Did The Houston Landing Swallow Ed Emmett's Lie?

Easily disprovable claims appear to slip into investigation on court transparency

When the Houston Landing published a months-long investigation documenting the longer duration of Harris County Commissioners Court meetings they included some statements former Republican County Judge Ed Emmett that raised eyebrows among court insiders. Among them, a claim by Emmett that he changed the rules of the court to make meetings shorter. According to the report:

During his time as county judge, Emmett said he instituted a rule that any resolutions added to the agenda must have a direct tie to Harris County, effectively trimming a portion of the meeting that now takes hours to complete.

“That generates a lot of conversation and adds to the length of the meeting,” Emmett said of non county-related resolutions. “And that’s just a choice, neither right nor wrong, but it does add to it.”

Reality check: Documents provided to Headliner show that actually, the rules under which Judge Emmett oversaw proceedings were passed in 2003, prior to Emmett taking office (see image). A separate review of public documents also failed to unearth any evidence showing his purported rule change during his administration.

Meanwhile, video archives also show a long history of Emmett’s court considering resolutions with no clear tie to Harris County, among them resolutions recognizing World AIDS Day, Make a Wish Foundation Day, and Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Day.

The other side: Oxenden and Emmett both chose to not comment in response to questions posed to them by Headliner. This post will be updated with any response we receive.

Why it matters: The long duration of biweekly Commissioners Court meetings rightly deserves public scrutiny from local journalists, but it appears future claims from Emmett should be more thoroughly fact checked, particularly as he continues to align himself with political opponents of the democratically-controlled body.