Local Insights / Civic Trust

Civic Trust Scorecard

Trust, Verified

Composite transparency and accountability ratings for every Texas local government entity — graded A through F across audit compliance, public records response, meeting access, budget publication, website quality, and Transparency Stars.

—entities scored
—last scored
Entity County Score Grade

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composite score

Dimension Radar

Score Breakdown

How to Improve

How We Score

The Civic Trust Score is a composite index measuring the transparency and accountability of Texas local governments across six weighted dimensions.

Audit Compliance25%

Annual financial audit filed on time with the Texas State Comptroller. Scored on timeliness, findings, and corrective action plans. Late or missing audits significantly lower the score.

Source: TX Comptroller, FAC Single Audit Database

TPIA Response20%

Texas Public Information Act compliance — how quickly and completely an entity responds to open records requests, using AG audit results and third-party request tracking.

Source: Texas Attorney General, TPIA audit records

Meeting Accessibility15%

Meeting notices posted on time, agendas published in advance, minutes online, and live/recorded video accessible — evaluated against Texas Open Meetings Act requirements.

Source: Legistar, entity websites, Texas OAG

Budget Publication15%

Adopted budget and financial reports publicly posted on the entity's official website in a readable format, accessible without a login, in a timely manner.

Source: Comptroller Truth in Taxation, entity websites

Transparency Stars15%

Texas Comptroller's Transparency Stars program — each star earned for posting financial data in specific categories improves the score on a sliding scale from 0 to 5 stars.

Source: TX Comptroller Transparency Stars

Website Quality10%

SSL status, ADA compliance signals, mobile responsiveness, and presence of key civic information — evaluated via automated crawl and Lighthouse audits of the official website.

Source: Automated crawls, Lighthouse CI

Grade Scale A (90–100): Excellent transparency practices  ·  B (75–89): Good with minor gaps  ·  C (60–74): Adequate, room to improve  ·  D (45–59): Poor, multiple gaps  ·  F (0–44): Failing — significant compliance failures
Data Attribution Financial audit data: Texas State Comptroller and Federal Audit Clearinghouse. Legislative data: Legistar municipal API. Transparency Stars: Texas Comptroller's program. TPIA compliance: Texas Attorney General open government records. Scores refreshed quarterly. Data as of —.