Illinois court rejects Texas request to enforce arrest warrants against House Democrats

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

---

Illinois courts will not force Texas Democrats back to the state, a judge ruled Wednesday, dealing a blow to Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ efforts to restore the headcount necessary to pass the GOP’s new congressional map.

Burrows issued civil arrest warrants Aug. 4 for the dozens of House Democrats who left the state to deny quorum, the minimum number of people required for the House to take up legislation. Those warrants can only be enforced within state lines, making them largely symbolic for the lawmakers who had absconded to Illinois, Massachusetts and New York.

But Burrows and Paxton took the unusual step of asking courts in those states to carry out the warrants and bring the lawmakers back to Texas.

On Wednesday, Illinois Judge Scott Larson rejected the petition, ruling that Paxton and Burrows had “failed to present a legal basis for the court” to take up the issue.

Illinois courts’ cannot consider whether “foreign legislators” were willfully evading their duties, and they cannot direct Illinois law enforcement to execute civil quorum warrants upon “nonresidents temporarily located in the State of Illinois,” Larson said, noting that the warrants specifically say they are to be enforced within Texas. Even if the court were to take up the case, which Larson ruled it lacks the ability to do, the response would be a ruling on whether the lawmakers are willfully disobeying a court order — not an order returning them to Texas as Paxton and Burrows demanded, Larson said.

Spokespeople for Paxton and Burrows did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit was filed in Illinois’ westernmost county, four and a half hours away from the Chicago suburb where the Democrats have camped out. The county voted for Trump by 47 percentage points in 2024, suggesting Paxton was seeking a friendlier venue than he might have found in DuPage County — where the Democrats are staying — which went for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by 14 points.

The Legislature is winding down its first 30-day special session, which was abruptly interrupted by the Democrats’ quorum break. Burrows has said he will adjourn the session Friday if there is no quorum, and Gov. Greg Abbott has promised to call lawmakers back immediately for another overtime round.

The new congressional map, drawn after pressure from President Donald Trump, aims to give Republicans five additional seats to shore up the party’s slim majority in the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterms.

---

More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year’s lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of “CNN NewsNight”; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today!

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.