Cornell County commissioners recess meeting and cite Texas notice rule for continued meetings

At a special meeting, the Cornell County Commissioners Court invoked Texas Government Code Section 551.0411 and recessed the meeting until 3 p.m. the following day to allow staff time to obtain a vendor contract and complete related review, court speakers said.

A county staff member read the statute into the record and summarized its effect: “Section 551.0411. Meeting notice requirements in certain circumstances,” which says a governmental body that recesses an open meeting to the following regular business day need not post a new notice of the continued meeting if the action was taken in good faith and not to circumvent the Open Meetings Act; if the meeting is continued again beyond the next regular business day, the governmental body must post written notice for the further continuation.

Why it matters: the rule governs when a government body must re-post meeting notices for continued sessions. Court members discussed whether they had established a local rule for recess durations or whether they should defer to the statute and Robert’s Rules and the Texas Open Meetings Act. One commissioner asked whether the court could adopt a local rule that day; staff advised that there was no agenda item to amend local rules and that doing so would violate notice requirements.

Discussion and outcome: after debate, the presiding judge announced, “We will be in recess until 3 p.m. tomorrow,” and the court recessed. Court members discussed scheduling options — including returning the following day or scheduling a separate meeting later in the week — but noted that continued postponement past the next regular business day would require posting notice under the statute.

Ending: The recess was recorded to allow staff to pursue the vendor contract and to ensure any further continuations of the meeting would comply with Texas law on meeting notices.