Texas Attorney General Opinion: LO98-033 Page: 1 of 3
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Office of the lttornep Qenera
*tate of Qexas
DAN MORALES
ATTORNEY GENERAL March 31, 1998
The Honorable Michael J. Guarino Letter Opinion No. 98-033
Criminal District Attorney
Galveston County Courthouse Re: Whether a member of a governmental body who
722 Moody, Suite 300 participated in anr executive session may copy a tape
Galveston, Texas 77550 recording of that executive session (RQ-1037)
Dear Mr. Guarino:
You have requested our opinion as to whether a member of a governmental body may copy
for his own use a tape recording of an executive session of a meeting in which he participated. You
indicate that the board of directors of the Galveston County Municipal Utility District No. 12 held
an executive session to discuss personnel matters, in accordance with section 551.074 of the Open
Meetings Act, Government Code, chapter 551. The executive session was tape recorded in
accordance with subsection 551.103(a) thereof, which provides: "A governmental body shall either
keep a certified agenda or make a tape recording of the proceedings of each closed meeting, except
for a private consultation permitted under Section 551.071." Subsequently, a board member who
was present during the executive session "made a copy of the tape recording for unspecified
purposes."
Section 551.104 of the Government Code provides, in relevant part:
(a) A governmental body shall preserve the certified agenda or tape
recording of a closed meeting for at least two years after the date of the
meeting. If an action involving the meeting is brought within that period, the
governmental body shall preserve the certified agenda or tape while the
action is pending.
(b) In litigation in a district court involving an alleged violation of this
chapter, the court:
(1) is entitled to make an in camera inspection of the certified agenda
or tape;
(2) may admit all or part of the certified agenda or tape as evidence,
on entry of a final judgment; and
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: LO98-033, text, March 31, 1998; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth277329/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.