The Department of Family and Protective Service’s action comes four months after it placed EMPOWER into receivership in the wake of the deaths of two children under its care and staffing problems.

Lawmakers and experts pin the blame for rising insurance costs on health companies consolidating and creating less competition.

Charles Flores argued that his conviction was improperly based on testimony from a witness who changed her recollection after hypnosis by an investigator.

Charles Flores wants to use Texas’ “junk science” law to appeal his conviction, saying it was improperly based on testimony from a neighbor who was hypnotized by police.

A clerical error in Fort Bend County’s voting system during a runoff election caused a two-hour outage, temporarily preventing some voters from casting ballots and necessitating manual updates to voter roll data at all polling locations.

Edward Busby was executed by lethal injection Thursday, reinforcing Texas’ position as the nation's leader in capital punishment.

Sheriff Marian Brown said her office, which already cooperates with federal immigration authorities, has until Dec. 1 to act.

West faced opposition after backing countywide polling sites for the runoff, following a chaotic precinct-based primary.

Waller County, near Houston, was the second fastest growing county in the U.S. Another three Texas counties were among the 10 fastest growing in U.S.

The state does not track the prevalence or provide guidance on the issue, leaving inmates to languish in jail and eventually sue counties for damages.

Voters in the May 26 primary runoff will be allowed to again cast ballots at countywide voting sites on election day.

Countywide vote centers weren’t used for election day. The ensuing disorder spurred an unresolved legal battle.

Dallas and Williamson counties closed centralized voting centers, which had become a common practice, at the request of local Republicans.

Longtime Sen. John Cornyn and MAGA favorite Ken Paxton are heading to a May runoff in Texas’ Republican Senate primary, while Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico are in a close race for the Democratic nomination.

Officials have declared that a Texas Black man executed nearly 70 years ago is innocent in a case prosecutors now say was based on false evidence and riddled with racial bias.

Dallas and Williamson county Republicans are shifting away from using countywide voting sites on Election Day for Texas’ March 3 primary. Democrats will have to fall in line.

Dallas is the second Texas county to sue over public health cuts after a judge ordered the Trump administration to return $20 million to Harris County last summer.

Dallas County Republican Chairman Allen West cited cost, staffing, and logistics concerns for the decision.

ICE agents are arresting more immigrants on the streets and at routine check-ins than under President Biden. But most of them don’t have criminal convictions despite pledges to pursue “the worst of the worst.”

Suburban officials in the Dallas-Fort Worth region have enacted rules aimed at curtailing a sweeping new state law to allow more apartments.

The election official, who previously worked in Tarrant County, won praise for pushing back on misinformation.

Over half of the district attorneys affected by the rule filed lawsuits challenging it, saying it violates state and federal law.

Predictions of a dangerous weekend weather came true as a dynamic storm system spawned tornadoes, dust storms and wildfires that killed more than 40 people across eight states.

Texas decertified a widely used electronic pollbook after problems in November. Will a fix arrive in time for the next election?

A Bexar County election worker was assaulted Thursday, officials said. In Tarrant County, officials encouraged voters to review their ballots before voting.

A Texas Juvenile Justice Department report says Dallas County officers kept kids in their sleeping quarters for days at a time and faked school attendance logs.

With the State Fair opening in less than a month, the Attorney General is asking a Dallas County judge to overturn the ban on guns.

In limited instances, the choices some Texas voters make can later be identified using public, legally available data.

At least 76 polling places in four counties closed after the weather left hundreds of thousands of North Texans without power.

Storms with damaging winds and baseball-sized hail have pummeled Texas again.

Since 2019, accidental drug deaths have been rising in Texas, with the number tripling in Travis County.

In the state’s larger counties, voters can now elect people to the agencies that appraise property values.

In a district composed mostly of communities of color, Neave Criado hopes to topple Johnson with her stances on immigration, domestic violence and women’s issues.

Some environmental experts are skeptical that Texas can meet the new rules on particulate matter, which can cause serious respiratory problems.

EPA scientists went fishing to begin a study of how pollution from a group of concrete batch plants impacts human health.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously held that federal courts can’t weigh in on the constitutionality of the county’s pre-trial processes.

The University of Texas at Dallas replaced three boulders — known as the Spirit Rocks — with trees, citing “extended political discourse.” Students say the quirky public square is a frequent venue for political messaging.

