Local Insights

Local Insights Public records, told like they matter. Texas civic data, investigations, and tools.

An LLC can't turn sixty-five.The Travis Central Appraisal District confirmed 15 entity-held homestead exemptions for rem...
08/30/2026

An LLC can't turn sixty-five.

The Travis Central Appraisal District confirmed 15 entity-held homestead exemptions for removal from the 2026 roll — every one held by a company. Five of the fifteen were also claiming the over-65 senior break.

Confirmed by TCAD Chief Strategy Officer Cynthia Martinez on July 23, 2026, after each account was re-checked against live district records. Of 23 accounts submitted, 15 were placed in “HS needs to be removed.” Together they represent $13.4M in wrongly exempted value.

This was a first batch, not a statewide total. The screen is still running. We are not saying every homestead account is improper, or that Harris County corrections are complete.

The named accounts and the district’s own answer: https://localinsights.ai/tcad-homestead/

Texas did not simply get a data-center boom. Public decisions built the runway.The Comptroller’s FY2027 estimate for the...
08/29/2026

Texas did not simply get a data-center boom. Public decisions built the runway.

The Comptroller’s FY2027 estimate for the limited sales- and use-tax exclusion on property used in data centers is $1.598 billion. Local Insights mapped 54 dated public actions — tax policy, local deals, utility connections, then the demand that followed.

On Aug. 3, 2026, PUC and ERCOT were directed to audit every queued data-center project and deny grid connection to projects that fail applicable requirements.

Sequence is not causation. Open the chronology and the deal files: https://localinsights.ai/data-center-boom/

They miss the statutory deadline. Some records still get withheld.Texas law creates a presumption that late agencies mus...
08/28/2026

They miss the statutory deadline. Some records still get withheld.

Texas law creates a presumption that late agencies must release what was requested. In 4,465 Attorney General rulings tagged with §552.302, 50.2% still authorized some withholding.

That sits inside a bigger pattern. Across 426,021 OAG open-records rulings from 2015 through Aug. 4, 2026, just 4.6% were classified as full release. Volume rose. The odds stayed near five percent.

“Full release” means the ruling was classified as requiring release of all requested information — not the success rate for every Texas public-information request.

Search the agencies, record types, and provisions: https://localinsights.ai/when-texas-says-no/

AI does not replace proof.

08/17/2026

Harris County’s fiscally conservative Lina Hidalgo

08/17/2026

Harris County Fiscally Conservative County judge Lina Hidalgo

How far can access to a local Texas license-plate-reader network extend?A Local Insights snapshot of access-grant lists ...
08/13/2026

How far can access to a local Texas license-plate-reader network extend?

A Local Insights snapshot of access-grant lists published by Texas agencies found:

• 1,112 recipient records categorized outside Texas or in federal/multi-state buckets
• 4,087 published access-grant links connecting Texas agencies to those records
• Missouri, Kansas, Georgia, Arkansas and Mississippi had the largest categorized recipient counts in the frozen snapshot
• The U.S. Postal Inspection Service appeared in lists published by seven captured Texas agencies; the FBI appeared in four

What this does not show: an access grant does not prove that a recipient searched or used Texas plate data. Recipient state and type classifications are provisional, based on names printed on agency portals.

Frozen August 13, 2026. Explore the records and methodology: https://cameras.localinsights.ai/

Texas has an open-records law. But when a government agency asks the Attorney General for a ruling, the public’s odds ge...
08/12/2026

Texas has an open-records law. But when a government agency asks the Attorney General for a ruling, the public’s odds get steep fast.

426,021 Texas AG open-records rulings through Aug. 4, 2026. Only 4.6% were classified as full release.

Explore: https://localinsights.ai/when-texas-says-no/ys-no/

08/05/2026

Statewide map of Texas ALPR (flock, Motorola, gentec, Leonardo, axis) cameras and readers Localinsights.ai along with out-state-agencies that have viewing access, $$ spent, transparency portals, and more

Some Texas agencies publish enough ALPR data to compare.In one 30-day snapshot, Frisco PD reported 1.58 million vehicle ...
08/04/2026

Some Texas agencies publish enough ALPR data to compare.

In one 30-day snapshot, Frisco PD reported 1.58 million vehicle photographs. New Braunfels, Temple, The Colony, Bexar County SO, Round Rock, and Prosper all reported hundreds of thousands more.

The point is not that these are the only departments using cameras. The point is that these are the departments where the public can see part of the record.

Look up your city: https://cameras.localinsights.ai

Texas did not simply get a data center boom.Government actions and approvals helped build it.A new Local Insights timeli...
08/04/2026

Texas did not simply get a data center boom.

Government actions and approvals helped build it.

A new Local Insights timeline and map tracks 54 milestones across 12 communities and 10 major deals, from state policy to local approvals, grid pressure, and public resistance.

Read it: https://localinsights.ai/data-center-boom/

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