After failing to respond to open record requests, the Texas Attorney General’s Office has sent a letter to Canutillo Independent School District’s communications director demanding that he comply with the law.
On Friday, Tamara Smith, the division chief for the open records division in the attorney general’s office, sent a letter to Canutillo ISD Director of Communications Gustave Reveles demanding he comply with the state’s Public Information Act.
“The Office of the Attorney General received complaints from multiple requestors alleging Canutillo Independent School District (the “district”) has failed to respond appropriately to various requests for information under the Public Information Act (the “Act”), chapter 552 of the Government Code,” reads the letter.
The attorney general’s office has received four complaints about the district’s failure to respond to open records requests. One was from ABC 7 News, which requested videos of a suspected security incident at Canutillo High School.
A second complaint came from a government watchdog Max Grossman who had requested a report of Canutillo ISD employees and how the district planned to spend its $387 million bond proposed in April.
Although the district did respond, it was far after the deadline dictated by Texas law, which states that government entities have 10 days to release the requested information.
According to Smith’s letter, the attorney general’s office has sent the district letters by mail and/or email “informing the district of the complaints and requesting a response to assist us in resolving these matters.” Their office also contacted the district by phone to inform them of the complaints and requested a response. However, as of Friday, the district had still not responded.
“Due to the district’s pattern of non-response, this office has determined the district failed to comply with the requirements of the Act in relation to the requests at issue,” wrote Smith.
Canutillo ISD told ABC 7 News that they will work with the attorney general’s office.
“The District will work with the Attorney General’s Office for an appropriate response to these issues. The District continues to assert that it responded to media requests appropriately and that the records requests filed following the incident were non-responsive based on the open investigation at that time. Canutillo ISD prides itself on being open and available to media. We will continue our work to partner with journalists to help them fairly and accurately do their job.”
James Quintero, a policy director at the Texas Public Policy Foundation told Texas Scorecard that government officials who ignore state laws should face “stiff punishment.”
“The Public Information Act was originally established under the premise that government is the servant, not the master of the people. But somewhere along the line, we moved away from that first principle and are struggling as a result,” explained Quintero. “Government officials that willfully ignore the state’s transparency laws should face stiff punishment, be it through fines, training requirements, or some other avenue.”
“The next Texas Legislature should make it a top priority to strengthen the Public Information Act, create new penalties for noncompliance, and restore the trust that once existed,” he added.
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