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People will be allowed to buy smokeable hemp THC products, such as flower buds and rolled joints, from Texas businesses until at least April 24.

AUSTIN, Texas (The Texas Tribune) — A Travis County district judge has temporarily lifted a statewide ban on the sale of natural smokeable hemp products, such as flower buds and rolled joints, until at least April 24.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble granted the Texas Hemp Business Council, Hemp Industry & Farmers of America, and several Texas-based dispensaries and manufacturers a temporary restraining order against new testing requirements that creates 0.3% total THC threshold, effectively eliminating smokeable products. Lawyers for the hemp industry argued that the agencies have overstepped their constitutional authority by rewriting the statutory definitions of hemp established by lawmakers in 2019.

The concept of the new total THC testing came from the federal government, which clarified the definition of hemp in November as containing a total THC concentration of less than 0.3% on a dry weight basis rather than only delta-9 THC, according to Zachary Berg, an attorney with the Texas Attorney General’s Office who represented Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on Friday. Berg added that the federal government’s new definition doesn’t go into effect until November, but the state wanted to be in compliance early with federal law.

Jason Snell, one of the attorneys for the hemp businesses, said that by trying to mirror a federal law that isn’t yet in effect, the state clearly overstepped its regulatory authority. He also submitted to the court over 300 pages of testimony from Texans about how these new rules and regulations are already shuttering businesses and killing off the industry.

“The wave is getting bigger,” Snell said. “We are asking you to put up a barrier.”

The hemp businesses also asked for a temporary injunction on other rules that increase licensing fees for retailers and manufacturers and prevent businesses from selling smokeable hemp out-of-state. Guerra Gamble also temporarily unblocked interstate sales, but she deferred the topic of licensing fees to the next hearing on April 24.

The background: Even though Texas law bans marijuana, lawmakers legalized hemp in 2019. State law defines hemp as containing less than 0.3% levels of intoxicating Delta-9 THC.

To get around the law’s Delta-9 THC restrictions, manufacturers started cultivating hemp plants with another type of THC, called THCA, that, when ignited in a joint or smokeable product, can produce a high. Many lawmakers have said this legal loophole has allowed a recreational THC market to appear overnight without direct approval from the state.

Last year, the Texas Legislature voted to ban the products out of fear that these intoxicating products were consistently getting into the hands of children. But, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the decision last summer, before asking the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and DSHS to increase regulations on the industry instead.

The Texas Department of State Health Services released regulations on consumable hemp-derived THC products that went into effect on March 31. These new regulations include child-resistant packaging, a significant increase in licensing fees, new labeling, testing, and bookkeeping requirements. The rules also codify the legal purchasing age to 21, which went into effect last year as an emergency directive.

Why the hemp industry sued: Also under the new rules, laboratories tests now measure the total amount of any THC in a product. If the THC levels exceed the 0.3% threshold, even if it’s only activated upon being smoked, the product will be noncompliant under state regulations. As a result, some of the most popular hemp products, like THCA flower and pre-rolled joints, have been banned.

Hemp businesses caught selling noncompliant products face a range of penalties and fines, including license revocation and up to $10,000 in violation fees for each day these products were sold in stores.

“An administrative agency may not substitute its own policy judgment for the outcome produced by the constitutional lawmaking process,” the lawsuit states. “The Texas Constitution vests legislative power in the Legislature, not administrative agencies.”

Retailers cannot sell hemp to out-of-state customers either.

The rules also increase licensing fees for manufacturers of hemp-derived THC from $258 to $10,000 per facility and retail registrations from $155 to $5,000, which industry leaders say will fulfill the ban by forcing businesses to close. The hemp business community’s lawsuit is not challenging the other new regulations, including the age verification or ones they say protect consumers.

“Texas hemp businesses wholeheartedly support those regulations, as they fall within the agency’s authority,” said Sergi. “We are seeking to halt rules that would effectively end the in-state production of hemp and the sale of hemp products—items the Legislature chose not to ban during recent legislative and special sessions.”

What the state says: Concerns about the safety of these high-THC products among youth led lawmakers to attempt to ban hemp-derived THC products outright last year. While the overall ban didn’t succeed, lawmakers successfully banned vape pens containing THC and other hemp-derived intoxicating chemicals.

