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....
Litigation
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...
Part I: Texas businesses suing state, county and city governments
The coronavirus pandemic has unmistakably forced many changes in American lives, including a new type of litigation: companies suing Texas city, county and state governments over shutdown orders or contesting the definitions of “essential” and “nonessential”...
Texas community college accused of racial discrimination
The Houston Community College system has campuses and about 70,000 students sprawled across the city’s metro area. More than 90 years old, the system faces a new challenge in the form of a $100 million lawsuit alleging racial discrimination. The suit was filed in the...