Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Allows Some Left Turns on Red. Here’s the Catch.
A left turn at a red light isn’t always illegal in Texas. Both streets must be one-way, and drivers must stop and yield before turning.
The Texas Public Record
Texas Law & Rights Education
Plain-language civic education grounded in current Texas law and official guidance.
17 published articles · Search reporting
Elections & Public Trust
Texas Voters Who Moved Counties Face October 30 Limited-Ballot Deadline
A Texas election law allows certain registered voters who moved between counties to cast a limited ballot. But the in-person process ends with early voting Friday, and it will not be available on Election Day.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Arrested, Charged, Indicted, Convicted: What Those Words Mean in Texas
An arrest establishes custody. A charge establishes an accusation. A conviction establishes a determination of guilt. Understanding the difference starts with knowing what the record actually says.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas School Bus Stop Laws: When Drivers Must Stop, When They May Proceed, and What Violations Can Cost
Texas law requires motorists to stop for school buses displaying their required warning signals, but the rules for divided highways are more specific than many drivers realize.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Has Its Own Bill of Rights. Here Is What Article I Protects.
The Texas Constitution protects expression, religious liberty, criminal-procedure rights and property while placing limits on government power.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Do Texans Have to Stay 25 Feet From Police? What the “Halo Law” Claim Leaves Out.
Texas law does not supply a blanket 25-foot recording distance. The interference statute, Fifth Circuit precedent and TCOLE guidance distinguish recording from obstruction.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Once Replaced Its Official State Dinosaur
In 2009, Texas replaced Pleurocoelus with Paluxysaurus jonesi after research changed the identification.
Texas Law & Rights Education
You May Record a Texas Government Body’s Open Meeting.
Texas Government Code §551.023 protects recording by people attending open meetings, subject to reasonable rules that cannot prevent or unreasonably impair that right.
Texas Veterans
A VA Disability Rating Does Not Automatically Erase a Texas Property-Tax Bill. Here Is What the Law Actually Provides.
The differences between partial disabled-veteran exemptions, total homestead exemptions, surviving-spouse eligibility and application deadlines.
Texas Law & Rights Education
The First Amendment Does Not Require You to Agree. It Requires Government to Respect Your Freedoms.
Religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly and petition: what the First Amendment protects, how it applies in Texas and why government action matters.
Texas Law & Rights Education
In Texas, You Can Generally Record a Conversation You’re Part Of. That Doesn’t Mean You Can Record Everyone Else.
Texas’s one-party-consent framework has limits. Participation, prior consent, disclosure, workplace restrictions and interstate calls raise different legal questions.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Has an Official State Shell. And It’s Left-Handed.
Texas designated the lightning whelk as its official state shell in 1987. Its unusual spiral opens on the left.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Has an Official Cooking Implement. And It’s Cast Iron.
In 2005, Texas designated the cast-iron Dutch oven as its official State Cooking Implement through Senate Concurrent Resolution 9.
Texas Law & Rights Education
The Government Can’t Ask Why You Want Public Records.
Texas law generally prohibits government officials from asking why you want public information. Clarification and limited identification inquiries are permitted.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Your Name Is Not on the Texas Voter List. That Does Not Automatically End Your Right to Cast a Ballot.
Texas provisional voting preserves a ballot for review, not a guarantee it will count. Check registration before October 5 for the November 3 election.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Jail and Prison Aren’t the Same Thing Under Texas Temperature Rules
County jails and TDCJ prisons operate under different regulatory systems and legal standards.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Agency Rules Leave a Public Paper Trail
Texas law generally requires notice, publication and an opportunity for public comment before an agency adopts an ordinary rule.