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Harris County
1201 Franklin, 20th Fl.
Houston, TX 77002

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Press Release

HARRIS COUNTY WINS SECOND MAJOR AWARD OF WEEK FOR FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY ON WEB SITE

National Organization Awards County Perfect Score of A+ For Ensuring Public Access to Wealth of Financial, Political Information Harris County is one of only 13 local governments nationwide to be awarded a perfect score on government transparency by Sunshine Review, a national non-profit that recently evaluated the Web sites of every state and more than 5,000 local governments. Sunshine Review granted Harris County a “Sunny Award” after an evaluation of the county’s Web site, www.hctx.net, showed the county provided the necessary public information in all 10 categories evaluated. No other local government in Texas earned a perfect score. “Sunny Award winners deserve recognition for making information available to citizens and for setting a transparency standard that all governments can, and should, meet,” said Mike Barnhart, the president of Sunshine Review. The award is the second of its kind given to Harris County in the past week. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts announced March 4 that the county had won the “Gold Leadership Circle Award” for its efforts to make its finances open and accessible to all county residents on its Web site. The county achieved a perfect score in that evaluation as well. Both organizations evaluated the county’s Web site for information on budgets, meetings, check registers, county officials, audits, contracts, lobbying, public records and taxes. County Judge Ed Emmett said he was proud of the hundreds of county officials and employees who ensure that county residents continue to have all the information needed to take an active and wellinformed role in running the nation’s third-largest county. The county’s Web site is maintained by its Information Technology Center in partnership with all county departments and agencies. “The awards are no real surprise to me,” said Emmett. “Every day, I see county employees meeting with and talking with county residents, happily answering any and all questions. I think there is a genuine, strong sense among county officials and employees that we work for the public, and that our residents should have access to all of the information they need.” More information about the Sunny Award can be obtained by visiting Sunshine Review’s Web site at<a href="http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Sunny_Awards"> http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Sunny_Awards</a>. Contact: Communications Director Joe Stinebaker, 713-755-4027 or 713-503-2610 Joe.Stinebaker@cjo.hctx.net

HARRIS COUNTY WINS GOLD LEADERSHIP CIRCLE AWARD FOR FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

<div style="text-align: center;">Award From Texas Comptroller’s Office Recognizes County’s Perfect Score In Openness and Public Accessibility</div> The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts announced this week that Harris County has won the Gold Leadership Circle Award for its efforts to make its finances open and accessible to all county residents. In a letter to County Judge Ed Emmett, officials with the Comptroller’s Office congratulated the county for “implementing financial transparency” and for achieving a perfect score of 15 points in the rating criteria. Local governments are judged on their success in opening their books to the public, providing clear, consistent pictures of spending, and sharing information in a user-friendly format that allows taxpayers to access more information. The Gold Leadership Circle Award is reserved for those local governments “that are setting the bar in their transparency efforts,” according to the Comptroller’s Web site, at<a href="http://www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/checkup/leadership.php"> www.window.state.tx.us/comptrol/checkup/leadership.php</a>. “The commissioners and I certainly appreciate the Comptroller’s Office’s recognition of the county’s efforts to ensure that our residents have quick and easy access to as much of our financial information as possible,” Emmett said. “We always strive to be as open as possible with county residents. After all, it’s their money, and they have the right to know how it’s being handled.” In its “Texas Transparency Check-up”, the Comptroller’s office checks to see to what extent local governments provide online access to their budgets, financial reports and check registers. That information, and much more, is contained on Harris County’s Web site at <a href="http://www.hctx.net.">www.hctx.net.</a>

HARRIS COUNTY JUDGE ED EMMETT MEASURES STATE OF COUNTY "IN HUMAN TERMS"

Contact: Joe Stinebaker Communications Director O) 713-755-4027 C) 713-503-2610 Joe.Stinebaker@cjo.hctx.net Emmett Calls For Greater Attention to Infrastructure, Increased Cooperation Among County, State and Local Officials Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said Thursday afternoon that Harris County remains among the nation's strongest and most stable local economies despite numerous financial challenges resulting from a global economic slowdown. But Emmett called on those gathered at his third annual State of the County Address to reject complacency and to help focus the county's attention on growing social and infrastructure needs. "Yes, Harris County is in better shape than almost anywhere else in the country, if not the world," said Emmett. "But more and more in the coming years, the final analysis will be that the state of the county is measured in human terms. If we are shortsighted now, future costs associated with health care, criminal justice and other issues will spiral out of control, leaving us unable to meet either social or infrastructure needs." Emmett asked the approximately 600 attendees at the Greater Houston Partnership's annual "State of the County Address" to envision the state of Harris County from the viewpoint of many of their neighbors - the mentally ill, the poor, those coping with daily traffic congestion or those still struggling to recover from Hurricane Ike. "That is why it is so important today to recognize the state of the county from so many different viewpoints," Emmett said. "For my state of the county is a snapshot. Others provide the lens that allows us to look into the future. We are well-positioned to bring that future into focus. It will take all of us in the public, private and non-profit sectors working together to do it, but we have a strong foundation from which to start." In thanking Houston Mayor Annise Parker for agreeing to provide his introduction, Emmett pointed out that the current economic challenges also provide the city, county and state an opportunity for greater cooperation. "Our constituents rightly expect Harris County and the City of Houston to work together whenever possible to eliminate duplication and to provide higher levels of efficiency," Emmett said. "For Harris County, that spirit of cooperation goes beyond the City of Houston. It extends to the other 33 incorporated municipalities and even to surrounding counties, because so many of the needs and issues transcend city limits and county boundaries."