Rotary Golf 2024

Transparency and Accountability Matters: Know Your Candidates

by | May 14, 2022 | Latest, Opinion

By Jon Smiley

With Texas voters heading to the polls again this month for primary runoff elections, transparency and open accountability should be top of mind for voters and a top priority for our elected officials.
 
That’s especially true in the election of the state’s top lawyer and law enforcer, our state Attorney General.
 
In 1999, Texas passed a law relating to how and when the state government could use outside counsel on litigation. The reason for the change stemmed from then-Attorney General Dan Morales’ decision to contract with five contingency fee lawyers to pursue claims against tobacco companies. While it was discovered that these five personal injury lawyers did very little work on behalf of Texas taxpayers and the state’s lawsuit, they received $3.3 billion in fees when the cases were resolved as part of a larger national settlement.
 
In passing that law more than two decades ago, a bipartisan group of state leaders made transparency and accountability a top priority.
 
The law requires that the state attempt to handle all litigation through in-house counsel. It outlines how an agency should handle contracting for outside counsel when it is necessary to use lawyers outside of those employed by the state, requiring a contracting agency to first seek an hourly fee arrangement. The Legislative Budget Board must approve contingency fee contracts of more than $100,000.
 
While these are significant steps toward the accountability and transparency Texas voters and taxpayers deserve, more could be done.
 
At Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse, we’re heartened to see the American Tort Reform Association again calling for Attorneys General and candidates for those state offices to embrace a general transparency code.
 
Attorneys general should, of course, have the discretion and independence to enforce state law. Still, they must do so free from the influence of parties that may have a private interest in the outcome of any litigation their office may take on. It’s also imperative that our state responsibly handle litigation, ensuring the government entity keeps more of the money recovered by state lawyers and any contracted outside counsel.
 
ATRA’s Transparency Code reflects best practices and model policies from across state and federal government that govern state attorneys general and their office’s work.
 
As Texas’ chief law enforcement officer, our Texas Attorney General and the candidates vying for that office can and should play a role in creating a fairer civil justice system. To see what leaders in Texas and other states have signed the Transparency Code, visit AGsunshine.com.
 
Transparency and accountability are issues that should transcend partisanship. We urge all the remaining candidates for Attorney General to consider this pledge and a personal and professional commitment to transparency and accountability while in office.

 
Smiley is a board member of Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse (TALA) and President of iON Constructors, L.L.C.  Online at tala.com.

Photos online

0 Comments

Public Notice - Subscribe

Related News

Deadline nears for scholarship applications

Deadline nears for scholarship applications

Monday, April 1, is the deadline for graduating high school seniors living in Murphy to apply for one of eight $1,700 scholarships being awarded this year by the Murphy Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Foundation.Applicants need to live in Murphy but can be...

read more
Community discusses disputed development

Community discusses disputed development

Volunteers of Communities & Creeks United hand out yard signs opposing a high density development between Parker and Murphy. Photos by Bob Wieland/Murphy Monitor There’s no longer any question as to who is building a densely packed housing community just west of...

read more
NASA engineer from Wylie wins award

NASA engineer from Wylie wins award

 Nahum Alem received the Modern-Day Technology Leader Award at the 2024 BEYA STEM Digital Twin Experience (DTX) Conference held in Baltimore last month. Courtesy photo An aerospace engineer from Wylie has won one of the industry’s most important honors in science,...

read more
Texas counties among nation’s fastest growing

Texas counties among nation’s fastest growing

Recent estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that six of the 10 fastest-growing counties in the United States from 2022 to 2023 were in Texas. According to the Texas Tribune, Kaufman County, just east of Dallas, led the list with a 7.6% increase in new...

read more
Council funds Scout project

Council funds Scout project

The Murphy City Council has approved a Community Enhancement Grant of $4,290 for 335 feet of black, 48-inch chain link fence along the north side of the Decatur/Maxwell/Murphy Cemetery, the oldest and largest cemetery in Murphy. The fence is the Eagle Scout project of...

read more
Read this. Build a stronger community.

Read this. Build a stronger community.

Saddened. Embarrassed. Determined. These three words evoke distinct feelings and emotions. In the context of an opinion piece we ran in the paper four and a half years ago, they described the aftermath of a community that lost its newspaper. After 130 years in...

read more
Profiling report shows PD in compliance

Profiling report shows PD in compliance

Murphy police stopped male drivers more often than female drivers last year, according to an analysis of 6,343 traffic stops in 2023. Murphy’s population is split nearly evenly between male and female – with men holding just a one percentage point edge. But 65% of...

read more
Getting ready for storm season

Getting ready for storm season

Now’s the time to prepare for the possibility of spring storms. The first step is to have a plan for where to shelter at home, in school or at work. Ready.gov has a wealth of information of how to prepare for a variety of emergency situations. For more on this story...

read more
Experts discuss fentanyl, vaping at WISD event

Experts discuss fentanyl, vaping at WISD event

Wylie ISD families and community members learned of the dangers of fentanyl, vaping and social media from a panel of experts last week at Burnett Junior High. The informative community event, “Fear, Dangers and Concerns: Fentanyl, Vaping and Social Media,” was hosted...

read more
Public Notice - Subscribe