Rural Texas
Waco Has an Ice Age Nursery, Preserved in Fossils
Waco Mammoth National Monument preserves evidence of a Columbian mammoth nursery herd, while ongoing research revises the story of how fossils were deposited.
The Texas Public Record
Latest Reporting
Verified reporting and public-information work published by The Texas Public Record.
59 published articles · Search reporting
Missing Children
Missing Child: Beaumont Teen Brookelynn Kelise Murphy Reported Missing Since October 4
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children lists the 14-year-old in its missing-child records. Authorities are seeking information that could help locate her.
Public Money & Accountability
Texas Drilling Permits Rise 29% as Oil and Gas Completion Reports Fall Nearly 27% From Last Year
Railroad Commission records show more drilling permits issued in September 2026, even as the number of oil and gas completion reports processed by state regulators remained substantially below September 2025 levels.
Missing Children
Missing From Grand Prairie: Authorities Seek Information About 16-Year-Old Ja’Miya Sisk
Ja’Miya Sisk has been missing since September 12, 2026, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Rural Texas
OLD TEXAS: Before It Was Seguin, It Was Walnut Springs
A Texas town named for a revolutionary, a nineteenth-century concrete legacy, the workers who built it and a giant pecan that became a local landmark.
Public Money & Accountability
Texas Removes Geographic Funding Formula for Transit Grants Serving Older Adults and People With Disabilities
TxDOT says competitive awards will make better use of federal transportation money. Earlier application instructions show projects were already scored and ranked. The significant change is removal of a formula that helped determine how funding was distributed across Texas.
Missing Children
Missing in Houston: 17-Year-Old Jami King Has Been Missing Since September 5
More than a month after Jami King went missing from Houston, the public is being asked to help bring information to investigators. The official case record identifies the investigating agency but does not explain the circumstances of the disappearance.
Rights & Justice
Texas Court Orders $1.52 Million in Penalties Against Rubinsky Roofing; Consumer Repayment Remains Unverified
A Collin County default judgment finds 27 consumer-protection violations, orders an initial $500,626.64 restitution deposit and restricts specified roofing practices. Whether affected homeowners have received money remains unknown.
Rural Texas
You Can Find an Ancient Sea Reef High Above the West Texas Desert
The Guadalupe Mountains preserve the Capitan Reef, built in an ancient Permian sea and later exposed by uplift and erosion.
Public Money & Accountability
Texas Railroad Commission Assesses $1.24 Million in Enforcement Penalties Against Regulated Operators
The October 6 assessments total $1,245,802. Penalties assessed do not necessarily equal payments collected or completed corrective work.
Missing Children
Missing in Texas: Search Continues for 16-Year-Old Jazlyn Rosalie Roman
Jazlyn Rosalie Roman, 16, has been missing from Houston since September 20, 2026. Report information to Harris County Sheriff’s Office or NCMEC.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Has Its Own Bill of Rights. Here Is What Article I Protects.
The Texas Constitution protects expression, religious liberty, criminal-procedure rights and property while placing limits on government power.
Missing Children
Missing From Houston: Help Keep Madison McIntire Visible
Madison McIntire, 15, has been missing from Houston since September 27, 2026. Report information to Houston Police Department or NCMEC.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Do Texans Have to Stay 25 Feet From Police? What the “Halo Law” Claim Leaves Out.
Texas law does not supply a blanket 25-foot recording distance. The interference statute, Fifth Circuit precedent and TCOLE guidance distinguish recording from obstruction.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Once Replaced Its Official State Dinosaur
In 2009, Texas replaced Pleurocoelus with Paluxysaurus jonesi after research changed the identification.
Rights & Justice
Texas AG Investigates Hanes, Fruit of the Loom Over Potential Chemicals in Children’s Undergarments
Texas issued civil investigative demands to Hanes and Fruit of the Loom. No product-specific test results or findings of unlawful conduct have been announced.
Public Money & Accountability
Texas Selects Four School Districts for Spending Reviews; No Findings Have Been Issued
Austin, Barbers Hill, El Paso and Prosper ISDs were selected for state spending reviews. A final report is expected December 31; selection is not a finding of wrongdoing.
Missing Children
Missing From Pasadena: Help Keep Ivan Guzman Visible
Ivan Guzman, 12, was last seen September 26, 2026, in Pasadena, Texas. Report information to Pasadena Police Department or NCMEC.
Rights & Justice
The Waivers Stopped at the Courthouse: A Federal Judge Freezes Big Bend Border Construction
Judge Kathleen Cardone’s preliminary injunction stays three federal waivers and requires compliance with applicable laws for covered work throughout the Big Bend Sector.
