Texas Case Summaries

Constitutional

Texas 8th Court of Appeals, Appellate Procedure, Constitutional, Municipal Law, Tax

City of El Paso v. Pickett — City’s “Environmental Franchise Fee” Was an Unlawful Tax, Eighth Court Holds

automatic / June 13, 2026

The Eighth Court of Appeals affirmed that El Paso’s monthly Environmental Franchise Fee—charged to all residential solid-waste customers and raised without cost studies to fund police and fire equipment—was an impermissible tax, not a legitimate regulatory fee, and that governmental immunity did not bar a refund because nonpayment was criminal.

Texas 15th Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional, healthcare

Cantu’s Pharmacy v. Texas HHSC — Medicaid Provider Has No Vested Right to Special Notice of Regulation Changes; Sovereign Immunity Bars Pre-Enforcement Suit

automatic / June 8, 2026

The Texas Fifteenth Court of Appeals held that a Medicaid pharmacy has no vested right to individualized notice of Provider Manual changes, that its pre-enforcement due process and declaratory judgment claims were barred by sovereign immunity, and that dismissal with prejudice was proper after the pharmacy amended its pleadings but still failed to state a cognizable claim.

Texas 13th Court of Appeals, Constitutional, Criminal

Magnuson v. State — Trial Court Violated Defendant’s Faretta Right to Self-Representation at Deferred Adjudication Hearing

automatic / June 8, 2026

The Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals reversed a ten-year deferred-adjudication conviction, holding the trial court violated Magnuson’s Faretta right to self-representation at the adjudication hearing when it denied his unequivocal request to proceed pro se—over the State’s delay-tactic objection—without making the required findings that the request was knowing, voluntary, and timely.

Texas 15th Court of Appeals, Constitutional, Criminal

Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners v. Youniacutt — Automatic License Bar for Violent Felony Convictions Survives Constitutional Challenge

automatic / June 8, 2026

The Texas Fifteenth Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and dismissed challenges to Texas Occupations Code § 108.052(2)’s automatic denial of social worker licenses to applicants with prior violent felony convictions, holding that the categorical disqualification survives rational-basis review under Patel because protecting vulnerable patients is a legitimate government interest and the bar is not oppressively burdensome.

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