The Democratic congressman from Dallas talked about the race he hopes to run against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Tuesday that a Harris County convicted murderer is accused in the killing of a Texas serial killer.

Several of Texas’ largest cities sought to put in place mask requirements, which Gov. Greg Abbott overturned. The ruling is a legal win for Republicans in Austin their ongoing symbolic fight with cities, often run by Democrats.

The county that encompasses Manhattan added more than 17,000 residents in the year ending last July.

During a deadly storm system that spawned tornadoes across parts of the U.S. South, Zakiya Sankara-Jabar’s cellphone buzzed relentlessly.

In Texas, 45.7% of the 17.7 million registered voters cast ballots in the 2022 midterm election. That’s 7.3 percentage points lower than the state’s total turnout in 2018 but higher than in every other midterm election in the last 20 years.

In three key local elections, the Austin mayoral race will be decided in a runoff, Republican Tim O’Hare won the Tarrant County judge race and Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins won reelection.

Authorities say two Dallas hospital employees were fatally shot over the weekend by a 30-year-old man who opened fire after accusing his girlfriend who had just given birth of infidelity.

GOP candidate Lauren Davis’ campaign surfaced a Waco police report about a prank for which Jenkins apologized in 2010. He says he was only wearing camouflage at the time.

The declaration covers 23 counties across the state and comes after some saw more than 10 inches of rainfall Monday.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins declared a state of disaster in the region, and Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state’s emergency operations center to be ready to support communities impacted by the flooding.

Heavy rain across the drought-stricken Dallas-Fort Worth area is causing streets to flood and submerging vehicles as officials warn motorists to stay off the roads.

While there are currently 780 confirmed monkeypox cases statewide, Texas cities are bracing for an increase in infections.

Frederick Frazier’s runoff opponent accused him of posing as a city code compliance officer to get campaign signs taken down. Frazier said his opponent is to blame in the case.

A Dallas County resident has contracted the first case of monkeypox reported in Texas.

With the Texas case reported Tuesday, about 35 cases have now been identified across 14 states and Washington, D.C., this year, according to the CDC.

The three men are accused of using excessive force during May 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd.

Texas has confirmed its first case of West Nile virus of 2022 in Dallas County, according to Dallas County Health and Human Services.

In just 16 of the state’s largest counties, more than 18,000 mail-in ballots were rejected, most for failing to meet the new law’s ID requirements. A full statewide tally isn’t yet available.

The world knows the city of Selma, Alabama, as a historic beacon in the struggle for voting rights.

In some voting locations where a party’s appointed polling judge didn’t show up, election officials allowed the other party’s judge to operate both parties’ voting machines in an effort to keep the polling place running.

The federal agency’s new guidance says most healthy Americans don’t need to wear masks in public. It marks a turning point in the pandemic.

Authorities say they arrested a 60-year-old Dallas man on a capital murder charge in the 1984 killing of a 21-year-old woman after linking him to the crime through genealogical databases.

As 2021 comes to a close, here’s a look back at just some of our favorite images captured by Texas Tribune photographers all over the state — and across the nation — to tell the stories of Texans in a challenging year.

Most local officials insist they still have testing capacity at their public testing sites, but Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said demand has outpaced supply.

Dallas-area Latinos hoped their growing numbers would finally translate into political clout this year through the creation of a new congressional district anchored by their communities. Instead, their neighborhoods were splintered between numerous white-majority districts.

Texas Attorney General Paxton will discuss an opioid settlement on Tuesday at Houston Recovery Center.

Officials in some counties targeted by audits accuse Republican Texas leaders of pandering to conspiracy theorists and undermining faith in elections. They also say the secretary of state’s office hasn’t provided details on what the audits entail.

Angela Graham-West, wife of GOP gubernatorial candidate Allen West, was arrested by Dallas Police Friday night for allegedly driving while intoxicated. Allen West said she hadn’t been drinking, that her three-month-old grandson was in the car with her, and called the arrest “insidious.”

Back-and-forth legal rulings have left some school districts with the choice of flouting Abbott and mandating masks — or waiting for the dust to settle.

In the face of skyrocketing hospitalizations, the heads of cities, counties and school districts have grown desperate for ways to contain the virus.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday the filing of a mandamus petition the 5th Court of Appeals to strike down the actions by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, according to a release.

