Texas Legislature

In hopes to provide quicker service, over 90 of DPS' 229 offices — including every mega center and "severely crowded" office — will become fully staffed, while another 100 will receive smaller personnel boosts.

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Farrar, an attorney first elected to the lower chamber in 1994, represents House District 148, which covers parts of northern and western Houston.

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Gov. Greg Abbott is a fundraising juggernaut, and Republicans still dominate campaign finance in the state.

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The council joins more than 15 Democratic state representatives who have requested a special session after the shooting in an El Paso Walmart that left 22 shoppers dead earlier this month.

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A white gunman killed 22 Hispanic shoppers at an El Paso Walmart Saturday and injured more than two dozen more. Abbott and President Donald Trump were quick to highlight mental health issues.

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In the wake of shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, the president and Congress are discussing laws blocking access to firearms for people considered an imminent threat. But here in Texas, bills that would do that have made little traction.

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Not many school districts are partnering with charter schools, in some cases because they know it wouldn't be politically palatable in their communities.

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A memo obtained by The Texas Tribune instructs DPS officers to cite and release suspects in misdemeanor marijuana cases "as appropriate." Officials said the goal is to continue enforcement even though some prosecutors aren't taking new pot cases.

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The Richmond Republican was first elected in 2006 and resigns as chairman of the powerful budget-writing House Appropriations Committee. He will serve until Sept. 30.

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Crime labs repeatedly told lawmakers and budget officials that they couldn't distinguish between hemp and marijuana without new testing resources. The issue got almost no attention.

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Prosecutors and crime lab scientists were scrambling to find a solution after a change in the state's definition of marijuana imperiled criminal cases.

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A law legalizing hemp changed the definition of marijuana, causing district attorneys across the state to drop low-level possession cases and stop accepting new ones.

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The new Criminal Justice Reform Caucus in the Texas House will set its sights on changes in 2021.

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Many prosecutors say the way Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers redefined marijuana requires new lab testing to prove it’s different from recently legalized hemp. The situation has created a patchwork of consequences for people caught with pot.

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It's the most the Republican governor has raked in during the post-session fundraising sprint.

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The new law changed the definition of marijuana, and prosecutors and crime labs say they don't have the resources to test if a substance is legal hemp or marijuana.

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Starting in September, government agencies will no longer be able to provide anything of value to abortion providers or their affiliates. Opponents of the law fear it could mean the end of some public health and education programs across the state.

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Texas made it easy for rent-to-own companies to press criminal charges against people who fell behind on their payments for household goods. A new law, passed after a Texas Tribune and NerdWallet investigation, gives broad new protections to their customers.

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In a special edition of the TribCast, Ross talks to Josh Blank, Jim Henson and Daron Shaw from the University of Texas about the findings of the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

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The state's two-year budget provided $84 million to increase salaries for correctional officers and other prison employees as the Texas Department of Criminal Justice faces nearly 4,000 empty guard positions.

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