Missing Children
Missing From Buda: Help Keep Abril America Cereceres-Chacon Visible
Abril, 16, was last seen July 26, 2026, in Buda, Texas. Report information to Hays County Sheriff’s Office or NCMEC.
Texas Law & Rights Education
You May Record a Texas Government Body’s Open Meeting.
Texas Government Code §551.023 protects recording by people attending open meetings, subject to reasonable rules that cannot prevent or unreasonably impair that right.
Rural Texas
A New Screwworm Case Moved the Quarantine Line in West Texas
An October 3 TAHC order revised Zone 13.C in portions of Brewster and Pecos counties after a canine detection. What animal owners need to know about movement requirements.
Missing Children
Missing From Richmond: Help Keep Hermi Romero Visible
The 17-year-old was last seen September 28. The official missing-child poster remains available through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Texas Veterans
A VA Disability Rating Does Not Automatically Erase a Texas Property-Tax Bill. Here Is What the Law Actually Provides.
The differences between partial disabled-veteran exemptions, total homestead exemptions, surviving-spouse eligibility and application deadlines.
Missing Children
Missing From Liberty: Help Keep Jayda Renee Brown Visible
The 17-year-old was last seen September 24. Her official missing-child poster remains available through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Missing Children
Missing From Houston: Help Keep Yanira Lopez Visible
Yanira Lopez, 17, has been missing since July 15. Authorities are seeking information that could help locate her.
Texas Law & Rights Education
The First Amendment Does Not Require You to Agree. It Requires Government to Respect Your Freedoms.
Religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly and petition: what the First Amendment protects, how it applies in Texas and why government action matters.
Elections & Public Trust
Texas Governor Record: Abortion, Medical Exceptions & Who Controls the Law
Texas prohibits nearly all abortions but retains defined medical exceptions. Abbott signed legislation clarifying those exceptions while maintaining restrictions on abortion assistance and abortion-inducing drugs. Hinojosa wants reproductive rights restored. Dixon distinguishes his personal opposition to abortion from the use of government power.
Texas Law & Rights Education
In Texas, You Can Generally Record a Conversation You’re Part Of. That Doesn’t Mean You Can Record Everyone Else.
Texas’s one-party-consent framework has limits. Participation, prior consent, disclosure, workplace restrictions and interstate calls raise different legal questions.
Missing Children
Missing From Amarillo: Help Keep Jocelyn Gabriela Villar Visible
The 16-year-old was last seen September 4. Her official missing-child poster remains available through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Has an Official State Shell. And It’s Left-Handed.
Texas designated the lightning whelk as its official state shell in 1987. Its unusual spiral opens on the left.
Missing Children
Seven-Year-Old Yousef Adas Remains Missing From Texas
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says the Dallas child may be with his father. Authorities are asking the public for information.
Rural Texas
Texas Is Open Range—Until a Local Vote or Highway Changes the Rule
A livestock owner’s responsibilities can depend on an election held generations ago, the animal involved and the road beside the property. Texans may need to examine their own county’s records to determine which restrictions apply.
Elections & Public Trust
Texas Governor Record: Border Security, Operation Lone Star & the Limits of State Power
Texas reports more than $10 billion in border-security spending. The federal government has approved approximately $7.5 billion in reimbursement, but the Comptroller said the money had not reached the state treasury as of September 21. The governor’s race raises questions about enforcement priorities, public spending and the boundaries of state authority.
Missing Children
Texas Missing Child Awareness — Michaela Grace Bouillon
Michaela Grace Bouillon was last seen in Corpus Christi on September 9, 2025. She is now 16, and NCMEC continues to seek information that could help locate her.
Texas Veterans
Federal Jury Convicts Texas Clinic Owner in $26 Million TRICARE Fraud Case
A federal jury convicted Frisco clinic owner Kevin D. Curry on nine counts, according to the Justice Department. Sentencing, restitution, forfeiture and final court-adopted financial findings remain pending or unconfirmed.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Has an Official Cooking Implement. And It’s Cast Iron.
In 2005, Texas designated the cast-iron Dutch oven as its official State Cooking Implement through Senate Concurrent Resolution 9.
Rights & Justice
Texas Requires Child-Abuse Reports. A Supreme Court Justice Identifies a Gap in Workplace Retaliation Protections.
Texas requires people with reasonable cause to report suspected child abuse, but Family Code §261.110 protects a narrower class of employees. Justice Lehrmann urged lawmakers to consider the gap.
Rights & Justice
Texas Supreme Court: A Foreign Divorce Obtained Without Adequate Notice Cannot Block a Harris County Property Case
The court reversed recognition of a Pakistani divorce because notice was constitutionally inadequate. The ruling is case-specific and awards neither party any property.
