{"id":118279,"date":"2026-01-10T18:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/118279\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T18:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T18:09:07","slug":"kan-paxton-sues-texas-dps-over-religious-ads-ban-in-handbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/118279\/","title":{"rendered":"Kan Paxton sues Texas DPS over religious ads ban in handbook"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit this week against the Texas Department of Public Safety, challenging a rule that bans religious ads in the Texas Driver Handbook and DPS mailings.<\/p>\n<p>DPS, however, said it doesn\u2019t run ads in its handbook.\u00a0Paxton\u2019s filing argues that a rule prohibiting religious ads in the handbook infringes on Texans\u2019 First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n<p>The state agency, which provides statewide law enforcement and oversees driver\u2019s licenses, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kxan.com\/news\/texas\/paxton-sues-dps-over-ban-on-religious-ads-in-texas-driver-handbook\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">told Austin-based TV station KXAN<\/a> this week that it hasn\u2019t spoken with the attorney general about the subject.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis rule discriminates against religious organizations\u2019 speech \u2026 allowing secular entities to purchase ad space or otherwise engage in secular speech in the Handbook,\u201d the filing in Travis County District Court says.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit cites a rule that was established in 2000, which allows DPS to contract with people and businesses for advertising. But, there are some strict limitations on the ads DPS can sell. The ads cannot involve religion or politics and must be \u201cin good taste,\u201d the rule says.<\/p>\n<p>Ads for ballot propositions, alcohol or tobacco products, gambling and \u201ccontroversial organizations,\u201d also aren\u2019t allowed, KXAN reported.<\/p>\n<p>The 91-page Texas Driver Handbook outlines information about rules surrounding driver\u2019s licenses, vehicle inspections and road safety in Texas. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dps.texas.gov\/internetforms\/Forms\/DL-7.pdf\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">current version<\/a> does not contain any ads.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit references a 2019 federal court ruling on a case in Pennsylvania to support Paxton\u2019s case. There, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Freethought Society tried to buy ads on public buses that used the word \u201catheists.\u201d The local transit system rejected the ad, citing a similar rule to the one DPS has on the books, but the Third Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the rule, saying the transit system violated the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the Court does not grant the Attorney General\u2019s application, harm to Texas citizens is imminent,\u201d Paxton\u2019s filing reads. \u201cDefendants continue to administer the Religious Ads Prohibition; thus, the denial of Texas citizens\u2019 constitutional rights is ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paxton is in the midst of a heated U.S. Senate race. He\u2019s trying to oust longtime incumbent John Cornyn in the Republican primary. Election Day is on March 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit this week against the Texas Department of Public Safety, challenging&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[933,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-118279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-austinlatest","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}