than 72 hours. According to residents in Tornillo, the notice was not physically posted within that time period.
However Tornillo ISD does satisfy the posting requirement if they continuously post the notice on the internet during the prescribed period. In English that means that they satisfy the notification requirement if they post the notification / agenda on the internet for 72 continuous hours before the meeting.
As you can see from this screen shot, this is the practice normally done by Tornillo ISD.
Unfortunately as you can see in this screen shot from Tuesday morning, a little more than 24 hours before the meeting, there is no meeting posted for February.
The violation could mean that if someone filed a complaint with the Sheriff's Office and it was taken up by an entity, that action taken by the board during the meeting could be voidable.
Depending on what happens in the meeting then there could be other penalties, although violations like a walking quorum or a majority of members meeting in private carry the stiffest penalties.
Section VII B (starting on page 27 of the handbook) states that Section 551.043(a) of the Texas Code indicates "The notice of a meeting of a governmental body must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least 72 hours before the schedule time of the meeting, except as provided by Sections 551.044-551.046"
That means that the written notice has to be physically posted where the general public can have access to it, for at least 72 hours before the meeting. At least meaning not less than 72 hours. According to residents in Tornillo, the notice was not physically posted within that time period.
However Tornillo ISD does satisfy the posting requirement if they continuously post the notice on the internet during the prescribed period. In English that means that they satisfy the notification requirement if they post the notification / agenda on the internet for 72 continuous hours before the meeting.
As you can see from this screen shot, this is the practice normally done by Tornillo ISD.
Again requirements for posting the meeting are laid out in Texas Code. As you can see in this screen shot from the Texas AG's Open Meetings Handbook, there is also a requirement for the meeting to be posted online.
Depending on what happens in the meeting then there could be other penalties, although violations like a walking quorum or a majority of members meeting in private carry the stiffest penalties.
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