Frontlines

State official scolds Laredo over copy costs

LAREDO — The city in May moved to amend its ordinance regulating the cost of copies after receiving a directive to reduce its charges from a state official.

State open records administrator Hadassah Schloss sent the city a letter May 1 directing officials to change their policy of charging 85 cents for the first page and 15 cents for additional pages of copies of open records.

State law sets the limit at 10 cents a page for copying costs under most circumstances.

Schloss, who works for the Texas Building and Procurement Commission, also questioned the city’s billing of $15 an hour for 12 hours work in filling an open records request that produced 449 pages.

Conroe board member gets 2nd indictment

CONROE — A grand jury last month handed down another indictment against Montgomery County Hospital District board member Nicol Huff and another official for conspiring to undermine the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Huff and Starlett Curry, a former hospital board member, are accused of conspiring to influence a third board member’s vote on whether to fire the district’s chief executive officer, The Courier reported. Huff already was under indictment in April for violating the act.

Officials cite HIPAA as case for withholding claim info

ODESSA — Ector County officials refused to release documents that the Odessa American requested on how much the county has paid in health insurance claims for a former commissioner and his wife.

The county cited state medical privacy laws and the federal Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as reasons for withholding the claim information.

The county June 13 began investigating how the commissioner’s wife remained covered under the county’s self-insured health plan after he left office but did not pay premiums for 22 months.

County keeps homeland security money under wraps 

EDINBURG — The Hidalgo County Commissioners Court in June approved accepting a $341,090 homeland security grant but no one will say where the money is being spent.

The county was selected for the federal money based on its vulnerability assessment report compiled by various local emergency management and police officials.

The report rates how susceptible the area is to a terrorist attack.

Officials denied a request from The Monitor in McAllen to view a copy of the report, citing security reasons and the federal Freedom of Information Act.