A Bexar County district judge on Friday ruled that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton does not have the legal authority to sue Bexar County over its immigration legal services fund, blocking the state’s attempt to halt county funding for the initiative.
Mary Lou Alvarez of the 45th Civil District Court granted the county’s motion requiring the attorney general to show his authority to bring the lawsuit, finding Paxton’s office failed to identify any constitutional or statutory basis allowing it to sue the county in this case.
Under the judge’s order, Paxton and attorneys from his office may no longer appear in the case on behalf of the state. The court set a status hearing for Feb. 27 at 1:30 p.m., giving any party with proper authority the opportunity to appear. If no authorized party does so, the state’s pleadings will be struck.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said the decision reinforces the county’s position that its immigration legal services program serves a public purpose.
“We have a ruling that supports our legal position and our support for children and families,” Sakai said. “Today, Bexar County has an immigration legal services program that serves a public purpose for children and families.”
County attorneys emphasized that the ruling did not address the merits of the attorney general’s claims, including allegations that the program violates the Texas Constitution’s Gift Clause. Instead, the judge halted the case at the threshold question of whether Paxton has the authority to bring it at all.
“The Texas attorney general, under our constitution, has limited authority,” said Lisa Cubriel, the assistant civil district attorney who argued the case for the county. “Absent express constitutional authority or authority provided through the Texas Legislature, He doesn’t have the authority to just sue counties on their use of discretionary funding decisions.”
Larry Roberson, chief of the county’s civil division, noted that the case has not yet been fully dismissed, with the Feb. 27 hearing allowing time for a party with proper authority to appear. He added that, to his knowledge, no such agency exists that could step in and continue the case.
During the hearing, county attorneys argued that Paxton’s office improperly relied on the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Paxton v. Annunciation House, which addressed the attorney general’s authority in a different legal context involving a nonprofit organization.
Judge Alvarez repeatedly pressed Paxton’s counsel to point to specific constitutional or statutory language — or pinpoint citations in that opinion — authorizing the attorney general to sue Bexar County over discretionary budget decisions. The court ultimately ruled that broad references to case law or claims of inherent authority were insufficient absent an express grant of power from the Constitution or Legislature.
The lawsuit was originally filed to challenge Bexar County’s decision to allocate more than $566,000 to its Immigration Legal Services Fund, which supports legal representation for immigrants facing federal deportation proceedings through a contract with American Gateways.
County funding for the program is set to expire on Feb. 28.
“It’s been in place for over a year. Here we are — the attorney general filed suit in early February, and it ends Feb. 28,” said Roberson. “We’ve wasted a tremendous amount of judicial resources, litigation resources and resources from the attorney general’s office — for a contract that ends in eight days, five business days, next Friday.”
Sakai said decisions about the future of the fund will be considered after the next hearing.
“Today we went to the court system to defend Bexar County and defend the Commission’s Court decision to provide services for those children and families,” he said. “We have won today and we’ll be back in about a week, and then we will decide what future services are needed.”