COVID-19 is surging again in Texas. Hospitalizations are increasing faster than at any other time. Local officials and school leaders are pushing back against Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask mandates. Here’s the latest.

The local officials are asking for courts to rule that Abbott’s ban on local mask mandates is unenforceable.

The Texas Department of State Health Services has announced that the first case of West Nile has been reported in the state.

COVID-19 cases have been increasing in Texas and nationally — mostly among unvaccinated people — as the highly contagious delta variant has become dominant. Here's what that means for Texans, both vaccinated and unvaccinated.

A single case of monkeypox has been reported in Dallas County, Texas health officials said Friday.

Their Texas swing is part of a larger effort by senior administration officials who are fanning out across the country this week to encourage vaccinations ahead of the administration’s self-imposed goal of hitting a 70% countrywide vaccination rate by July 4.

A judge on Wednesday ordered the release of a former Dallas police officer accused of ordering two killings in 2017.

A man has been arrested after leading Dallas police officers on a high-speed chase in a stolen ambulance.

(AP Photo/LM Otero)AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – More than 10 million coronavirus vaccinations have been administered in Texas, and more than 1 million more doses are expected in the state next week, the state’s health department said Saturday. More than 3.5 million people in the state are fully vaccinated according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. On Monday, Texas will begin making the vaccine available to everyone in the state aged 16 and older. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows there have been 47,947 COVID-19 related deaths in Texas, the third most in the United States. AdThe state health department has reported more than 2.7 million total virus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

The mythic idea of “herd immunity” from COVID-19 in the long journey back to normal may be out of reach for Texas any time soon, state health officials and medical experts say. “We do not know when, or if, Texas will reach herd immunity through vaccination,” Chief State Epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Shuford told The Texas Tribune in an emailed statement. Ad“The key here is that you really want to vaccinate as many people as you can to strive for herd immunity,” he said, “but we still have more information that needs to be discovered before we say, ‘OK. “Therefore, you could potentially start gradually loosening up things once the pressure on the hospitals has significantly decreased even in the absence of full herd immunity." At that point, Abbott added, the state can start “very quickly” making vaccines available to a broader swath of the population.

Long lines of people waited to receive their COVID-19 vaccine at Fair Park, where Dallas County opened its first ìmegaî vaccination site. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas TribNeed to stay updated on coronavirus news in Texas? Greg Abbott praised the state’s vaccine rollout as officials warned the COVID-19 pandemic is at its worst here. Texas is outpacing other states in administering the vaccine, last week topping 1 million total doses administered. In the letter to Garcia, Patrick thanked Abbott for his “leadership” on the state’s vaccine distribution plan and hailed state officials for doing a “good job” on vaccine rollout — “better than most states,” Patrick said.

Many Dallas County seniors received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination site at Fair Park in Dallas. A divided Dallas County Commissioners Court had voted Tuesday to prioritize vaccines at its Fair Park distribution center for individuals in mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods, a reflection of increased vulnerability to the coronavirus in 11 Dallas County ZIP codes, according to the Dallas Morning News. But Texas health officials pushed back on the proposal, warning that it was “not acceptable to [the Department of State Health Services. Her letter came after County Judge Clay Jenkins wrote to state officials asking whether the county’s plan was permissible. The county government is responsible for just 10% of the vaccines distributed in Dallas County.

The Dallas County health department reported 33 available intensive care beds on Sunday for the county’s 2.6 million residents. Jenkins said most Dallas County businesses are likewise adhering to Abbott’s restrictions. But many county officials, including Jenkins, said bars are openly flouting guidelines and the TABC is not enforcing the rules. In most cases, local officials said they focus on educating wrongdoers instead of punishing them. Meanwhile, the city reported 245 people hospitalized with the virus on Sunday, down from a peak of 360 in late November but still enough to concern local health officials.

Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas TribuneKathy Schneider worked as a Dallas County election clerk in 2018, but out of concern about the coronavirus, she’s choosing not to this year. Texas is preparing for a general election for which election officials are expecting unprecedented turnout — and unprecedented demand for election workers. In Hidalgo County, officials are hoping for around 800 election workers, nearly doubling the number from past general elections. Counties set their own wages for their election workers, but they have to pay at least the federal minimum wage. You can use this tool to find your county’s contact and election worker information.

