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Records tied to multiple October 2025 ethics complaints against Farmers Branch Mayor Terry Lynne offer a detailed look at how the city handled the allegations, including a state-ordered release of documents that came after the timeline outlined in Texas law.
The complaints and the city’s response have resurfaced recently as residents discuss the issue online ahead of the May municipal election. On March 16, the Branch Herald received the full set of documents released following a Jan. 27 ruling by the Texas Attorney General.
Timeline of events
Two ethics complaints alleging violations of the city’s code of ethics were filed by Council Member Tina Bennett-Burton on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, 2025. Five days later, on Oct. 19, the City Council held a special called meeting to consider the complaints.
Council members reviewed the complaints in executive session and voted to reject both. Council Members Omar Roman and Tina Bennett-Burton voted against rejecting the complaints. Under the city’s ethics procedures, a vote not to reject a complaint would have initiated an outside investigation.
On Oct. 20, a public information request was submitted seeking related communications, the council’s actions and any investigation materials regarding the complaints. The request was initially assigned a completion date of Nov. 3.
Instead of releasing the records, the city sought an opinion from the Attorney General, arguing portions should be withheld under state law, including privacy, internal deliberations and attorney work product.
The Attorney General ruled Jan. 27 that most of the information must be released.
According to a statement by the City of Farmers Branch, city’s former legal counsel, Wyatt Hamilton Findlay, received the ruling by the Attorney General and forwarded it to the city’s current legal counsel Nichols | Jackson.
“However, the former legal counsel advised that accompanying materials identifying the specific portions of the records requiring redaction were not initially received,” the statement said.
The city confirmed that as of Feb. 6, the redacted documents had not been received by the current legal counsel, either electronically nor by mail.
“The City’s legal counsel subsequently requested that the Office of the Attorney General provide another copy of the required materials,” the statement said.
Nichols | Jackson received the marked documents on Feb. 23 and completed the required redaction process.
“Legal counsel undertook a detailed review to ensure all required redactions were applied accurately and in compliance with the ruling," the statement said. "This process, which was necessary to protect confidential and excepted information, required additional time to complete."
The final redacted documents were provided to the requestors on March 16.
“This process reflects the City’s standard practice when responding to Public Information Act requests involving potentially confidential information," the statement said. "The City relies on its legal counsel and, when appropriate, guidance from the Office of the Attorney General to ensure that all responsive information is released in compliance with applicable law while protecting information deemed confidential under state statute."
Public discussion
The complaints and released records have been discussed in recent weeks in local social media groups, where residents and supporters of multiple candidates have shared interpretations of the documents.
With early voting approaching, the documents provide a detailed account of how the city handles ethics complaints involving elected officials and related public records requests.
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