Uvalde CISD to file amicus brief urging release of DPS records and recordings

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees authorized district legal counsel to file an amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief urging release of records and recordings that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) holds in litigation with the Texas Tribune.

Trustees made the decision after closed-session consultation with counsel about records the DPS holds that belong to the district but are not in the district’s possession. The motion was made by Trustee Quiniones and seconded by Trustee Flores; the board approved filing a brief to ask the court to release recordings and other records taken from district possession.

Legal counsel explained the district is not a party to the underlying appeal but may file an amicus brief to provide the court information and request the release of materials that DPS obtained. Trustee speakers said the move aims to increase transparency for the community and to recover district recordings the board believes should be public.

Trustees noted the records at issue include materials investigators took from district custody; the board directed its attorneys to draft and file the brief in the pending case, Texas Department of Public Safety et al. v. Texas Tribune, case number 15-24-00010-CB. The board later recorded an abstention by one trustee for perceived conflict of interest; the motion carried.