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I'd still like to know what the State thinks of a daycare keeping a live king cobra in a trophy case.

I"m not a lawyer or an expert, but it's easy to read up. Greg Abbott, as Attorney General, wrote an extensive handbook on open government - https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/fi ... nfo_hb.pdf .

First, as far as I can tell, there is no FOIA in Texas, at least not by that official name. It's actually called the Texas Public Information Act, and for a really nice feeling read the preamble. It's poetry:

Under the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government that adheres to the principle that government is the servant and not the master of the people, it is the policy of this state that each person is entitled, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, at all times to complete information about the affairs of government and the official acts of public officials and employees. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to implement this policy.

It's also one of the few laws that actually applies to the government. Most laws impacting official behavior have no penalties. The PIA makes denying public information a personal crime by the individual State employee.

That said, State officials can be slippery.

As far as getting your information from a complaint you filed, think about making a PIA request for any correspondence relating to a particular event. For instance, I once requested Rick Perry's correspondence, notes, and records regarding the speech he gave in Istanbul to the (cough) Bilderburg group. (The response, by the way, was he often makes off the cuff remarks at impromptu events such as day care visits where there are no records of the event or what he said. Nothing existed in State records regarding his Bilderburg appearance as sitting Governor of Texas. Yeah, right...)

If the State answers you honestly, you'll discover who they were talking to about what. That sword cuts both ways. Send a letter to a State official and you've made a public statement if anyone cares to peek.

At least that's how it appears to me. I don't let it slow me down. "Tread lightly" is a forum handle, not necessarily a way of life.

Charles L. Cotton wrote:
I wonder if there are any state laws or rules against dangerous animals in daycare centers? That would be interesting!
Chas,

I should have checked before popping off - but there might be. From the Texas animal code:

• TEX. LOC. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 240.002(a), Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The commissioners court of a county by order may prohibit or regulate the keeping of a wild animal in the county:

(1) at a residence; or
(2) within 1,000 feet of a residence or public school.

I wonder if they qualify as a public school?

I have KIDS, and I LOVE MY CHILDREN!!

Don't people realize there are SOME THINGS that DON'T BELONG AT DAY CARE?

I speak, of course, of things like Bengal tigers and king cobras actually on the premises of day care facilities. Is that even legal?

I've heard of a day care facility with the gall to keep mature, predatory lions powerful enough to fling a child all the way from the large cat compound to the gorilla house, where there are primates powerful enough to fling child-size wads of poo all the way back at the cats.

Something must be done. This is happening RIGHT NOW at a well-known day care on Colonial Parkway in Fort Worth. (Mind your step while strolling between the primate house and the large cat compound.)