The mantra for the almost 30 years I've been in advising the county has been that counties are limited in what they can do to those powers granted in the Constitution and statutes because we are creations of the state, not the people. Cities, on the other hand, as creatures of the people who live there, can do almost anything.

Today the ABilene REporter quotes our AG as stating "The cities are �crea�tures of the state� that �may not assert constitu�tional claims against the state,�

Am I the only one confused??

Lisa L. Peterson
Nolan County Attorney

The AG is stating a litigation position. Prior AGs have made this argument whenever the county has sued the State. The State can't sue itself is the basic approach. The cities suing the State over the Open Meetings Law do have their powers limited by State Law. The Local Government Code is full of limits in those numbered sections we never pay attention to in our practice. I wonder if their argument is more nuanced; that the city does not have a First Amendment right like say Exxon now has by virtue of Citizens United. By the way the AG was not successful against the counties. No appellate decision though.

to clear up misunderstandings! Thanks! (and my apologies for all the "?" in the quote - no idea where they came from!

Lisa L. Peterson
Nolan County Attorney

If you read the pleadings in the case, City of Alpine, et al, v. Greg Abbott, et al, No -P-09-CV-59, in the Western District, take the time to also read the plaintiffs' Brief in Support of the complaint. Nice collection of the various cases on TOMA's reach familiar to us all.

I, for one, hope for a nice clear court opinion after a hard-fought case in which the parties all engage fully on the merits. We need a federal court's merit-based opinion to put these issues and arguments to rest decisively one way or the other.