Almost half of Texas' supply of execution drugs just expired
Eight doses of the state's supply of pentobarbital, the only drug used in Texas executions, expired on Thursday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Emily Albracht -
Set for execution, death row inmate alleges legal fraud in hopes of a stay
With two days left before TaiChin Preyor's scheduled execution, his lawyers have tried just about everything to stop it. That includes alleging that his previous counsel committed fraud. Full Story
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![TaiChin Preyor was sentenced to death in the 2004 slaying of Jami Tackett in Bexar County.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
Heat is part of life at Texas prisons, but federal judge orders one to cool it
Most Texas prisons remain un-air conditioned, but a federal judge's ruling Wednesday called conditions at one prison cruel and unusual and ordered temporary air conditioning for heat-sensitive inmates. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune -
Dallas getting its first female police chief with hire of Detroit deputy
Sources say that Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax has hired Detroit Deputy Chief Ulysha Renee Hall, who'll be the first female to serve as police chief in Dallas. Full Story
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![Ulysha Renee Hall was named the next Dallas police chief on July 19, 2017. She has served as a deputy chief in Detroit.]()
Credit: Detroit Police Department -
Why the murder charge against the Texas police officer who killed Jordan Edwards is rare
The former police officer who shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards has been indicted on a murder charge, a rare occurrence in a state and nation where criminal charges against an officer are almost nonexistent. Full Story
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![15-year-old Mesquite High School freshman Jordan Edwards (left) was shot and killed by Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver on April 29, 2017.]()
Credit: Mesquite High School yearbook/Facebook -
Lawmakers failed to end troubled Driver Responsibility Program
Mandy Mann thought she had paid her dues for a 2009 traffic stop. But six years later, the Waco mom was stopped and arrested — for failing to comply with the state's troubled Driver Responsibility Program. Full Story
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![It took Mandy Mann, of Waco, more than six years to resolve penalties with the flawed Driver Responsibility Program.]()
Credit: Austin Price for The Texas Tribune -
Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti to get further competency review
Texas death row inmate Scott Panetti, diagnosed with schizophrenia, will be given a new shot to prove his incompetency after a federal appeals court ruling on Tuesday. Full Story
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![Death row inmate Scott Panetti.]()
Credit: TDCJ -
With 2018 election looming, Texas back in court over political maps
Texas and its legal foes are back in court this week to hash out whether the state can hold the 2018 elections with its existing political maps. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Federal judge throws out effort by UT professors to overturn campus carry
A federal judge said that three professors suing the state to block campus carry didn't present any "concrete evidence to substantiate their fears" that the law would have a chilling effect on free speech. Full Story
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![Stephanie Odam of Austin marches in a campus carry protest in Austin, Jan 8, 2015.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich -
Analysis: The advantages of having really, really good “friends”
Raising money for a politician for non-political purposes raises a question: Were the donors politically motivated, or just friends with a lot of cash on hand? Full Story
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![AG Ken Paxton at a press conference to recognize January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month on January 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Paxton's "friends" are still helping attorney general pay for his legal defense
"Family friends" of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are continuing to pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into his effort to fight securities fraud charges. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during a news conference on Jan. 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
My grandfather was a death row doctor. He tested psychedelic drugs on Texas inmates.
An Austin-based writer's quest to learn his grandfather's story leads to death row — and a little-known series of experiments that involved giving hallucinogens to inmates in the early 1960s. Full Story
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![Photos, newspaper clippings and journal entries from Dr. Lee Hartman helped his grandson, Ben Hartman, piece together the details of his years as a prison physician and psychiatrist.]()
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Some counties question need of special courts for law enforcement
Texas police officers and other first responders who have job-related mental health issues can soon be diverted into pretrial treatment programs if they commit a crime, but many large counties don't appear interested in creating the new specialty courts. Full Story
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What the Texas Supreme Court decided — and didn't — in its 2017 term
After 10 months and 81 decisions, the Texas Supreme Court wrapped up its 2017 term on Friday. Here's a look back at what the nine justices decided — and didn't. Full Story
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School boards, cities sought to stop Gov. Abbott from signing drone bill
Organizations representing hundreds of Texas cities and school boards unsuccessfully urged Gov. Greg Abbott to veto a bill aimed at restricting drone use around the state. Full Story
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![Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi engineering student Adam Ersepke and lab coordinator Jack Edward Esparza prepare for the take off of the University’s RS-16 unmanned aerial vehicle, otherwise known as a drone, for a test flight over the Kennedy Ranch near Sarita, Texas on January 18, 2013.]()
Credit: Eddie Seal -
Texas Supreme Court rejects Tea Party challenge to campaign finance laws
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld the state’s ban on direct corporate campaign contributions, denying a challenge from a Tea Party group that called it unconstitutional. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Court throws out ruling that favored same-sex marriage benefits
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday threw out a lower court ruling that said spouses of gay and lesbian public employees are entitled to government-subsidized same-sex marriage benefits. Full Story
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![Couples embrace at the conclusion of the "Big Gay Wedding" ceremony on the south lawn of the Texas Capitol on July 4 after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in June.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa -
Trump slow to fill judicial seats in Texas (video)
All four U.S. attorney seats, 11 district judgeships and two slots on the historically conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals sit open. Full Story
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Trial date still uncertain as new judge holds first hearing in Paxton case
The securities fraud case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton kicked off Thursday in Harris County with no new trial date being set. Paxton has had two previous trial dates scrapped due to legal disputes. Full Story
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![Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton entered a federal courthouse in Sherman on Sept. 2, 2016. Paxton's lawyers argued in a hearing that the federal civil fraud case against him should be dismissed.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill for The Texas Tribune -
Perjury charge dropped against trooper who arrested Sandra Bland
Brian Encinia, the ex-trooper who arrested Sandra Bland in 2015, has had his perjury charge dropped. The prosecution moved to dismiss the charge after Encinia agreed to give up his police license. Full Story
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![Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia]()
Credit: Waller County Sheriff's Office