Ken Paxton's Thunderously Misinformed Spokesman Turns Public Information Act Against Texans Over Petty Grudge

At a conference put on last month by the attorney general's office to help train local and state officials on how to comply with the Texas Public Information Act, one of the experts providing advice was Marc Rylander. Rylander works for Attorney General Ken Paxton and in comments caught on video he managed to embarrass himself and his boss. Worse still, he undermined a reputation lawyers in that office have built over many years for evenhanded enforcement of the state's open meetings and open records laws, no matter who happens to be attorney general.Most readers have probably never heard of Rylander. Since April, he has been Paxton's communications director. Paxton's office oversees the open records division, which is where local officials turn when they want to keep public records secret. The law presumes the records are public, but gives local officials up to 10 days to decide to seek the attorney general's guidance. The idea, of course, is that the records should be turned over immediately, unless the government has good-faith reason to believe an exception applies. The AG's office looks at the records and decides whether they can be withheld.  Continue reading...