A district court judge is expected to decide whether to grant a temporary injunction against Tarrant County鈥檚 new commissioner precincts next week.
It鈥檚 part of a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County and the League of United Latin American Citizens Fort Worth Council 4568. The lawsuit alleges the county鈥檚 mid-decade redistricting is unconstitutional, naming Tarrant County, the commissioners court and County Judge Tim O鈥橦are as defendants.
Judge Megan Fahey on Thursday heard arguments and testimony in the 348th District Court in the request for an injunction filed by the two groups.
The request comes as the two organizations work with the Texas Voting Rights Coalition in an attempt to stop the voting maps, which opponents have described as racist and a power grab.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued Thursday that the map is not legally valid because it focuses on population and partisanship without consideration for other state constitutional requirements for redistricting.
Nina Oishi, a voting rights staff attorney at the Civil Rights Project, said the lawsuit is about ensuring Tarrant County residents have a fair voice in county government.
鈥淓specially in Tarrant County, the commissioner's court here is so powerful,鈥� Oishi said after the hearing. 鈥淭hey set the budget. They maintain the roads. They determine what programs get funding.鈥�
Attorneys for the county declined to speak to reporters after the hearing, citing a policy not to comment on pending litigation.
During the hearing, the county鈥檚 defense argued that the matter wasn鈥檛 fit for a district court because it was a political decision made by the commissioners court, a legislative body.
Fahey heard hours of arguments and testimony Thursday before announcing that the hearing would adjourn and she would come back with a decision, likely next week.
The attempt to prevent the county from implementing the maps comes after a federal judge denied an injunction in a separate lawsuit.
While Thursday鈥檚 hearing sought to delay implementation of the county鈥檚 new district map, the lawsuit鈥檚 end goal is to stop it altogether.
The League of Women Voters and LULAC allege in the suit that the county鈥檚 鈥渟ecretive, rushed process鈥� violated the Texas Open Meetings Act and intentionally discriminates against Black and Latino voters. It says O鈥橦are and most of the commissioners violated the state constitution in the process.
The petition notes that the court in 2021 conducted a review of precincts by 鈥渆xplicitly adopted criteria.鈥� The criteria, among several rules, required any new map to 鈥渁void racial gerrymandering鈥� and 鈥渉ave compact and contiguous precincts,鈥� according to the suit.
The suit says precincts at the time were 鈥渆venly distributed鈥� accounting for recent population growth and recalls that the court voted to keep that electoral map in effect until the next census in 2030.
Attorneys defending the county on Thursday said in their opening arguments that those claims are false and that the commissioners court has the right to redistrict commissioner precincts.
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