Elections & Public Trust
Texas Counties Receive More Than 178,000 Delayed Voter-Registration Records. The State Still Hasn’t Accounted for Every Affected Voter.
Counties are processing delayed DPS transactions before the October 5 deadline. Record counts are not unique-voter counts, and the statewide total remains unknown.
Texas Law & Rights Education
The Government Can’t Ask Why You Want Public Records.
Texas law generally prohibits government officials from asking why you want public information. Clarification and limited identification inquiries are permitted.
Missing Children
Texas Missing Child Awareness — Jean Carlos Garcia
Jean Carlos Garcia is 16 and has been missing from Richardson since September 11, 2026. Look at the official NCMEC photograph and report information that may help authorities locate him.
Elections & Public Trust
Texas Governor Record: The Grid, Electric Bills & the Data-Center Power Surge
The fourth Governor Record installment compares grid reforms, data-center restrictions and electricity-bill proposals from Abbott and Hinojosa, with Dixon’s documented position assessed separately.
Government & Legislation
Texas Opens Data-Center Water Investigation Across 18 Counties
Texas is investigating data-center developments over alleged water-use reporting failures in 18 counties. Names and an exact count remain undisclosed.
Rights & Justice
Texas High Criminal Court Denies Melissa Lucio Relief — Four Judges Dissent
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Melissa Lucio post-conviction relief. Four judges dissented; no new execution date was set.
Missing Children
Jaime Temez Is 16. He Has Been Missing From Bastrop Since August 29.
Texas DPS lists Jaime Temez as missing from Bastrop since August 29, 2026. Look at his official photograph and report information using case R2608014.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Your Name Is Not on the Texas Voter List. That Does Not Automatically End Your Right to Cast a Ballot.
Texas provisional voting preserves a ballot for review, not a guarantee it will count. Check registration before October 5 for the November 3 election.
Missing Children
Reginald Lamar Kirtdoll Was 17 When He Disappeared From Dallas. More Than 25 Years Later, He Is Still Missing.
Reginald disappeared from Dallas on January 23, 2001, at age 17. Texas DPS continues to list him as Endangered.
Elections & Public Trust
Texas Governor Record: Public Schools, Education Savings Accounts & Who Controls the Classroom
Abbott and Hinojosa offer different approaches to education savings accounts, teacher pay, testing, school takeovers and TEA leadership.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Jail and Prison Aren’t the Same Thing Under Texas Temperature Rules
County jails and TDCJ prisons operate under different regulatory systems and legal standards.
Public Money & Accountability
Federal Court Orders Texas to Air-Condition Every State Prison by End of 2029. Now Comes the Funding Test.
The court has set a December 31, 2029 deadline. TPR follows the funding, contracts, construction and six-month reporting requirements.
Government & Legislation
Texas THC Restrictions Remain in Force. But How Does the State Decide a Product Crosses the Line?
TPR examines the laboratory evidence, certificates of analysis and unresolved trace-delta-8 standard behind Texas hemp enforcement.
Texas Law & Rights Education
Texas Agency Rules Leave a Public Paper Trail
Texas law generally requires notice, publication and an opportunity for public comment before an agency adopts an ordinary rule.
Government & Legislation
Texas Orders Data-Center Permit Pause as State Reviews Grid and Water Demands
Texas has directed TCEQ to pause permits related to data-center projects while ERCOT and state agencies review grid and water demands.
Elections & Public Trust
Texas Governor Record: Property Taxes, State Money & the $1,500 Question
The second installment of TPR’s 2026 Texas governor record examines Greg Abbott’s property-tax proposal, Gina Hinojosa’s $1,500 household-payment proposal and Pat Dixon’s tax-base argument.
Missing Children
Texas Missing Child Awareness — Kimberly Abigail Escobar Orellana
Kimberly Abigail Escobar Orellana disappeared from Falfurrias, Texas, at age 12 in August 2012. She remains listed by Texas DPS and NCMEC.
Elections & Public Trust
Texas Governor Record: Who’s Asking Texans for the Next Four Years?
A record-based introduction to the 2026 Texas governor’s race, the powers of the office and the different records of Greg Abbott, Gina Hinojosa and Pat Dixon.
Missing Children
Texas Missing Child Awareness — Diana Bello Reyes
Diana Bello Reyes disappeared from Bastrop, Texas, at age 14 on October 1, 2022. She remains listed in the Texas DPS Missing Persons Clearinghouse.
Rights & Justice
Fifth Circuit Revives Former WTAMU Officer’s Retaliation Case
The Fifth Circuit revived part of Nathan Crawford’s Title VII retaliation case against West Texas A&M University, but did not find the university liable.