Data provided from the Texas Poison Center Network confirms a sharp increase in cannabis-related poisoning calls starting in 2019, a year after hemp-derived THC was legalized by the federal government, from 923 to a 10-year high of 2,592 in 2024. Calls climbed to 2,669 last year. The majority of these calls involve suspected poisoning of children under the age of five and teenagers.

Drug policy experts said these numbers seem alarming, but it is natural for poisoning calls to increase when a drug has become legalized, and the data needs additional context before making conclusions from it.

Jennifer Ruffcorn, spokesperson for HHSC, directed questions about the lawsuit and what it means for the new hemp regulations to DSHS.

Lara Anton, spokesperson for DSHS, declined to comment on pending litigation.

What’s next: The hemp industry’s battle to stay alive in Texas started back in 2021 when the state health agency classified any amount of a natural intoxicating hemp compound called delta-8 THC as illegal. The hemp industry sued the state over its ban on delta-8 and the Texas Supreme Court is expected to consider the case this year.

The delta-8 lawsuit will have an impact on the outcome of the most recent lawsuit over the smokeable hemp ban because both lawsuits challenge the authority of a state health agency to make changes to the market without approval from lawmakers or the public.

ALBA, Texas (KETK) – The Alba-Golden ISD Board of Trustees is asking voters to pass a $20.6 million bond proposal that would fund a new Career and Technology Education Center and a new district gymnasium.

According to the district, the board proposed the bond election after a group of students, staff, parents, alumni and community members formed the Panther Legacy Vision Team to analyze the needs and long-term priorities of the district.

The district’s bond website says the two bond projects will include the following facilities:

Career & Technology Education (CTE) Facility
Agricultural Mechanics & Metal Tech workshop (3,500 SF)
Construction Tech workshop (3,500 SF)
Two large Ag Tech classrooms (960 SF each)
Four regular CTE classrooms (750 SF each)
Covered work area (2,250 SF)
Tool & materials storage and paint booth
Instructor workroom & restrooms
District Gymnasium
Regulation-sized court with two practice cross-courts
Boys locker rooms – Varsity/JV (or visitor)
Girls locker rooms – Varsity/JV (or visitor)
Coaches office & locker room (boys & girls)
Laundry, training room, and storage
Expanded foyer, concessions, and restrooms

The Texas Association of School Boards did a facility assessment at the district’s current CTE and gym facilities in 1977 and found them to be in poor condition, using mechanical systems past their useful life and limiting school programs.

“The proposed new CTE and District Gymnasium facilities seek to address capacity limitations, safety deficiencies, supervision limitations, accessibility compliance, workforce pathway expansion, scheduling conflicts, and building system life-cycle,” the district said. “The proposed new facilities are larger, as well as programmatically designed, and will have a capacity appropriate for modern instructional programs and student use.”

If Alba-Golden ISD’s bond passes in the May 2 election, the average property tax rate will go up by $28.42 per month. To learn more about the proposal, visit the Alba-Golden ISD 2026 Bond website online.

MOUNT PLEASANT – CHRISTUS Health is proud to announce the opening of a new multi-specialty clinic in Mount Pleasant designed to expand access to high-quality, personalized care for the community. CHRISTUS Health held an event Friday to bless the new clinic, which opens to patients Monday, April 13.
 
Spanning 22,000 square feet and conveniently located alongside the recently opened CHRISTUS Health Mount Pleasant Emergency Center at 130 Tankersley Road, the new clinic creates a centralized hub for health care services in Mount Pleasant.

“The building itself is an incredible testament to the commitment of CHRISTUS Health in the Mount Pleasant community,” said Jennifer Beal, senior vice president and chief administrative officer for CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic. “We have the opportunity to provide some amazing providers here in this clinic and we are excited to bring those specialties, along with building primary care in the community.”
 
The facility includes 36 exam rooms, an on-site laboratory and imaging services, allowing patients to receive comprehensive care without having to travel elsewhere. Specialties housed within the clinic include primary care, physical therapy, pulmonology, cardiology, electrophysiology and gastroenterology.
 
The clinic is designed with patient comfort and convenience in mind, reflecting CHRISTUS Health’s mission to deliver personalized care that meets the unique needs of every individual.
 