The company had filed thousands of lawsuits against borrowers after they fell behind on payments, including throughout the pandemic. Yet the states justice courts are excluded from this requirement, making a complete accounting of debt lawsuits impossible unless the states 803 justice courts choose to make their records public. In eight of the nine counties, Oportun Inc. was a top filer of lawsuits during the pandemic. (In Denton County, where Oportun filed comparatively fewer suits, the company has just one retail location.) All told, Oportun filed more lawsuits than any other personal loan company and was the second-most litigious company overall during the pandemic and the first six months of the year.

Dallas County officials have prohibited schools this year from having in-person classes until Sept. 8. Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson for The Texas TribuneDallas County health officials announced Friday that all public and private schools in the county must keep their classrooms closed through Sept. 7, according to a press release from Dallas County Health and Human Services. Travis County barred in-person classes in public and private schools through Labor Day. Hidalgo County health officials said Tuesday that local schools must keep their classrooms closed through Sept. 27. Houston ISD announced Wednesday that it would start the year with six weeks of virtual classes right after Labor Day, subject to change if state or local officials issue other guidance.

DALLAS Three women arrested amid protests against racism and police violence sued the city of Dallas and Dallas County on Tuesday in a challenge to the Texas anti-rioting law. He died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck even after he said he couldn't breathe and stopped moving. The women were highlighted in a Dallas Morning News story among hundreds of people who police arrested during protests last month but later declined to charge. Their class action suit claims police selectively enforced Texas' anti-rioting law in a way that targeted activities protected by the First Amendment. The women also request unspecified other relief.The Dallas city attorney and the Dallas County judges offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

HOUSTON – “We may be approaching the precipice, the precipice of disaster.”Those were the ominous words Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo used Thursday while unveiled a new COVID-19 threat level system. But Hidalgo warned if current trends continue, she may elevate the threat level to red, which means a recommendation that everyone stay home. Right now, that county’s threat level is red due its current COVID-19 situation. The state of Utah has been using a colored COVID-19 system since April, but individual counties can be at different levels. Hidalgo said she assesses the threat level every day.

Megan Hicks for The Texas TribuneWhat you need to know Monday:No consensus on whether El Paso is ready to reopenGov. Greg Abbott had given El Paso County and the Amarillo area two of the state's biggest recent COVID-19 hot spots a temporary reprieve from implementing Texas' next phase of reopening. While Abbott said the Amarillo area had "turned a corner," the picture in the El Paso area wasn't as clear. El Paso Mayor Dee Margo, on the other hand, said the situation in El Paso is more manageable now. Texas reported 1,949 more cases of the new coronavirus Sunday the highest increase since the state began reporting coronavirus case counts.

“While local officials possess certain limited emergency powers, those powers do not authorize a county judge to amend state law that the Legislature has expressly removed from local control,” Paxton explained in his nonbinding opinion. “To the extent that the Dallas County Order attempts to do so, a court would likely find it invalid and unenforceable.”The restrictions on the Dallas-area stores were included in Jenkins’ amended order last month. Jenkins said the pawn shops could resume operations if they followed consumer-protection orders and mandated social distancing, The Dallas Morning News reported. But Paxton’s opinion concluded by saying that the local order is superseded by Abbott’s directive on store operations. — Julián Aguilar

(CNN) -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the state will begin to reopen Friday from the coronavirus pandemic, but a Texas judge told CNN he hopes residents will not take him up on it. "Just because something can be open doesn't mean it should be open," Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins told CNN's Erin Burnett on "Burnett Outfront." "We will open in a way that uses safe standards -- safe standards for businesses, for their employees as well as for their customers. "What we know is that when you look at other science-based plans, movie theaters are not one of the first things that open," Jenkins said.

(Texas Tribune) – Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins was expected to issue a countywide shelter-in-place order on Sunday, marking the most expansive action yet from a Texas official to combat the new coronavirus continuing to spread across the state. "All individuals currently living within Dallas County are ordered to shelter at their place of residence," the order reads. Local health officials reported that 131 county residents have tested positive as of Sunday morning. The Texas State Department of Health Services reported 30 cases there as of noon Sunday. Abbott said that the state's numbers do not include "presumed positive" cases as an explanation for why DSHS' daily figures of positive cases in Texas have consistently lagged other disclosures and reports.

Republicans hoped to keep a majority Texas House seats from Dallas County when they redrew district boundaries in 2011. Seven years later, they've only held onto two of 14.