Wanda Garner Cash wrote a column today in the Texas Tribune on changes needed to Texas' open government laws.

She knows the topic like few others do: She's the Griff Singer professor of journalism at the University of Texas, is a past president of the Freedom of Information Foundation and the former editor and publisher of The Baytown Sun.

According to her piece in the Texas Trib:

Here’s a short list of top priority updates to open-government laws:

* Add new definitions that encompass wireless-transmission devices and social media.

* Allowing for existing exceptions, specify that all e-mail communication sent through government servers should be considered public — regardless of who owns the electronic device, computer, BlackBerry or cell phone.

* Clarify that all e-mail discussing official business is public, whether it's sent on a private device, on a private account or through a private server.

* Standardize the records-retention rules across all government bodies. At the moment, each state agency can determine how long to keep data.

Those are just a few of her suggestions.

Read the whole thing here.