Your patriotic duty: Keep government accountable

As reporters, it's our job to get at the truth.

We do it through interviews, analyzing the numbers and by digging through records.

But for this Independence Day, we thought it would be a good time for a reminder that there are no special rules for reporters to get access to government documents. Public records are exactly that. Public. You can get them, too.

That's because you pay for them. Memos, emails, reports and budgets are created by government employees paid by taxpayers using computers, pens and paper that you also paid for.

They key to getting most records you might want from your local city hall, county commission or school district is the Texas Public Information Act. That's the law that allows you to ask for any records that the government has.

And they have to give it to you. And if they say "no," they have to give you a reason. And not just any reason. One that is specifically outlined in the law.

We send out public records requests often. And we want you to use this law, too.

Why? Well part of the reason is that we are strong and fervent believers in open government. The other reason is more selfish. If you find something good, we'd like you to let us know about it. Our Ted Oberg Investigates online tipline is on our main page here. Let us know what you find.

Use this law to find settlements your city has paid out or to find out what kinds of crimes have taken place in your neighborhood. Find out how your child's cafeteria fared in the last health inspection or ask for emails exchanged between city council members the day of the last city council meeting. Maybe you'll find government waste or something you want to ask more questions about. Or, fingers crossed, you'll find that everything is A-OK.

Use this link for a template on how to fill out a Texas public records request from the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

And you can click here, here, here and here to see examples of public records requests that we've sent out from the Ted Oberg Investigates team.

Everything else you might want to know is here in the 2014 Texas Public Information Handbook.

There will be roadblocks at times. Keep us informed about those, too. And keep at it.

It's your patriotic right.

Happy Independence Day from the Ted Oberg Investigates team.

Ted Oberg

Dave Aguillard

Trent Seibert