CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Frazier was indicted in June 2022 on two charges of impersonating a public servant, a felony offense. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges as part of a plea agreement.

The Travis County district attorney still plans to pursue criminal charges in four cases. The officers whose cases are being dismissed will be allowed to return to duty.

Once a tool of journalists and concerned citizens to hold government accountable, open records requests have been increasingly used by political opponents and conspiracy theorists to slow down the pace of government.

Renteria’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued that the El Paso District Attorney’s Office violated his constitutional rights by not releasing all documents in his case. He was the eight person executed in Texas in 2023.

Mexico said Texas’ Senate Bill 4 will violate the human rights of Mexican immigrants living in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott said he plans to sign the proposal into law.

Voters in several Texas cities have sought to decriminalize marijuana. However, their efforts have been met by reluctant city councils that say they can’t go against state law.

During the impeachment trial, whistleblowers testified they believed Paul to be a criminal and were concerned that Paxton was essentially turning the keys of the office over to him.

The high court heard arguments in the case brought by Zackey Rahimi, who went on a shooting spree after being placed under a domestic violence protective order. Rahimi argues that his constitutional right to bear arms was violated.

Judge Andrea Beall ruled Tuesday that the prosecutors, Brian Wice and Kent Schaffer, are owed the $300-an-hour rate by the county that they were promised when they started on the case in 2015.

The legislation, which Republican lawmakers have been trying to pass since 2021, offers no exceptions for doctors’ offices, clinics or other health facilities.

For the first time in a generation, Texans were more likely to die of gunshot wounds than car crashes in 2021. Experts worry a lack of research on the issue has hampered the search for solutions.

The charges stem from accusations that in 2011 Paxton tried to solicit investors in a McKinney technology company without disclosing that it was paying him to promote its stock. The attorney general has pleaded not guilty.

In 2012, around 100 Texans under 18 died of gunshot wounds. Last year, that number reached nearly 300.

Speer has been on death row for decades after strangling another inmate at a Texas prison. The victim’s sister and faith leaders have both called on the parole board to halt the execution.

The East Texas school leader was following school district policy — and state law — which allows for corporal punishment. Texas is one of 17 states that allows it, despite one Democrats efforts to ban the practice.

Amarillo's city council said it will continue to study the issue. The city is one of just a few in Texas to reject the policy pushed by anti-abortion activists.

If the settlement is approved, the federal government would be prohibited from adopting a similar policy for the next eight years. Affected immigrants would be allowed to be in the country legally and receive work permits and other benefits.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced the items lawmakers can consider when they return Monday. His agenda also includes COVID vaccine mandates and the Colony Ridge development outside Houston.

Home to more than 260,000 people, the West Texas town of Lubbock is no stranger to passing local laws by petition. In 2021, residents overwhelmingly approved a local ban on abortion.

Rep. Frederick Frazier was indicted over a year ago on two charges of impersonating a public servant. But the case has not gone to trial yet, partly because Frazier has been able to delay the case until the Legislature concludes its work.

Panetti murdered his in-laws in 1992. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2007 set new court precedent with his case, raising the bar on the constitutional restriction against executing the insane.

Jasper’s second Black mayor wants to help residents pay their bills while a younger city council wants to invest in the city’s culture. Residents call their heated arguments at city council meetings “foolishness” and “embarrassing.”

Personal conflict between two newly elected Democrats briefly escalated into public view. An attempt to remove one from county office came in the background of university, state and federal impeachment attempts.

The killing of inmate Billy Chemirmir in the Coffield Unit occurred during a statewide lockdown of prisons, promoted by a rise in inmate homicides. A day before the lockdown, another incident at the same prison resulted in the firings of seven correctional officers and the resignations of another six.

The attorney general’s long-simmering securities fraud case appears closer to resolution, while the FBI has probed the same allegations that played a major role in his impeachment.

A Paxton whistleblower testified that the attorney general took an unusual interest in Nate Paul’s litigation against a charity in 2020. Another said Paul benefited from an opinion on foreclosures.

The law bans those convicted of animal cruelty, including those involved with dogfighting, from owning any kind of animal for five years after their first criminal offense.

The state has canceled all visits to Texas prison inmates until a comprehensive search of all 100 correctional facilities for contraband has been completed.

With little in local tax revenue to help pay staff, rural Texas sheriffs are often forced to do more with less. Lawmakers hope a new grant program will help rebuild the ranks of rural law enforcement.

The law restricting pedestrians from walking on roads has been revised to let pedestrians use roadways in certain situations.

Most Texas prisons lack air conditioning. At least 41 prisoners have died of heart-related or undetermined causes since the unrelenting heat wave began.

A day after Patrick announced the appointment, Marc Brown declined it, citing a campaign contribution he made to Paxton’s GOP primary opponent in 2021.

The seven-months-pregnant officer reported contraction-like pains at work, but said she wasn’t allowed to leave for hours. The anti-abortion state is fighting her lawsuit, in part by saying her fetus didn’t clearly have rights.

