Attorney General Ken Paxton on December 14, 2016 filed a friend of the court brief with the Texas Supreme Court, asking the court to review and strike down the city of Laredo’s bag ban in a case that could impact similar ordinances in other Texas cities. Paxton is joining the challengers in the bag ban, who the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of, in asking the Supreme Court to take up the case so that the ruling can apply statewide.
Last August, the Fourth Court of Appeals ruled against Laredo’s ban on single-use bags because it was found to violate state law regulating solid waste disposal. Texas’ Health and Safety Code §361.0961 forbids making a rule to “prohibit or restrict, for solid waste management purposes, the sale or use of a container or package in a manner not authorized by state law.”