Fighting federal civil fraud allegations, Attorney General Ken Paxton is zeroing in on state Rep. Byron Cook’s credibility in a new push to discredit the latest claims.
Courts
Stay up to date on Texas courts with in-depth coverage of major rulings, judicial elections, criminal justice, and the judges shaping state law from The Texas Tribune.
Texas wages a war on drugs at the border. That might be the wrong place.
An estimated 1.6 million adult Texans have substance use disorders, many addicted to drugs that arrive illegally from Mexico.
New program moves women from prison to life
Before they can earn their freedom, about 40 Texas prisoners will be the first to complete a six-month program that focuses on decision-making and life skills.
Waco man’s death sentence, conviction thrown out over seizure of texts
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the conviction and death sentence of a Waco man Friday after ruling that the trial court’s admission of text messages was unconstitutional because they were seized without a warrant.
Immigration detention centers will continue operating despite judge’s ruling
Two immigration detention centers in Texas will continue their day-to-day operations despite a Travis County judgeโs ruling last week that denied the facilities state licenses.
Greg Abbott appoints new Dallas County district attorney
Republican Faith Johnson, a former state district court judge, will finish the term of Dallas District Attorney Susan Hawk, who resigned in September after taking medical leaves to treat depression and mood disorder.
Revised screening, vigilance lead to drop in Texas jail suicides
Texas county jails have seen an almost 60 percent decrease in suicides from last year.
Execution halted again for Dallas man who killed his daughters
John Battaglia shot and killed his two young daughters in 2001. He now has another chance to prove he is mentally incompetent to be executed.
Lawmakers hope to enact port-staffing bill before Trump takes over
The race is on for Texas lawmakers to pass legislation to beef up staffing and improve facilities at the country’s land ports while President Obama is still around to sign it.
Waller County wins fight to keep courthouse gun ban. Maybe.
A district court judge in Waller County says it can ban guns at its courthouse, but Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to convince another court in Travis County to disagree.


