Frontlines

Lawyer seeks halt to Perry’s e-mail deletions

AUSTIN — An open records attorney has asked the Texas attorney general to take legal action against Gov. Rick Perry’s office to stop his policy of deleting e-mails every seven days.

Attorney Joe Larsen argues in the complaint that the policy violates Texas public information laws.

Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office had 30 days to respond to the request, which was first filed May 14, but later updated.

Texas law requires e-mails to be kept in an electronic, searchable format, Larsen said. Perry’s office requires each individual staffer to print or save emails that need to be retained before they are deleted.

Teachers’ group sues AG to keep records closed

AUSTIN — The Association of Texas Professional Educators filed suit against the attorney general’s office and Austin school district to prevent the disclosure of information about the criminal histories of school employees, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Earlier this year, Austin teachers and certain other employees were required by a new state law to submit to fingerprints for national background checks.

The district said the attorney general’s office has ruled that some information that could be used to identify specific employees is public. But the educators group, which represents 112,000 members statewide, says releasing such information could violate privacy rights.