Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare announced he’s doubling down on the rules at Commissioners Court meetings.
If anybody speaks over their three-minute public comment time, they’ll be escorted out by sheriff’s deputies.
O’Hare addressed the rules Tuesday after KERA wrote about the ban on one of the court’s most frequent commenters, Reverend Ryon Price. Price got a trespass warning at the July 2 meeting after he spoke a few seconds over his allotted time. He cannot return to the Commissioners Court building in downtown Fort Worth for a year, he said.
O’Hare will warn people about their time limit once, and if they don’t stop talking, they’ll get kicked out, he said.
“This is not in any way shape or form attempting to stifle free speech. This is to make sure there is civility in the courtroom,” O’Hare said.
In a post on X later Tuesday afternoon, O'Hare emphasized people will get a warning before their removal.
"If someone goes over 3 minutes, they will be informed their time is up. If they continue to speak after they are informed, ignoring the buzzer and the timer and the court’s instruction that their time is up, then the next step is removal," he wrote.
At the meeting, O'Hare did not clarify whether everyone who is removed would get a trespass warning that bans them from the building.
O’Hare “would love nothing more” than to have meetings where he doesn’t kick anyone out, he said, but he must keep decorum.
“So everyone is aware, public comments do not have to be done,” he said. “This is something the previous court has chosen to put in place. I have no intention of removing it.”
State law requires Commissioners Courts to allow the public to comment on agenda items. That’s according to the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Texas Association of Counties, citing state law.
The Tarrant County Commissioners Court also allows people to talk about issues not on the agenda. If courts do that, "The opportunity of a person to address the body may not be restricted because of what the person may have to say," the Texas Association of Counties writes in its 2023 Open Meetings Act guide.
O’Hare also told the audience he does not have the power to give someone a trespass warning that bans someone from the building. That responsibility lies with law enforcement, he said.
Trespass warnings generally last a year, but they can be even longer, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Robbie Hoy previously explained.
Former state representative Lon Burnam got no time frame for when he can return, he told KERA. He also got a trespass warning at the meeting on July 2, after he said he told O’Hare he did not respect him.
Before the public comment period Tuesday, O’Hare read the entire page-long decorum rules sheet. He also said he and his fellow court members will discuss the policy later.
Lon Burnam and Ryon Price are part of a group that shows up at almost every Commissioners Court meeting. Their fellow public commenters were there to talk about the rules Tuesday morning.
Harriet Harral thanked O’Hare for clarifying the rules and suggested someone else take on the responsibility of timekeeping.
“Enforcement of the time limits is being perceived as punitive rather than simply administrative. There’s no reason for that,” Harral said.
Julie Griffin said the bans have a chilling effect. She doesn’t feel she can speak freely at Commissioners Court “when under the sword of a possible ban and arrest.”
Jackee Cox is one of the most frequent speakers at Commissioners Court. Plenty of people speak over their three minutes, but not everybody gets banned for it, she told commissioners.
“That’s a very serious sanction,” she said.
Cox started to speak further when the three-minute timer beeped.
O’Hare told her time was up, and she left the podium.
This story has been updated with further comments on X from County Judge Tim O'Hare.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on X @MirandaRSuarez.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
