The Collin County Observer™

AG Office rules in Jaynes’ favor

By Brandi Hart, McKinney Courier-Gazette
Friday, May 2, 2008

The Texas Attorney General’s Office has ruled that Collin County was in compliance with the law when the county withheld releasing copies of e-mails from commissioner for Pct. 3 Joe Jaynes to Chris Rude.

Rude managed former Celina Mayor Corbett Howard’s campaign for the county commissioner for the Pct. 3 seat in the March 4 Republican primary election, which Howard lost to incumbent commissioner for Pct. 3 Joe Jaynes, and filed a complaint in December 2007 about the county’s public information department.

Rude initially requested e-mails from Jaynes’ county e-mail account over a six month period. The county’s public information office did not release about 20 e-mails that were sent to and from Jaynes to a county attorney, said county public information officer Tim Wyatt.

The public information office asked for the AG’s Office to issue a ruling verifying if the office was in compliance in not releasing the e-mails about legal issues between Jaynes and an attorney who is working for the county, Wyatt said

The AG’s Office issued a ruling on April 28 that said that the public information office was in fact in compliance with the Texas Public Information Act when the office did not release the e-mails, because they dealt with legal issues that were not subject to be released to the public per the Texas Public Information Act, Wyatt said.

The AG’s Office also issued a ruling on March 21 about Rude’s complaint that said that the public information office was in compliance with the information that it released to Rude per requests made last winter about Jaynes’ e-mails and other information. Jaynes said on Friday that he was proud of the county’s public information office staff members.

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