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Well, this is what we have been clamoring about. Thanks for posting dhoobler!

Amazing! The AG's office has taken some strong stances against some of the county governments. It seems as if some of the criticism against Mr. Paxton was out of place. He may be moving slow, but at least he is giving notice. I'll bet there will be more to come out of all this dust.

Lynyrd wrote:
Amazing! The AG's office has taken some strong stances against some of the county governments. It seems as if some of the criticism against Mr. Paxton was out of place. He may be moving slow, but at least he is giving notice. I'll bet there will be more to come out of all this dust.

I guess the wheels of justice do turn slow, but I like the fact that there is action being taken. hopefully, most of the cities and counties still in violation will take heed, and start removing signs before they get the letters detailing their fines.

Great post dhoobler!!

Yep, big front page article in the Waco Trib today about McLennan County being told they cannot ban license holders everywhere in the courthouse or annex.

As a side note, the county records building across the street (vehicle registration, etc.) used to be posted 30.06, but that sign was removed some time ago.

Thanks for the link dhoobler! Do you know how long this page has been up? I was looking for something like this last week and didn't find it.

I haven't been to the main court house in Cleburne in quite a while, there is a sub court house in Alvarado, that was posted 30.06 before the law changed, they now only have signage on the door to the Justice of the peace courtroom, and they put up temporary signs at the entry to the polling section when they had primary voting in February.

Quick we need to get rid of this guy. 5 months is too long and he let the Dallas Zoo be a an amusement park. And the Democrats say he is the latest Bernie Madoff hence his indictment in Collin County. We need to elect a non-lawyer as AG.

ScottDLS wrote:Quick we need to get rid of this guy. 5 months is too long and he let the Dallas Zoo be a an amusement park. And the Democrats say he is the latest Bernie Madoff hence his indictment in Collin County. We need to elect a non-lawyer as AG.

A non-lawyer attorney general. That's a novel idea.

ScottDLS wrote:Quick we need to get rid of this guy. 5 months is too long and he let the Dallas Zoo be a an amusement park. And the Democrats say he is the latest Bernie Madoff hence his indictment in Collin County. We need to elect a non-lawyer as AG.

I share your frustration with the 5 month delay. But my bigger frustration is with the limitations of the law itself. I think the real fix needs to be done in the legislature. And should focus on some of the following modifications:

1. Fines should be payable directly to the individual(s) filing the complaint.

2. Fines should be applied retroactively starting from the first day the illegal sign was put up. If it takes the AG 5 months to decide the case and the city immediately pulls the sign down after that, they are on the hook for 5 months of fines. This is similar to a lot of other laws where the penalty starts with the first day of infringement, not much later after an official ruling has been made.

3. Some incompetent and/or dishonest judges have shown that they are incapable of applying the definition of "court premises" in a fair and unbiased manner. Thus, we unfortunately need to take that discretion away from judges. Establish clear, minimum requirements that must be met to qualify as a court premises, and establish a punishment mechanism for judges that choose to violate the law. Censure, fines, or maybe even a short, mandatory jail stint.

4. Eliminate the amusement park and educational institution loopholes that are now being abused.

We need to punish the parties responsible for this illegal behavior. Right now, they have no fear of any consequences for violations and they are acting accordingly.

ScottDLS wrote:Quick we need to get rid of this guy. 5 months is too long and he let the Dallas Zoo be a an amusement park. And the Democrats say he is the latest Bernie Madoff hence his indictment in Collin County. We need to elect a non-lawyer as AG.

I do not care what the democrats say. Much of the aggression against Paxton originated as the result of one of Joe Straus' lieutenants, Byron Cook. You may want to do some research on the history between Cook and Paxton. Much of the talk and stir has been initiated by the RINOS and the dems have jumped on-board.

While 5 months seems like a long time, it really isn't in the grand scheme of things. Yes, I would have like for it to happen sooner but government normally moves slow.

AG Paxton did not "let" Dallas Zoo do anything. The requirements for an "amusement park" were drawn very plainly, and he adhered closely to those in his opinion. This is problem for the legislature, not the AG.

AG Paxton also adhered closely to the law with respect to the courtroom and court offices, much to the consternation of a number of county commissioners and others.. This is a much more challenging determination, and I applaud him for it. It would have been very easy for him to go along with the notion that mult-use buildings are off limits entirely, but he stuck closely to the law -- as he did with "amusement parks."

Good on him.

ELB wrote:AG Paxton did not "let" Dallas Zoo do anything. The requirements for an "amusement park" were drawn very plainly, and he adhered closely to those in his opinion. This is problem for the legislature, not the AG.

AG Paxton also adhered closely to the law with respect to the courtroom and court offices, much to the consternation of a number of county commissioners and others.. This is a much more challenging determination, and I applaud him for it. It would have been very easy for him to go along with the notion that mult-use buildings are off limits entirely, but he stuck closely to the law -- as he did with "amusement parks."

Good on him.

At the moment, the AG has published 10 letters.

Six of the letters note that the offending government entities voluntarily complied with the law after a citizen complaint was sent in to the AG, and no further action is needed. Most involved regular government offices, but one involved a gun show at a government venue (Pasadena Convention Center). This one is important, I think, because the AG notes in his letter that not only were the offending signs removed after the show was over, but the city attorney stated that the gun show operator was told he would not be able to post those signs in the future. That's an important precedent, I think, for situations that involve short term violations.

Three of the letters are for multi-purpose government buildings, ones that house not only a court and its offices, but non-court-essential operations as well. Here the AG has drawn a line and told them that they may not make the entire building off limits because it houses a court somewhere, and essentially that they are abusing their discretion to determine which offices are essential to the operation of a court. I kind of think Dallas, being a bigger, richer government used to spending its citizens' money (!) will challenge this in court. The other two, McLennan and Brazos, I would normally expect to be more prone to not challenge this, but if Dallas does, they will likely try to join Dallas in court or ask the AG to hold off court action until the Dallas case is decided.

The final letter is about the Dallas Zoo and its status as an amusement park, so no violation and they keep their signs until the legislature decides to act.

ELB wrote:Thanks for the link dhoobler! Do you know how long this page has been up? I was looking for something like this last week and didn't find it.

To be honest, I don't know how long the link has been up. I looked for it recently like everyone else over the past few weeks and came up short. I stumbled across it today.