Haslet council approves Thomson Reuters CLEAR service for code and enforcement investigations

The Haslet City Council on Aug. 4 approved a service agreement with Thomson Reuters for the CLEAR investigative research platform to give staff wider access to investigative and lien-recovery tools used in code enforcement, building safety, development services and finance.

Council approval was unanimous. The system will provide staff access to expanded licensee search and data tools not available through the city’s current, Texas-only license-plate and records search tools, city staff said.

Thetford said the tool will let staff run broader license-plate queries, verify contractor permit histories and pull complete lien-holder information when the city pursues cleanup liens. "Right now, if we run a license plate, we can only run it for within Texas," Thetford said. He added that the CLEAR system will give the city “a full snapshot” of a contractor or property and help locate lienholders when the city seeks cost recovery.

Resident Sandra Smith told council she supports code officers having stronger tools but urged strict controls on who may use CLEAR because it contains personal and financial data. "It is a very powerful tool," Smith said, and she asked the council to require “really high accountability” for licensed city users.

Thetford said the city plans two named licenses for staff use and that staff with law-enforcement backgrounds would be the primary users. "That's gonna be one for Pam Smith and myself," Thetford said, and he said the vendor performs usage review and will contact the city if questionable queries are made.

Council members asked whether other local agencies use the system; Thetford said Fort Worth and Tarrant County use CLEAR but that the vendor declined to disclose a comprehensive client list. The contract length discussed at the meeting was three years, with the city budgeting for the tool in the coming fiscal year, and a portion in the current year’s funds, the staff report says.

Action and next steps: Council voted to approve entering into the service agreement. Staff said the vendor will train assigned staff and the city will track license use.

Why it matters: The CLEAR platform expands investigative scope beyond state-only searches and may speed code-enforcement and lien-recovery work, but it raises privacy and access-control questions that several residents and council members pressed staff to address.