Employee report

T.The responsibility of the Attorney General’s Office is to act as legal advisor to all bodies and agencies of the state government and to provide legal advice at the request of the governor, heads of state, and other officials and agencies in accordance with Texas law.

Texas AG is an ex officio member of state committees and commissions and defends appeals against state laws and lawsuits against both state agencies and individual state employees.

Many Texans turn to the Attorney General’s office for advice on disputes and legal issues. The agency receives hundreds of letters, phone calls, and visits every week about compensation from crime victims, child support, abuse in nursing homes, potential consumer fraud, and other issues.

To learn more about the Texas Attorney General, visit the official website at https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/.

AG Paxton Law Enforcement Summary
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The Child Exploitation Unit

• San Augustine County
  Christopher Scott Tire was arrested on May 4th in San Augustine for promoting child pornography. This case was received as an NCMEC CyberTipline report in which an image of child pornography was uploaded to a social media platform. Investigators confiscated several items from Tire’s house for investigation by the Digital Forensics Unit. Tire was admitted to the San Augustine County Jail without incident.

• Bexar County
  Joe Anthony Salinas was arrested in San Antonio on May 5th. Salinas has been accused of possessing child pornography, promoting child pornography, aggravating child sexual assault, and indecency in sexual contact with children. This case was received as an NCMEC CyberTipline report uploading child pornography to a social media account with the potential of a living victim. Investigators ransacked Salinas’ house and found clothes from a child pornography picture. Several items were confiscated from home for investigation by the Digital Forensics Unit. Salinas was taken to the Bexar County prison without incident.
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The Fugitive Apprehension Unit

• Bexar County
  Omahar Aranda was arrested on May 3rd in San Antonio. Aranda had pending arrest warrants issued by the Kimble County Sheriff’s Office for two incidents of indecency involving child sexual contact. The arrest was made with the help of the US Marshal’s Lone Star Fugitive Task Force from San Antonio.
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• Tarrant County
  Robert Alan Holtsclaw was arrested in Fort Worth on May 6th. Holtsclaw had a pending arrest warrant for indecency in child sexual contact issued by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

The California court rejects the lawsuit against Twitter against Texas

AUSTIN – A district court in California was dismissed today Twitter’s lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton in which the social media giant tried to halt Attorney General Paxton’s investigation into possible Twitter violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Instead of providing documents requested in the Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) issued in January, Twitter decided to file a lawsuit to completely stop the investigation.

“Twitter’s The lawsuit was little more than an attempt to avoid answering my questions about their censorship and content moderation guidelines on a large scale, ”said Attorney General Paxton. “The public deserves the truth about Twitter’s seemingly biased practices. I will continue to fight for transparency to ensure a truly free online community. Any company that breaks Texas law by misleading consumers will be held accountable. ”

Read a copy of the order here.

Rules for the fifth circuit: Local officials responsible for enforcing the law on state elections

AUSTIN – Attorney General Paxton’s team persuaded the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss a Texas Democratic Party lawsuit seeking to resume the pop-up vote in which Democrats opened temporary polling stations at the expense of all Texans that benefited their voters.

The Democratic Party and its plaintiffs cannot sue to stop HB 1888. A law to end this campaign was passed by asking local election officials to keep temporary polling stations open longer so that all Texans, not just preferred Democratic voters, could have access.

The Fifth Circle has ordered the District Court to reject the Democrats’ challenges.

“Local officials are responsible for administering and enforcing the electoral law in relation to polling stations. They must do their duty to deter electoral fraud and ensure that every legal vote cast by an elector counts,” said Attorney General Paxton. “The Fifth Circle rightly stated that local electoral officials and early-voting employees must enforce these laws, and I recommend that they remit this clearly partisan case for dismissal.”

Read a copy of the statement here.

CONSUMER WARNING: Use caution when purchasing over-the-counter hearing aids

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today warned Texans to be careful when considering buying from companies that sell over-the-counter hearing aids, especially online or by mail order.

Many hearing aids sold this way have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are misleadingly marketed as medical hearing aids if they contain low quality amplifiers.

Texans should consider the following tips when buying a hearing aid:

• Get a hearing screening and recommendation from a hearing care professional who can tell you which type of hearing aid is best for you.
• Remember, over-the-counter hearing aids are not FDA approved. Some companies misleadingly state that they are “registered” to imply that the FDA has approved or approved them. It has not.
• Check with the seller before buying from the Better Business Bureau. Read online reviews and endorsements skeptically unless you know and trust the source.

Please report suspected misleading marketing to the Texas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Department by calling toll-free 1-800-621-0508 or filing an online complaint at https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/consumer-protection/file-consumer – Submit. Complaint.

Paxton intervenes in CDC’s shutdown of the cruise industry

AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed a motion to intervene in Florida’s case against the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over a series of illegal orders that have stalled the cruise industry.

The CDC issued a series of “no-sailing” or “conditional sailing” orders that paralyzed the Texas passenger cruise industry and the many Texas companies that support it.

“The pandemic has shown us that the need for stable and predictable laws has never been greater. Government policies should not be able to destroy industries and eliminate workers with the stroke of a pen, “said Attorney General Paxton. “The cruise industry needs clearly defined expectations of safe operation and protection from unfounded COVID-related claims as the country hits new vaccination records.”

In 2019, Texas tourism companies such as travel agents, airlines, bars, restaurants, entertainment venues and hotels received approximately $ 816 million in direct cruise industry spending.

Overall, the cruise industry’s direct spending created nearly 29,600 jobs and earned $ 1.8 billion in income in just one year. The port of Galveston is the fourth largest cruise port in the country.

Click here to view the application.

Request for comments

Summary of the official request RQ-0407-KP
Power of a conservation area to change the director’s tenure from two to four years

Date of receipt
Monday, May 10, 2021

Official applicant
Mr. Tony Simms
Chambers County Chartered Accountant
P.O. Box 910
Anahuac, Texas 77514

Request for comments

Summary of the official request RQ-0406-KP
Compliance with the tendering procedures by the district before the extension or renewal of a contract for the management of a facility in the district

Date of receipt
Wednesday May 3, 2021

Official applicant
The Honorable Russell W. Malm
Midland County Attorney
500 North Loraine, Suite 1103
Midland, Texas 79701

Communication of opinion

Summary of the official request RQ-0388-KP
Whether Section 81.066 of the Natural Resource Code authorizes the Railway Commission to treat noise generated by oil and gas equipment as part of its annual plan

Summary of the official statement KP-0371
Application of Section 81.066 of the Natural Resource Code to the Rail Commission’s power to tackle oil and gas facility noise in an annual strategic plan