The Texas Supreme Court has dismissed as moot a legal battle involving Elgin’s voter-approved marijuana decriminalization ordinance, while vacating the judgment of a state appeals court that had previously ruled against an effort to challenge the state’s lawsuit.
In an order issued today, the Supreme Court granted a petition for review in Courtenay Paris v. State of Texas and approved joint motions asking the court to dismiss the case as moot and vacate the appeals court’s judgment. The justices acted without hearing oral arguments or considering the merits of the dispute. Justice James P. Sullivan did not participate.
The court declined, however, to grant petitioner Courtenay Paris’ separate request to vacate the Fifteenth Court of Appeals’ written opinion.
The case centered on an ordinance approved by approximately 75% of Elgin voters in November 2022. The measure prohibited local police from issuing citations or making arrests for misdemeanor marijuana possession.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Elgin and four other cities in January 2024, arguing that local governments cannot adopt policies preventing police from fully enforcing state drug laws. The state sought declaratory and injunctive relief against Elgin and city officials.
Elgin and the state later entered into a consent decree resolving their dispute. Paris, chair of Decriminalize Elgin, had intervened in an effort to defend the voter-approved ordinance, but a district court struck her petition before entering the consent decree.
The Fifteenth Court of Appeals upheld that decision in September 2025. Rather than deciding whether Elgin’s marijuana ordinance itself violated state law, the appeals court found that the trial court acted within its discretion when it struck Paris’ intervention and that she lacked standing to appeal other portions of the case.
Elgin’s City Council formally repealed the marijuana ordinance earlier this summer, eliminating the policy at the center of the litigation and prompting the parties to seek dismissal of the Supreme Court proceeding as moot.
Friday’s order therefore ends the Supreme Court case without a ruling on the broader question of whether Texas cities may adopt voter-approved policies restricting enforcement of state marijuana possession laws.
Similar local marijuana decriminalization measures have been approved by voters in several Texas cities in recent years, leading to continuing disputes between municipalities and state officials over the extent of local authority.
