Council waives attorney-client privilege for documents tied to April 9 special meeting; items to be released via Public Information Act

The North Richland Hills City Council voted April 28 to waive attorney-client privilege and release documents related to the special meeting held April 9, 2025, and Resolution No. 2025-021. Council considered legal advice in executive session before taking public action.

City Attorney Bradley (surname not specified in the transcript) and City Secretary Alicia Richardson briefed the council on process and scope. Bradley told the council, "we have discussed the legal issues related to the information at issue here, in executive session. So this is your opportunity then to take action related to that information." He advised that waiver should be considered carefully.

Prior to the public vote the council considered a related procedural issue: excluding Councilmember Vaughn from a portion of executive session because he was in an adverse position tied to threatened or actual litigation. The council voted to exclude Councilmember Vaughn from the part of executive session discussing item 3; the exclusion vote was recorded as 6-1. City counsel explained the concern that an adverse party present for privileged legal advice could defeat the privilege.

In the public session the council moved to release and waive privilege for documents numbered 1 through 22 as identified in a table prepared by the city secretary. The motion to release those documents specified that the waiver pertained only to the items on that list and not to other privileged materials. The council also considered and approved an amendment to waive charges for public‑information requests related to these specific items; staff indicated the documents were already collected and that fulfillment would be handled through the city's Public Information Act (PIA) process (openrecords@nrhtx.com or other channels) and that fees are determined case-by-case unless waived.

Councilmember Matt Blake moved the release and waiver motion and Councilmember Susie Compton seconded; the council approved the actions (votes recorded in transcript as passing). The city secretary said the documents were compiled to include emails, drafts and other communications related to the resolution and the April 9 meeting and that the table with numbered items will be made available for reference. Staff indicated some materials (verbal statements) are not part of the written document production and that no written demand or claim had been received from the city manager regarding the issues discussed.

Staff said the public may obtain the documents via the PIA process; the council voted to permit requests and, by amendment, to waive fees for records requests tied to the identified items. Staff noted fulfillment time and any extraordinary-cost determinations will depend on the request details, but anticipated the response would be prompt for the compiled set of documents.