Without access to public records, how can we hold leaders to account?

By: Kelly Shannon | September 16, 2025

Kelley Shannon is executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, a nonprofit that works to ensure government transparency and protect First Amendment rights. For more information on the group’s state conference go to www.foift.org.

If you wonder how open government laws affect you, think about these basics: The local taxes we pay. The roads we drive on. Even, sometimes, matters of life and death.

Access to information through public meetings and records helps us know about the decisions elected officials are making on our behalf. It allows us to ask questions, to speak out and to demand change.

“Without transparency, the government is a petri dish for corruption and a reason for people to doubt the legitimacy of their government,” Aleshire rightly notes.