Archive

Houston’s new limits on HPD cooperation with ICE drew a Senate Bill 4 lawsuit from the Attorney General and a state funding ultimatum, while West Texas plaintiffs challenged Big Bend border-barrier plans in federal court and regulators advanced transmission-cost and environmental-enforcement tracks that will shape compliance budgets into summer.

The Court of Criminal Appeals vacated a Harris County death sentence after decades on the row, Travis County paused DSHS smokable hemp rules, SNAP purchase restrictions took effect statewide, and federal subpoenas for voter records spread through Texas counties while Houston’s new ICE cooperation limits collided with state enforcement.

Texas moved multiple legal clocks at once: SB 12 drag-ban enforcement began, the Texas Supreme Court affirmed the Attorney General's civil investigative demand against PFLAG, a cousin's confession intensified capital post-conviction pressure before a scheduled execution, and DSHS set a hard March 31 cliff for smokable hemp while voucher and EPIC land-use fights escalated.

The Fifth Circuit lifted the injunction on Texas's SB 12 drag ban while a federal court simultaneously enjoined SB 664's fake-meat labeling law — the same First Amendment clause producing opposite outcomes in the same week, alongside a certified LLC bankruptcy-exemption question accepted by the Texas Supreme Court.

New Rule 166a summary judgment reforms took effect imposing mandatory 21-day response and 90-day ruling deadlines, while the Texas Supreme Court issued emergency election orders during the March 2026 primary elections.

Launch edition — Legally Brief: Texas is now live.