HAYS COUNTY
What began as a Commissioners Court agenda item to remove a single newsstand in the Hays County Courthouse escalated into a contentious discussion of the free speech issues sparked by the public display of printed materials on Hays County property.
The managing editor of the Caldwell/Hays Examiner, the publication featured in the newsstand in question, claimed that the request for removal was a reaction to their editorial content.
Walt Smith, the Commissioner who sponsored the agenda item, said he was requesting removal of the publication because the advertising content violated Hays County regulations.
Head of the Hays County Historical Commission, Chair Linda Coker, said the commission made the request for removal of the newsstand neither for the stories, nor for the ads, but for aesthetic reasons, that a newsstand — any newsstand — simply did not look right in an historic courthouse.
The differences in these three perspectives led to a lively debate among the commissioners, Judge Ruben Becerra and supporters of the Caldwell/Hays Examiner, ultimately ending in a decision to remove the newsstand and reevaluate Hays County policy pertaining to such displays. But not before animated arguments and rebuttals from all sides.
At the heart of the debate is a newsstand which, prior to the Commissioner’s Court meeting on Tuesday, was set up on the first floor of the Historic Hays County Courthouse, near the entrance to “The Past Within Us” exhibit, which opened on May 17. The San Marcosbased Council for the Indigenous and Tejano Community (CITC) sponsored the exhibit, dedicated to Native and Mexican American history in Hays County.
The April 2025 issue of the Caldwell/Hays Examiner, which the CITC approved for display outside of the museum, featured a cover story titled “Organizers of Sacred Springs Powwow, Indigenous Cultures Institute, Reclaim their Coahuiltecan Language.”
Mario Garza, founder of the Sacred Springs Powwow and the San Marcos-based Indigenous Cultures Institute, said in a letter to the court that the Caldwell/Hays Examiner represents the primary media outlet for these two organizations.
“The Caldwell/Hays Examiner is an alternative media outlet centered on the issues of justice and equality, the same issues that directly impact and concern our Indigenous and Tejano communities in Hays County. This media outlet is essentially the voice of our people,” Garza said.
CITC Treasurer and Director of Oral History Anita Collins said the publication was a vital outlet for the communities CITC represents.
“This newspaper reports on the history and the future of Indigenous Mexican American and African American people in our county,” Collins said. “These are not just advertisements. They are vital expressions of our community’s rich history and culture. Their removal would be a loss to our collective identity.”
Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra, a founding member of CITC, stressed what he views as the necessity of allowing all citizens of Hays County to speak out on issues which concern them, including articles in the Caldwell/Hays Examiner.
“I represent from the immigrant that just arrived 10 minutes ago to the person sitting in our jail, {to the} person walking in H-E-B and all the way to the farthest extreme,” Becerra said. “If you’ve got a beating heart and you are in Hays County, I am your county judge. … A museum is a perfect place to share perspectives and share ideas.”
Commissioner Walt Smith said the agenda item he introduced was not an attempt to quash free speech but rather an effort to bring Hays County into compliance with existing rules regulating the display of publications within official Hays County properties.
The official wording of the agenda item sponsored by Smith: “Discussion and possible action regarding the removal of unauthorized publications, newsstands, and/or other solicitations or advertisements from the Hays County Historic Courthouse and any other County facilities.”
During the discussion period for the item, Collins questioned how the county would determine what material was authorized and what material was not.
“How do you define an unauthorized publication?” Collins said. “Let’s start with that. You cannot seriously suggest that the Commissioner’s Court now decide on an item-by-item basis, what is authorized or unauthorized and what is to be displayed or removed from our public facility.”
Soon after introducing the agenda item, Smith acknowledged the complexity of determining which publications could be displayed.
“If Hays County agrees to display a newspaper in the courthouse, then in keeping with the obligation to avoid engaging in viewpoint discrimination, Hays County would be obligated to permit the display of other publications on equal or substantially equal terms and conditions, regardless of the content,” he said.
“Obviously, this could lead to undesirable outcomes, such as unwanted clutter, changes to the courthouse’s overall aesthetic, increased maintenance, cleanup costs and physical encroachment, negatively impacting accessibility,” according to Smith.
Becerra suggested setting aside a limited amount of space at the courthouse for publication display, with the featured publications to be determined not by content, but on a first-comefirst- served basis.
“We can create a little tape section to say we’ll give a three-foot-section along this wall right by the museum for anyone,” Becerra said. “Soon as that section is full, that’s all you get. … this is a designated footprint.”
The appearance of this type of display is what concerned Linda Coker, chair of Hays County Historical Commission, who said, “It’s the aesthetics of a newsstand in the courthouse, not the content of the publications.
“It has nothing to do with the city. It has nothing to do with the newspaper. It has to do with a newspaper stand in this historic building is not appropriate. That’s the bottom line,” Coker said.
Commissioner Michelle Cohen urged the court to approach Becerra’s display space proposal with caution, and to consider alternative solutions.
“I definitely don’t want to invite what I would consider hate speech into a building, and that is my fear with that proposal, is that might do that,” Cohen said. “And so what I would really love is for us to take a look at some options. … seeing what other counties are doing to address that in historical buildings and bring back some options.”
Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe said she would consider approving display of publications on county property, but suggested a careful and considered process of determining the locations and upkeep of such locations.
“I don’t want to clutter what we’re trying to display,” Ingalsbe said. “If we’re even considering doing this, which I’m not opposed to, I would really like for us to take the time to determine where those locations would be, how they would be maintained, and just think through it a little bit.”
Beyond the challenge of avoiding viewpoint discrimination in selecting which publications to display, Commissioner Smith said that advertisements for political candidates are not permitted under current county regulations, regardless of the views expressed in the editorial content.
“We’re running afoul of ourselves, and we’re running afoul of the law,” Smith said. He referenced Examiner ad rates which he had saved on his cell phone. “And so I know they’re actively soliciting for political advertising.”
“The newspaper and newsstands continued presence violates paragraph D 13 of the Hays County property use policy which states, ‘soliciting charitable donations contributions or collecting private debts on county property is prohibited. Commercial soliciting, vending and commercial advertising on county property is prohibited, except at an event approved by the Commissioners Court,’” said Smith reading from the policy.
Sam Benavides, managing editor of the Caldwell/ Hays Examiner, stressed that the issues of the publication, which the Examiner had chosen to display outside of the exhibit, featured articles about local history related to the exhibit, and did not have political ads.
“Our October issue doesn’t have any local history, so we didn’t bring our October issue. We’ve only brought the ones that cover local history because it’s aligned with the work of CITC … just wanted to clarify that there are no papers downstairs that have political advertisements.”
Jordan Powell, Hays County Civil First Assistant Criminal District Attorney, said that until the county can create a specific policy on this issue, she recommends the removal of the newsstand.
“The strongest legal footing right now is in accordance with a policy and not allowing anything currently, until a new, updated policy comes forth,” Powell said.
In an attempt to wrap up discussion on the item, Becerra made the following motion: “I move that we temporarily allow the newspaper stand with Caldwell/Hays Examiner focusing specifically on cultural issue events to remain on the first floor next to the museum.”
When his motion did not receive a second from any of the Commissioners, he said, “Take away the rack, and we will see you when we see you. In the meantime, you’ll come up with a policy,” and then proceeded to the next agenda item.
