The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Texas Open Records Law" ...
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State Law Specific on Meeting Agendas
The Caller-Times finds that an overwhelming majority of local governments in Texas that have public meetings are not following state open records laws.
Tags: open records; meetings; public record; Sunshine Act
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Biodefense Security Failures in Texas
"Following a watchdog's report that a Texas A&M researcher had been infected with the bioterror agent Brucella in a lab, The Dallas Morning News used state and federal open records laws to pursue dozens of additional security breaches and disease exposures at other state universities."
Tags: bioterror; biodefense; security breaches; lab accidents; disease control; disease exposures
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A Stunning Toll
Fort Worth Weekly partnered with University of North Texas students who made open records requests of all Texas law enforcement agencies to obtain data on deaths and injuries in Texas resulting form law enforcement agency individual's Taser use.
Tags: Distributed Reporting Project; FOI; Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas; University of North Texas; UNT; Mayborn Graduate Institute of Journalism; Tasers; law enforcement; Texas Public Information Act; police; sheriffs; Taser International; American Civil Liberties Union; Live Music Capitol of the World; Austin; use-of-force policy; bean hole; stun gun; product safety; wrongful death; Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas; Those Disgruntled Motherfuckers That Have Been Tased; TDMTHBT; Light of Day Project; IRE Student Entry
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Ralph Annis
The Herald-Leader tracked down a convicted killer who escaped from a Kentucky prison in 1990 and was living in Texas under an assumed name. The stories document a 28-year saga from the 1978 murder to Annis' return to a Kentucky prison.
Tags: Open records law; murder; escaped convict; convicted killer; Ralph Annis
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"Grave Robbers"
This investigation involves the case of two brothers who organized an identity theft ring and kept it going for more than two years. They were accused of stealing the identities of the recently deceased and using them to obtain more than $1.5 million worth of luxury cars, loans, and merchandise. Their ringleaders also stole 23 luxury cars.
Tags: identity theft ring; criminal court records; police reports; arrest warrant affidavits; Texas open records law; taxing authorities; deed transfers; auto registrations; real estate sales price; federal crime; Countrywide Home Loans; mortgage; Michael F. Tisdale; William R. Tisdale Jr.; America's Team Mortgage; Social Security Administration
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Fake drugs, Real Lives
WFAA-TV reports that nearly half of the cocaine seizures made by the Dallas police department in 2001 "contained little or no illegal drugs." According to the contest entry summary, "a key ingredient in nearly 20 alleged cocaine seizures -- totaling more than 680 pounds -- was gypsum, a main component of Sheetrock or billiard chalk." The investigation reveals that informants have admitted "to grinding up billiard chalk and planting it near unsuspecting individuals in order to receive police payments; the "fake drug" cases often ended up with the arrest of recent Mexican immigrants; and key witnesses, who also happened to be illegal immigrants, have been deported.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; crime; law enforcement; immigration; Texas Open records Law; Hispanics; Latinos
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Bad Apples
KTRK-TV investigates public charter schools in Texas. Some of the schools have spent taxpayers' money inappropriately, and have bought diamond jewelry, women's lingerie and men's clothing with public finds, the investigation reveals. Another major finding is that charter schools fail to check the criminal background of the employees they hire. The investigation exposes a convicted killer and a sex offender with school jobs. The reporters interview former principals and teachers who admit on camera to falsifying school attendance records.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Texas Open Records Law; education; FOIA; embezzlement; crime; criminal records; background checks
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Death in the air: Asbestos Exposure
An American-Statesman investigation discovers that most asbestos removal projects in major Texas cities are "violating state and federal safety laws without getting caught, thereby exposing thousands of construction workers to dangerous levels of the health-damaging fibers." As most building owners and construction contractors are leery to get their buildings inspected for asbestos before starting renovation or demolition, construction workers get repeated long-term exposure that is likely to cause asbestos diseases, the newspaper reports. The unprotected employees have been "mostly Hispanic day laborers hired to do the dirtiest jobs." After the series was published, the state enforced new laws that prohibit "city building officials from issuing permits for renovations or demolitions unless the building owner shows they have had the building surveyed for asbestos by a licensed inspector."
Tags: health; occupational safety; federal FOIA requests; Texas Open Records law; building permits; immigrants; Latinos; cancer; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); asbestosis; lobbying; politics
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The many investigations of J.D. Johnson
A FW Weekly investigation finds that "a corrupt county commissioner with a sleazy past ... has broken numerous laws, got favorable zoning changes and built roads to nowhere for his political supporters, paved streets in sub-division where his son had new house near where other homeowners have been waiting for years to get streets paved; used his position to get himself and his friends and family out of trouble with the cops, used threats to intimidate his political enemies...." The story sheds light on how the commissioner helped elect a born-again Christian as sheriff. When their friendship soured, the government official ended up the subject of a secret investigation ordered by the sheriff.
Tags: FOIA; campaign finance; contributions; fund-raising; money and politics; Texas Open Record Act; law enforcement; conflicts of interest; abuse of power
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Free Ride
The Star-Telegram reports that Six Flags Over Texas did not follow the law "that requires parks to report injuries during the three-month period in which they occurred." The newspaper found over 30 lawsuits that the state was not told about. Texas park safety laws declare "annual inspections should be done by insurance companies because they have a financial interest, along with the parks, in keeping patrons safe." But some say that "allowing businesses to regulate themselves opens the door to problems, even if they have every reason to ensure patrons' safety." Sean Wood and Jennifer Autrey report more on the injury reporting law and amusement park safety records.
Tags: amusement parks; safety; consumers; injuries; insurance; International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions; annual inspections; Department of Insurance; Consumer Product Safety Commission; ride safety law