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

Texas local debt up 75% in nine years
10/08/2026

Texas local debt up 75% in nine years

10/07/2026

The $233,000 on billboards is just Briones’ latest splurge. While executing with excellence her staff costs have blown up, annual carryover $$ dropped, more than $1M in staff bonuses, 70 new staff in current budget. The non negotiables.

Council Members Council Member Twila Carter, Davis, Council Member Fred Flickinger out with a statement in support of Fl...
09/25/2026

Council Members Council Member Twila Carter, Davis, Council Member Fred Flickinger out with a statement in support of Flock Cams

“HPD does not provide ICE access to its Flock Safety camera network or data. HPD uses the cameras strictly as a public safety and investigative tool to identify vehicles connected to criminal activity, locate suspects, recover stolen vehicles, and help officers solve crimes.”

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/

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