More than 8 in 10 people charged by state troopers since they began helping Austin police have been people of color. In Southeast Austin, a neighborhood president calls it “outright racial profiling.”

The impeached attorney general appeared in a Houston courtroom, where lawyers from both sides agreed to return in October to set an expected trial date on charges that have been pending since 2015.

Operation Lone Star originally targeted single men suspected of crossing the border illegally in mass trespassing arrests, but some claimed that not arresting women violated equal protection laws.

After the tragic Uvalde school shooting in 2022, Abel Ortiz, an art professor at Southwest Texas Junior College, asked artists from across the state to come together to use the power of art to heal. See the results of their efforts in this video.

Several lawmakers supported a call for Gov. Greg Abbott to bring lawmakers back immediately to approve air conditioning for prisons, which the Legislature declined to do during its regular session.

The Republican from Georgetown was arrested in Austin in February. But the county attorney said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prosecute.

Management & Training Corporation had been accused of defrauding the state by charging for services it didn’t provide and directing prisoners to falsify paperwork about their treatment.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson had said that troopers pulling a gun on a 10-year-old prompted the end of the agreement. A video of that encounter shows troopers with guns pointed at the ground, not the child.

Patrick Crusius pleaded guilty and was sentenced Friday in federal court. He still faces state charges, and the local district attorney says he intends to seek the death penalty.

Overlooked in the churn of one of the country’s busiest courthouses, the forgotten appeals included two death penalty cases, and one from a man who’s already finished his 20-year sentence.

A Houston grand jury decided Thursday not to indict rap star Travis Scott for the deaths of 10 people at the 2021 Astroworld Festival when fans collapsed in a massive crowd.

Reed, a Black man on death row for more than 25 years, has gained international support for his claims that he did not kill 19-year-old Stacey Stites, a white woman. Another appeal over DNA testing of evidence is still pending.

Since a heat wave gripped Texas, at least nine inmates, including two men in their 30s, have died of heart attacks or unknown causes in prisons lacking air conditioning. It’s been 11 years since the state last classified a death as heat-related.

A year after the nation’s deadliest human smuggling event, federal prosecutors say seven people face a maximum of life in prison. One of the suspects, who was not identified, has not been arrested.

Texas Department of Public Safety officers were criticized for the disparate number of Latino and Black residents arrested during the first iteration of a partnership to help Austin with policing duties.

Animal advocates are deeply divided over whether so-called TNR policies are a good idea. A bill signed by the governor last weekend gives them legal protection statewide.

The Austin real estate investor is a central figure in allegations that led the Texas House to impeach suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton last month. Paxton was not mentioned in the indictment.

It is not immediately clear what Paul was charged with, but Travis County officials confirmed he was being held in the jail at the request of the FBI. Paxton’s deputies accused Paul of bribing the now-suspended attorney general in 2020.

Rather than accept the House legislation as is, senators passed their own — more expansive — proposals for border security. But unless the House convenes again, the bills can’t go to the governor’s desk.

For more than a decade, Texas has been trying to slim down its youth prison system, which has been plagued by years of abuse scandals. This Legislature is reversing that course.

Seven Republicans and five Democrats make up the board of managers who will handle the prosecution in the trial, which has yet to be scheduled.

The GOP priority legislation could remove prosecutors from office if they don’t pursue certain crimes. The bill gained traction after some Democratic district attorneys said they would not prosecute abortion-related crimes.

A failure to compromise on school choice, border security and, for now, property taxes all but assures the governor will call lawmakers back for a special legislative session.

The embattled attorney general has criticized a Republican-led push that could remove him from office. The Texas House is set to debate 20 articles of impeachment at 1 p.m.

He said House members were showing “contempt for the electoral process” and accused them of sabotaging his work challenging the Biden administration.

Stifling heat has killed inmates and exacerbated employee turnover in Texas prisons. But funding for air conditioning was whittled down in the draft budget released Thursday.

Paxton is now suspended until the outcome of a trial in the Senate. Gov. Greg Abbott can now appoint someone to temporarily fill the vacancy.

Chris Hilton, head of litigation in the attorney general’s office, told reporters that lawmakers can’t oust Paxton. His comments came as a House committee met behind closed doors about its investigation into the state’s top lawyer.

Less than a year into his first term, Paxton was charged with felony securities fraud. The Justice Department is investigating bribery allegations against him as a Texas House committee conducts its own probe into his behavior.

Wednesday marks exactly a year since a mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. The community continues to grapple with the trauma and pain, and for those who lost someone that day, they’re determined to keep the memories of their loved ones alive.

The two chambers have been at odds over property tax relief and school choice, but on Tuesday night, those divisions spilled over into priorities the bodies had previously agreed upon.

The idea appeared to die in the Texas House over the weekend, but senators kept it alive by grafting the proposal on to another piece of legislation.