“This clinic is a great representation of a lot of people and their hard work and really extends our footprint in the area,” said Dr. Brent Wadle, chief medical officer for CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic. “We are keeping care here in Titus County and building on a great primary care foundation by introducing the specialty care people deserve.”
 
The clinic will be fully integrated with the electronic health record system, EPIC, that allows patient information to be shared securely in real-time across all CHRISTUS Health facilities. This includes access to MyChart, a free app that allows patients to manage their health, schedule appointments, access on-demand care, request prescription refills, review medical records and exchange secure messages with their providers.

The clinic follows the opening of the CHRISTUS Health Mount Pleasant Emergency Care Center, which has provided emergency care to more than 1,100 patients since February.

ELKHART, Texas (KETK) – Elkhart ISD is asking voters to approve a $27.5 million bond to modernize and renovate facilities at its elementary, intermediate and middle school campuses in the May 2 election.

“A bond is like a home mortgage for the school district. It allows the district to borrow money for large, long-term projects and pay it back over time,” Elkhart ISD explained. “Bonds fund long-term capital projects and infrastructure, but legally can’t be used for operations or salaries.”

According to the district, the $27.5 million bond would fund the following items:

Middle School Additions/Renovations
Renovation and expansion of the cafeteria and kitchen
New band hall addition with supporting space
Gym renovations
Library renovation to meet district educational standards for academic integration
Classroom space reconfiguration and modernization
Secure entry improvements
Exterior classroom windows
Site and Traffic Improvements
Address traffic concerns at the main campus for pickup and drop-off circulation.
Fencing and campus boundary improvements to improve safety and security measures.
Maintenance Project Renovations
Roofing
Finishes
Plumbing
Electrical
HVAC (Air Conditioning/Heating)
Building Protection Systems

For homeowners without an age-65 homestead exemption, the bond would cause their I&S tax rate to go up by around 26.41 cents. The district pointed out that its total tax rate has fallen by about 25 cents over the past six years, so the tax rate would only increase by about a cent from where it was in 2020.

To learn more or to calculate your home’s potential tax change if the bond passes, visit Elkhart ISD’s bond website.

UPDATE: The Fannin County Sheriff’s Office said that the deputy involved in the shooting on Thursday afternoon has been released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

FANNIN COUNTY, Texas (KETK)– One person was killed and a deputy has been taken to a hospital following a shooting in Fannin County on Thursday afternoon.
Smith County man sentenced to life for drug trafficking

According to the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy was responding to a call in the 500 block of County Road 5012 and was immediately shot at. The suspect involved in the shooting has been pronounced dead and the deputy was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment.

Members of the Texas Rangers are currently on the scene assisting with the investigation, and the sheriff’s office said that there is no danger to the public at this time.

The sheriff’s office said it will release a full statement at a later time.

AUSTIN – Texas will lose out on $3.2 billion in sales tax revenue over the next two years thanks to an exemption for the state’s booming data center industry, according to the comptroller’s office. That figure is likely a vast underestimate given the explosion of new facilities being built, but already makes the tax break one of the state’s costliest incentive programs and soon to be the most expensive of its kind in the nation. Lawmakers, who will meet in January for the next legislative session, say they are considering proposals to either limit the scope of the tax break or get rid of it altogether. Lawmakers approved the tax break more than a decade ago, when data centers were smaller and required fewer resources. From 2014 to 2022, the exemption amounted to between $5 million and $30 million in lost state revenue per year. By 2023, that skyrocketed to more than $150 million, and this year Texas is forgoing at least $1.3 billion — a number that is rapidly increasing every year, based on state projections.

The money Texas is poised to lose from the tax break on a yearly basis could pay for the entirety of the state’s new school voucher program, or it could double the size of a state disaster fund to help local communities like Kerr County prevent flooding. It’s also quickly outpacing the cost of Texas’ highly controversial Chapter 313 tax abatement program, which allowed manufacturing companies to avoid paying local school property taxes, drawing the ire of lawmakers who eventually shut down the program last year at its height of more than a billion dollars a year.

Texas already has more than 300 operating data centers, with more than 100 additional projects planned or under development. At least 142 more are currently under construction, leading the nation and beating out Virginia, which has 141 under construction, according to an analysis by data firm Aterio. By fiscal year 2030, the comptroller’s office forecasts the annual value of the tax break will be nearly $1.8 billion — a $500 million increase from the current fiscal year — according to the 2025 report.

