Can Texas lottery winners sell all of their payments to private finance companies? State attorneys say no. A state appeals court says yes. The Texas Supreme Court will decide.
Criminal Justice
Get the latest Texas Tribune coverage on criminal justice, including crime, courts, law enforcement, and reforms shaping the state’s justice system.
Mapmaker, Mapmaker
Think like the political pros and your mind will go to the long game instead of the short one. The short game is the elections of 2010. The long game is redistricting in 2011, when maps are drawn that corral the voters into the districts that will elect legislators for the next ten years.
USDA Approved: Jail Construction
Some Texas sheriffs are looking to an unlikely source to get them out of the hole as private prisons win away federal contracts for inmates and put the financial squeeze on county jails.
TribBlog: What Fredo Learned
Alberto Gonzales — remember him? — in Esquire.
HuTube: Shot Blocker
Gotta hand it to these young Republicans for not letting a bitter battle between their bosses get in the way of polite pleasantries on the street.
On the Records: What He Said
Data: Make it available. Make it usable. Make it meaningful. Share.
On the Records: A View Behind the Cameras
How we built the red-light camera app. Download the data and build your own — or embed ours as an iframe.
On the Records: A Data Challenge for Texas
What are state and local governments in Texas doing to make raw data available to the public? Not much.
The Brief: December 3, 2009
The season for speculating is drawing to an end. Politicians, it’s time to stake your claim.
TribBlog: A Felony For You, a Felony For Me
Criminal justice blogger Scott Henson is reporting on Grits For Breakfast that lawmakers put 59 new felonies on the books during the last legislative session.

