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Government officials — especially elected ones — work for the people. At least, that’s the principle our system is built on.
While reporting the criminal charges filed against a local justice of the peace, I’ve been reminded that obtaining public information isn’t always as straightforward as it should be.
In the last few days, I’ve made more than 20 phone calls — many of them in a single day — to the Colorado County District Clerk’s Office, the Colorado County Attorney’s Office, the Columbus Police Department, the Colorado County Sheriff’s Office, the county jail, the district court and even the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
More than once, I heard some version of, “I can’t discuss this. You’ll need to talk to someone else.”
In one instance, a District Office clerk indicated she could answer my question. But after pulling up the case and seeing whose name was attached to it, the conversation ended. My question wasn’t about guilt or innocence. I simply wanted to clarify whether one of the charges remained a misdemeanor or had been upgraded to a felony.
Ironically, some of the most helpful people I spoke with worked miles away from Colorado County at the Attorney General’s Office. Those officials do not know local names, do not cheer at high school football games with anyone around here and do not enjoy Schobel’s or Taco Tony’s.
When public officials are the ones facing court proceedings, public confidence depends not only on the fairness of the legal process, but also on the willingness of government offices to provide information that is legally available.
Transparency shouldn’t — and doesn’t — determine guilt or innocence. What transparency does is allow the public to see the system is working as it should.
I write this opinion piece not to complain about the sometimes tedious nature of the job I love or about this case in particular. This episode will proceed through the courts, and like anyone else, the defendant is presumed innocent unless a guilty verdict is returned.
This is about the trust we have in our leaders to protect, serve and lead us.
Public trust is built one answer at a time. It grows when government offices respond to legitimate questions with openness rather than uncertainty or unnecessary roadblocks.
As journalists, our job is to ask those questions — not because we expect every answer to be convenient, but because the public deserves them.
Seeking the truth starts with one question. I’m asking them. I hope others will too.
Drinnon is the area reporter for the Colorado County Citizen and the Sealy News. She can be reached at allison.drinnon@coloradocountycitizen. com.
