![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0414-CommissionersCourt-MC-09-1024x683.jpg\")
Matt Krause during a Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting on April 14, 2026, in Fort Worth. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
Democratic Commissioner Alisa Simmons, whose precinct includes the Arlington subcourthouse, argued that the NAACP is nonpartisan and should be allowed to use the county building.\u00a0Simmons is running for the countywide judge seat on the Commissioners Court in the November election.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a policy organization with a mission to advance civil rights and human rights \u2014 that\u2019s it,\u201d Simmons said at the meeting.<\/p>\n
Rejecting the NAACP\u2019s application sets a dangerous precedent and raises serious questions about fairness, Simmons added in a statement to the Report.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA community room is not a reward for approved opinions. It is a public space governed by neutral rules,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIf this request meets those rules, and it does, it should be approved.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The First Amendment protects most forms of speech and expression in public forums, such as public sidewalks and parks. Government facilities are typically considered public forums. Government bodies may impose reasonable rules to restrict speech, but those rules must be viewpoint-neutral and appropriate to the building\u2019s intended use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under the county\u2019s facility use policy, people and organizations may request to use county buildings after business hours for non-governmental uses such as weddings, meetings, political activities and press conferences. County officials may deny such requests if the applicant has previously violated the policy rules; if the proposed use would \u201csubstantially disrupt\u201d the building\u2019s usual operations; or if the proposed use poses health or safety risks or violates state or federal law, according to the policy.<\/p>\n
The NAACP doesn\u2019t appear to have violated any of the listed criteria, said Lynne Rambo, a professor emerita with Texas A&M School of Law.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when the county says we’re going to deny you anyway, there’s nothing left to think but that they are discriminating against the NAACP,\u201d Rambo said. \u201cThey’re keeping out one particular organization that doesn’t present the very concerns they identify, and so the only thing one can conclude is that it’s because it is the NAACP.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commissioners must enforce the facilities use policy \u201cfairly and without discrimination on the basis of the political, religious, philosophical or ideological viewpoints expressed by any person,\u201d it states. However, it also states that commissioners may authorize exceptions or amendments at any time, which Rambo said leaves room for discretionary interpretation and enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a very disfavored formulation under the First Amendment,\u201d Rambo said. \u201cThat’s exactly what we don’t want is the government making choices about who it will allow to speak and who it will not allow to speak without any limitation on its discretion.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Arlington NAACP requested to use the subcourthouse \u201cthat our tax dollars have already paid for,\u201d president Jason Thomas told the Report. The church where the group used to meet doesn\u2019t have enough space anymore, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Monthly NAACP meetings focus on voter education and civic engagement \u201cwithout a partisan slant,\u201d Thomas said. The Arlington chapter would happily present its meeting topic to commissioners each month, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re trying to get on the schedule, and we will gracefully show what we’re going over,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cI don’t think kidney disease or getting into housing or any of those things are partisan in nature at all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the April 14 meeting, commissioners unanimously approved two other requests to use county facilities. One was from the Tarrant County Historical Commission to host guided tours of the downtown Fort Worth courthouse during the Main Street Arts Festival, and the other was to let the National Family Law Trial Institute host an educational mock trial at the Family Law Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Commissioners can\u2019t \u201cpick and choose\u201d which groups may use county property, said David Keating, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Free Speech dedicated to protecting political speech under the First Amendment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it may not be popular, but if they’re going to allow the Girl Scouts to use it, they\u2019ve got to let the other groups use it,\u201d Keating said. \u201cThat’s the way it works.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keating and Thomas agreed in separate interviews that the decision to reject the NAACP\u2019s application appears based on the group\u2019s viewpoints, which would violate the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Commissioners could amend the policy to prohibit all political activity in county facilities, Thomas said, noting that would mitigate concerns about politically motivated discrimination. <\/p>\n
\u201cEither put the reasons in the policy and abide by them, or that’s it,\u201d Rambo said. \u201cYou don’t get to have some outside discretion that you’re exercising.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Krause maintains that the decision didn\u2019t violate the First Amendment, saying \u201cdiscretion is a legitimate standard.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter which precinct it is or which group it is, if it’s going to get the appearance of using our public courthouses for something political or partisan, I’m probably going to vote against that, because it’s not the best interest of the citizens,\u201d Krause said.<\/p>\n