Weekly News Round Up Of The State’s Top Law Enforcement Officer – Texas Attorney General

“The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed for all Americans, including college students, and the 5th Circuit’s decision…”

Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton is the lawyer for the State of Texas and is charged by the Texas Constitution to:

• defend the laws and the Constitution of the State of Texas
• represent the State in litigation
• approve public bond issues

To fulfill these responsibilities, the Office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to all boards and agencies of state government, issues legal opinions when requested by the Governor, heads of state agencies and other officials and agencies as provided by Texas statutes.

The Texas AG sits as an ex-officio member of state committees and commissions, and defends challenges to state laws and suits against both state agencies and individual employees of the State.

Many Texans look to the Office of the Attorney General for guidance with disputes and legal issues. The agency receives hundreds of letters, phone calls and visits each week about crime victims’ compensation, child support, abuse in nursing homes, possible consumer fraud and other topics.

To find out more about the Texas Attorney General, visit the official website at https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/.

WEEKLY NEWS ROUND-UP OF THE STATE’S

TOP LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER…

THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL

AG Paxton Files Court Brief to Safeguard Women’s Health and Protect the Unborn in Texas

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton last night filed a motion in U.S. District Court asking for dismissal of Whole Woman’s Health’s lawsuit challenging almost all abortion laws and regulations in Texas.

“Whole Woman’s Health is attempting to circumvent the democratic process and use the courts to change dozens of laws passed by the people’s representatives in the Texas Legislature,” said Attorney General Paxton.

Whole Woman’s Health is challenging more than 60 individual state laws or regulations in 19 different categories, including the parental consent requirement for minors, 24-hour waiting period, ultrasound requirement, and criminal penalties for non-compliance. Abortion clinics throughout Texas already comply with the current laws and, in some cases, they have been doing so for decades. For instance, abortion facilities have been required to meet state licensing requirements and report certain data to the state since 1985. The U.S. Supreme Court has already upheld laws like many of those challenged.

Some of the challenged laws include the state’s requirement that abortion providers sterilize their instruments, provide patients access to their medical records, the opportunity to ask questions and the right to be free from discrimination in their treatment.

“The financial interests of abortion doctors or their profit margins should never take precedence over women’s safety and well-being,” said Attorney General Paxton. “It’s shameful that Whole Woman’s Health no longer wants to comply with these common-sense regulations of abortion practice, many of which have previously been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

View a copy of the motion to dismiss here: https://bit.ly/2MZoqtY

NOTIFICATION OF OPINION: Whether sections 46.02 and 46.03 of the Penal Code apply to presiding election judges licensed to carry a handgun under chapter 411 of the Government Code

KP-0212

The original request: ( RQ-0214-KP)

Summary: Section 46.03 of the Penal Code, which creates an offense for carrying firearms at multiple locations including a polling place, does not apply to presiding election judges licensed under chapter 411 of the Government Code when performing their duties under section 32.075(a) of the Election Code.

Subsections 46.035(a-l), (a-2), and (a-3) of the Penal Code prohibit a presiding election judge from openly carrying a handgun on any institution of higher education campus and from carrying a concealed handgun in a location on campus where the institution prohibits carrying a handgun by rule.

Sections 30.06 and 30.07 of the Penal Code could prohibit a presiding election judge from carrying a handgun to a polling location on private property if proper notice was given under those sections.

AG Paxton Challenges Arbitrary EPA Ozone Rule for San Antonio in the Fifth Circuit

AUSTIN – Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed a petition against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit of the EPA’s final action designating Bexar County a nonattainment area for the 2015 national ambient air quality standard for ground-level ozone.

The Governor previously designated Bexar County an attainment area for this standard, and the EPA overrode that designation. If allowed to stand, the EPA’s designation would impose an unwarranted financial burden on the Texas economy with minimal, if any, public health benefit.

Eight Texas counties are affected by the air quality designations made by the EPA in the ruling challenged by the state: Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Guadalupe, Comal, Kendall, Medina, and Wilson. Of those counties, only Bexar was designated nonattainment, an action that threatens unnecessary regulatory burdens, federal penalties, lost highway dollars, restriction on infrastructure investment, and increased costs to businesses.

“The ozone rule will force costly regulations on a number of Texas counties,” Attorney General Paxton said. “We are continually and successfully reducing ambient ozone concentrations without stifling economic or population growth, and we will continue to do so without the EPA’s overreaching regulations.”

Texas has clearly demonstrated that it can clean its air without harming the energy sector. Nitrogen oxides and ozone levels have both decreased over the past 18 years and Texans are breathing increasingly cleaner air.

The Texas Attorney General’s Office challenged the EPA’s underlying ozone rule on December 23, 2015 on behalf of the state and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

In addition to Texas, the following states filed separate lawsuits against the 2015 rule: Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin. In June 2017, the EPA decided to give states more time to comply with the National Ambient Air Quality Standard.

To view a copy of the petition, click here: https://bit.ly/2PJKfwj

REQUEST FOR AN OPINION: Whether a commissioners court has a duty to maintain public roads

RQ-0245-KP

Received: Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Re: Whether a commissioners court has a duty to maintain public roads

Requestor: The Honorable Natalie C. Koehler
Bosque County Attorney
Post Office Box 215
Meridian, Texas 76665