In today’s litigious culture, municipalities have to worry constantly about lawsuits. From a visitor slipping and falling on public grounds to a car accident involving a state-owned vehicle, the threat of litigation is high. So is the cost of arbitration, mediation or...
Litigation
Big legal win for small tribe over Texas
The population of Texas is nearly 30 million, while the population of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas is about 500. When David topples Goliath, even if it’s in a federal courtroom, it makes news. The small tribe recently prevailed over the second most populous...
Rio Grande Valley city sued over boxing match broadcast
The city of Donna, Texas, is in Rio Grande Valley – the very southernmost tip of Texas – just a few miles east of McAllen. The city is being sued over a 2017 campaign event hosted by a then mayoral candidate at a property owned by the city of about 15,000 residents....
Churches thankful for court win over Texas town
The small Texas town of Magnolia sits about 45 miles northwest of Houston. Though it bills itself as a “community of unity,” three Magnolia churches are raising their voices in protest of what they claim is discrimination against them by the town of about 2,200...
Texas city settles excessive force lawsuit
Rio Grande City and a woman who was shot with a stun gun there by police in 2014 recently reached a settlement to resolve her lawsuit. However, details of the agreement were initially withheld from an area newspaper that filed a request for records under the Texas...
Texas county’s pandemic restrictions halted – at least temporarily
A few days ago, Texas became the second state to hit a grim pandemic milestone when it passed 1 million cases of Covid-19. California was the first state to pass the million mark. The numbers are growing faster than ever, as the virus surges in both states and in many...
Family files wrongful death lawsuit against Texas county
Just north of Austin sits the hilly brushland of Williamson County, filled with prickly pear cactus and Texas live oak. The typically quiet area is brimming with controversy that began last year with a car chase that ended in tragedy. Wrongful death suit against...
Texas county sheriff arrested, sued over alleged sexual assault and more
If you drive about 30 miles south of Waco or about 60 miles east of Ft. Hood or about 100 miles northeast of Austin, you will find yourself in Falls County. The sparsely populated farming county has found itself in a few headlines lately after Sheriff Ricky Scaman was...
When governmental bodies face employment law litigation
The governments of Texas towns, cities and counties are employers that must obey the same state and federal employment laws that private employers must observe. But just as in business, public employers such as municipalities, townships and counties sometimes face...
Part II: Texas businesses suing state, county and city governments
Regular readers of our Texas Municipal Law Blog undoubtedly know that we recently wrote about an emerging subset of litigation: Texas businesses suing city, county or state governments over coronavirus shutdown orders. Legal challenges to shutdown orders Christy...
