News

AUSTIN – Attorney General Paxton filed a Virginia-led amicus brief with the Richmond, VA-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in support of race-neutral, meritocratic public-school admissions criteria. One Virginia school district, however, sought to “redefine merit” in order to reduce Asian-American enrollment and increase other favored racial minorities. The district’s goal was to move away from “equality” and toward racial “equity.” The district was sued and, fortunately, lost. It is now appealing, and Texas and other states argue that the lower court’s ruling should be affirmed.

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an Indiana-led amicus brief with the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit defending the privacy and safety of boys and girls using sex-segregated restrooms in public schools. In this case, a federal district court barred a school district from requiring school restrooms separated by sex, concluding that the separation violated federal statutes and the U.S. Constitution. The school district appealed, and Attorney General Paxton filed his brief in support of the district, urging the Court of Appeals to reverse the lower court’s decision.

AUSTIN - Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Kevin Robnett to the Texas Mutual Insurance Company Board of Directors for a term set to expire on July 1, 2027. The company provides a stable, competitive source of workers’ compensation insurance for Texas employers, acts as an insurer of last resort, and helps to prevent on-the-job injuries and illnesses and minimize their consequences.

GLEN ROSE — On the same day as voting in a county-wide burn ban, the Somervell County commissioners passed a ban on fireworks. Working on the counsel handed down from the Texas Forest Service, which determined drought conditions existed in the county, in its regularly scheduled meeting on June 13, the commissioners unanimously adopted the order “prohibiting or restricting the sale or use of restricted fireworks in the unincorporated areas of Somervell County.

AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton joined a multistate letter urging the United States Senate to oppose President Biden’s nominee for Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Steven Dettelbach. Dettelbach has a long history of anti-Second Amendment activism. This is Biden’s second anti-gun nominee to the post, a clear indication that the Administration is devoted to stripping Americans of their God-given rights protected under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.

GLEN ROSE — Somervell County is back under a burn ban. With the recent triple-digit temperatures and triple-digit forecast with no rain in sight, the Somervell County Commissioners imposed a burn ban effective Monday, June 13.