Fort Bend redistricting committee not subject to open meetings, records laws, commissioners say

Justin Doud / Houston Public Media

Fort Bend County commissioners on Tuesday passed a resolution affirming that the county's redistricting committee is exempt from the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Public Information Act.

According to the resolution's interpretation of the law, the redistricting committee is not required to make its meetings open to the public, and is not subject to records requests because its members do not have the authority to make binding decisions on behalf of the county.

The resolution passed 3-2 along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor.

The commissioners court will have the final say over which new map the county adopts during its redistricting process.

The Open Meetings Act requires governmental entities to make their meetings open to the p