UVALDE, Texas – The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District filed an intent to appeal a district court decision that forced the release of documents and records related to the Robb Elementary School shooting in 2022.
Court documents show that Uvalde CISD filed its intent to appeal on July 26. The Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office filed its intent to appeal on Tuesday.
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The ruling was initially issued on July 8 by Judge Sid Harle of the 38th Judicial District Court in Uvalde County. It gave the school district and the sheriff’s office until July 28 to release the records, which included police body camera footage, 911 calls, emails, text messages related to the shooting and subsequent investigation.
The UCISD board met Tuesday to discuss the measure. After two hours in executive session, board members announced they were going to proceed with discussions made behind closed doors.
Details on what they discussed Tuesday night were not revealed.
About the ruling
According to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of media organizations, which includes KSAT 12 News, the documents could provide crucial insights into the timeline of events and decision-making processes during the massacre that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
“This ruling is a pivotal step towards ensuring transparency and accountability,” said Laura Prather, a media law attorney with Haynes Boone, which represents the news organizations. “The public deserves to know the full details of the response to this tragic event, and the information could be critical in preventing future tragedies.”
This was the second major win for the coalition. In June 2023, a similar victory in Austin state court required the Texas Department of Public Safety to release pertinent records. DPS is currently appealing the ruling and delaying the release of more than two terabytes of data related to the investigation.
Uvalde County District Attorney Christina Mitchell had opposed the release of records to the news organizations, saying their release could harm her criminal investigation into the shooting response. In late June, Mitchell announced a grand jury had indicted the former school Police Chief Pete Arredondo and Officer Adrian Gonzales on felony charges of child endangerment.
You can read Harle’s ruling below:
