Investigations

The state police agency had been withholding nearly all of its records on law enforcement’s botched response to Texas’ deadliest school shooting. DPS will have an opportunity to redact the files before they are released. Full Story 

While launching a statewide program to distribute packets to dissolve opioids, Attorney General Ken Paxton worked to connect Kenny Hansmire with the state’s comptroller, who oversees the distribution of millions of dollars in opioid settlement money. Full Story 

Lawmakers were slated to spend millions of taxpayer dollars for the kits but changed course after a series of revelations in a ProPublica and Texas Tribune investigation. Full Story 

Patrick said he had always intended to sign the measure but pulled it aside in response to the House playing “games” at the end of the regular session. Full Story 

The bill would close a long-standing loophole in state law that allows officials to withhold law enforcement records if no one was convicted in a case. The measure was the only bill sent to the Senate that did not get signed and sent to the governor. Full Story 

State lawmakers passed a bill requiring courts to report involuntary mental health hospitalizations of juveniles for inclusion in the federal gun background check system. The law closes a gap revealed by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune in 2022. Full Story 

West Texas voters rejected three conservative Christian candidates who sought to infuse religious values into local politics. The campaign support the candidates received from local churches has prompted calls for state and federal probes. Full Story 

Texas law allows officials to withhold police records if no one was convicted in a case. At least one city has used this rule to deny the release of suicide records. A new bill aims to close this loophole. Full Story 

Politicians across the country have allocated millions to the National Child Identification Program. The company stands out as a success amid a decadeslong string of businesses plagued by legal and financial problems. Full Story 

Texas is among at least 11 states that have agreed to distribute fingerprinting kits sold by Kenny Hansmire’s Waco-based National Child Identification Program. Some are spending millions even though similar kits are available for free. Full Story 

A candidate for the Abilene City Council said that three churches made an honest mistake by donating to his campaign and that he is returning the money. The race has been beset by allegations of electioneering by churches. Full Story 

The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued. Full Story 

Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then on March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks. Full Story 

A federal watchdog called for ending the practice nearly 50 years ago, but the military pushed back. Now, soldiers leave the Army with a negative discharge, avoiding possible federal conviction and with little record of the allegations against them. Full Story 

In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooter’s military-style rifle. This drove their decision to wait for a Border Patrol SWAT team to engage him, which took more than an hour. Full Story 

Joining the Texas Department of Public Safety’s fight against the release of records, the district attorney claims the support of every family who lost a child in the 2022 mass shooting. Attorneys representing many of the families refute that claim. Full Story 

After a ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigation found courts failed to report juvenile mental health hospitalizations to the federal firearm background check system, lawmakers from both parties are backing bills to ensure compliance with the law. Full Story 

State lawmakers have rejected dozens of bills that would have prevented people from legally obtaining weapons used in many mass shootings. Instead, they’ve made it easier for residents to get guns and harder for local governments to regulate them. Full Story 

The military resisted reforming its justice system for decades. Major congressional changes passed in 2021 promised to overhaul that system — but experts say they may have just made it more complicated. Full Story 

The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has opened what appears to be the first-of-its-kind investigation into the Granbury Independent School District after it banned school library books dealing with sexuality and gender. Full Story