in Houston, Texas

Throughout Texas, government bureaucrats routinely make vital public records tough to obtain in a timely and cost-effective manner -- assuming they release them at all.

It's a recurring problem that can affect everyone, whether you're a reporter at a big-city newspaper or a father of two who wants to learn more about candidates running for office.

In Houston and Harris County, officials say they must conceal critical details such as spouses' names on politicians' ethics forms.

But the top Texas attorney said all information entered on the ethics forms, which detail financial and family connections, must be open to the public. That ruling was issued to resolve a similar debate between Corpus Christi officials and Texas Watchdog in March.

"The city must release these financial statements in their entirety," Assistant Attorney General Amy L.S. Shipp wrote in that open records letter ruling. In many cases, the home addresses and family information of officials would not be public. But the attorney general's ruling essentially said that in the case of financial disclosures -- which are required for high-profile politicians but not rank-and-file public workers --- the public's right to the information trumps the passage in the law that would typically protect the information.

Texas Watchdog is challenging the Houston and Harris County actions, requesting that the attorney general direct the officials to release the information.

The Houston action follows Mayor Bill White's decision earlier this year to withhold information in his calendar he agreed was public while waiting on an attorney general's ruling on details he argued were private. In January Texas Watchdog requested White's calendar and certain correspondence with a developer. In April, White released the documents with some information blacked out.

It would be reassuring to assume that local officials merely don't know the precise letter of the law and are not just being difficult. But Joe Larsen, a First Amendment lawyer in Houston and board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, says years of practice have taught him that when governments block public records, there's a simple reason.

"There's really no question they're trying to discourage the requester," he says. "They're going to make you jump through a few more hoops. They're going to make you pay more money."

The Houston-area officials' decision contrasts with Dallas city and county, where officials made the forms available in full detail.

Editor's note: We're running the financial disclosure forms we received in Houston and Dallas through the scanner, and we'll post those documents as soon as we can, with links updated here and on the blog. For Houston and Harris County, we will also try our best to get copies without information concealed, and we'll post those as well.

CONTINUES

> Click here to read the story of one reporter's quest to copy some forms kept in Dallas. On Page 2.

> Click here to read about the city of Houston and Harris County's stance that certain information on disclosure forms need not be disclosed. On Page 3.

Photo of wedding rings by flickr user sean dreilinger, used via a Creative Commons license.