Despite its tendency to distort memories, hypnosis has been used on witnesses in numerous investigations, including death penalty cases. Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a similar bill in 2021.

Emotions often ran high over a proposal to limit young adults’ access to some firearms. Lawmakers have largely prioritized school safety measures, but there was still progress for some gun-related legislation.

The film, “After Uvalde: Guns, Grief and Texas Politics,” will be broadcast nationally on PBS and also available for streaming.

Evadulia Orta’s son, Rojélio Torres, died in the school shooting in Uvalde last year. Her other children still collect Pokémon cards to add to his collection, and his cousins play with his football.

Priority bills that died include a 10-year minimum sentencing for gun-related crimes, a ban on “critical race theory” at public universities and LGBTQ-related legislation. While the bills may be dead, lawmakers have a limited time to attach their ideas to legislation that are still alive.

The bill would allow for the removal of prosecutors who adopt any policy to not pursue certain crimes, including some low-level theft and drug charges. The Senate’s version will need to be reconciled with the House, which had carved out some exemptions.

Despite no major influx in border crossings, state troopers will be relocated to border cities. Austin and the Texas Department of Public Safety faced criticism for the racial disparities in state trooper arrests in the capital.

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas’ law banning sodomy in 2003. It took almost 20 years for Democrats to get a bill to repeal the defunct ban on the House calendar.

A Texas lawmaker introduced an amendment that would have revived a proposal to raise the minimum age to buy certain semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21 before it was ultimately withdrawn.

Perry’s case has become an explosive political stew of arguments over gun rights, self defense and racist social media posts. The governor dived in early, saying he would pardon Perry even before a judge handed down the sentence.

The rate of firearm-related deaths in Texas has reached a level not seen since the 1990s. Texas lawmakers have approved more than 100 bills that loosened gun restrictions since 2000.

Days after another mass shooting in Texas, the measure to raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 to purchase semi-automatic rifles appears to have failed.

Local, state and federal authorities say they are trying to determine a motive behind the fatal shooting of eight people in North Texas on Saturday.

A security guard, an engineer, and a child as young as three were among the eight victims of the shooting at the Allen outlet mall on Saturday.

The shooter’s “RWDS” patch offers troubling clues about his potential ideology — and how it might connect to views that are common among white supremacist groups.

The legislation would raise the minimum age for purchasing certain firearms but likely wouldn’t have been a hindrance to the Allen gunman obtaining a weapon. The bill still faces an uphill climb in the Legislature.

Police said it’s still not known if the driver intentionally struck the crowd of immigrants waiting at a bus stop.

Abbott announced the deployment of new “Texas Tactical Border Force” units to El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley on Monday and Tuesday.

After mall shooting, residents of the Dallas suburb are experiencing familiar rituals: mourning, anger and despair.

President Joe Biden confirmed Sunday that the shooter used an AR-15 in the attack.

The driver has been detained, but authorities say it is unclear what caused the fatal crash at a Brownsville bus stop.

The shooter was also killed by a police officer after he opened fire in Allen. Gov. Greg Abbott called the shooting “an unspeakable tragedy.”

San Antonio voters rejected by wide margins an effort to decriminalize abortion and require police to issue citations rather than make arrests for some nonviolent offenses. In El Paso, an effort to wean the city from fossil fuels fared similarly poorly.

Officials did not specify the location of his arrest on Tuesday night, but they said the suspect was being held at the Montgomery County jail where he was initially taken.

A month after the Texas Department of Public Safety began patrolling Austin streets, city officials have both praised a drop in violent crime and condemned the operation’s disparate impact on Latino and Black residents. In 2019, Dallas faced the same challenges.

In today’s episode, we discuss the problems in the Texas state agency intended to rehabilitate children who have committed crimes — and whether the Legislature is eyeing any solutions.

The governor’s focus on immigration status, not the loss of life, draws rebukes from across the country.

In the face of mass shootings in Texas, state leaders have made it easier to access guns.

“They didn’t try to fix the brokenness,” his mother says. “They just broke him more.”

Moving the most violent and troubled youths to adult prison makes it easier to help others in juvenile facilities, some prosecutors and lawmakers say. Youth justice advocates say Texas is giving up on the children who most need help.

The legislation is in response to elected prosecutors in Texas’ large, left-leaning counties who have said they will not prosecute abortion cases.

Stuck in committee, the test-strip legislation has support from Gov. Greg Abbott and bipartisan lawmakers, who see it as a way to save lives.

During a Texas Tribune event marking one year since the shooting at Robb Elementary School, parents, mental health experts and faith leaders talked about how the path to recovery isn’t the same for everybody.

Joshua Keith Beasley Jr. had been transferred from a Texas youth facility to an adult prison despite a long history of suicidal behavior. Five guards and two supervisors allegedly failed to check on him.

Wasi and his brother pray for their family’s safety as the holy month of Ramadan ends and the Taliban continues to rule Afghanistan.