ODESSA — Texas produced nearly half of all U.S. oil last year despite having drilled fewer new oil wells in 2025, a trend that analysts and industry groups said is possible due to the state’s geological makeup, a network of pipelines and transportation, and the ability to work on multiple production sites in less time.

And that West Texas oil has helped keep U.S. supply steady as oil supply across the world has been squeezed during the Iran war, experts said.

American oil companies produced 13.6 million barrels of oil daily last year, once again breaking their own record, according to a report by the Energy Information Administration. Almost half — 6.6 million barrels a day — came from the Permian Basin, the vast stretch of oil-rich deposits spanning tens of thousands of square miles between western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

Oil companies accomplished the record with a fraction of available drilling rigs, which the industry historically relied on to search for, find and lift fossil fuels from the ground. The EIA, in its report, said fewer rigs could lead to a 2% drop in production in 2027, marking the first time oil could dip since 2021.

And in light of the U.S. war on Iran, domestic oil production — particularly in West Texas — has taken on a new meaning.

The war pushed gas prices sky high as the global supply of oil has been slashed during the conflict. Texas oil leaders said the situation could have been worse had it not been for their work.

“Without the millions of barrels produced a day in the Permian Basin there’s no question we’d be in much more volatile times,” said Ben Shepperd, president of Permian Basin Petroleum Association, the largest regional trade group in the country. “The strong production coming out of the Permian Basin, however, helps provide a stable source of energy for the United States and our allies, which can reduce volatility when conflicts arise in other parts of the world.”

The report’s findings aren’t a first for Texas oil companies. For at least the past six years, industry groups have announced record production levels. Industry and political leaders alike have celebrated the production as a win for the state’s economy, saying royalties and taxes from the industry translate to billions of dollars for the state’s coffers and school districts.

Texas Oil and Gas Association President Todd Staples said that 10 years ago, oil companies drilled 9.2 million barrels of oil using 1,543 rigs. In 2025, oil companies produced more than 13 million barrels with only 582 rigs.

The agile infrastructure — and geology beneath — affords operators in the Permian to adapt quickly when the market is under duress.

Different layers of rock underground allow operators to extract more fossil fuels at varying depths. Operators can also transit between wells within hours rather than days, drill multiple wells from a single site, or drill in multiple directions and at multiple depths.

“While we are not immune from what’s happening around the world, we occupy a position of strength far beyond most other nations,” Staples said. “The Permian’s … consistently demonstrated ability to adapt quickly to market shifts make it one of the most competitive oil-producing areas in the world.”

Some experts cautioned that declining rig counts, if sustained, could hinder production, if not stop it altogether.

“Depressed rig counts raise legitimate concerns about future production sustainability,” said Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association. “If the trend continues without offset, operators risk slower inventory replacement and a potential plateau or gradual decline in output over the medium term, particularly if new drilling fails to keep pace with natural decline rates in existing wells.”

The conflict in the Middle East has, Longanecker and other experts argued, given oil companies short-term economic windfalls. Gas prices have shot up with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which cut 20% of the world’s oil.

On Tuesday, oil prices soared to at least $114 a barrel prior to the ceasefire.

Experts suggested it could be worse. A mix of experts and groups representing oil companies’ interests in Texas said the U.S. has been insulated from more devastating economic consequences of the war. The amount of oil West Texas produces can determine the severity of the impact to the U.S. economy, they said.

“West Texas serves as a partial counterweight to disruptions in the Middle East,” said Stephen Sagriff, director of intelligence at Enverus, an energy analytics company. “It is also a source of geopolitical leverage for the U.S., a region whose own investment decisions are shaped by the volatility.”

In addition to stabilizing oil demand in the U.S., the Permian lessens its dependence on oil from other nations, said Don Murchison, director of global strategy at RINA North America, an engineering consulting firm. The West Texas oil patch can also produce more oil than other states at a lower cost, Hutchinson said.

“We often see a significant uptick in production in West Texas when there is conflict in other parts of the world,” he said, while adding that when the industry booms, new challenges arise surrounding finding equipment, materials and employees.

For the original copy of this story, go to The Texas Tribune.