FORT WORTH, TX – Earlier this year, the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County and LULAC Council 4568, represented by the Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), along with pro bono counsel Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, filed a lawsuit challenging the Tarrant County Commissioners Court’s unfair and discriminatory commissioners precinct map.

Adopted on June 3, 2025 after a rushed and opaque process, the unlawful and racially discriminatory map sparked widespread public opposition and concern about the lack of transparency in the county’s redistricting, which disproportionately harms Black and Latino voters. 

On November 19, 2025, a Tarrant County district court held a hearing on the County’s attempt to argue that voters have no right under the Texas Constitution or state law to challenge the mid-decade redistricting. 

During the hearing, TCRP attorney Sarah Chen argued on behalf of the plaintiffs, explaining that the County’s position fundamentally misinterprets Texas law. Defendants claimed that their secretive map-drawing process is not prohibited by the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) and that the plaintiffs’ other state-law claims fall outside the court’s reach.

Chen countered that TOMA was designed precisely to prevent such secretive decision-making, and that voters have a right to hold their elected officials accountable for violations of the law that undermine transparency and fairness. She emphasized that plaintiffs’ claims are grounded in Texas constitutional and statutory law, which fall squarely within the authority of the Tarrant County district court.

Although Defendants did not dispute any evidence provided by Plaintiffs, and despite Defendants’ misreading of the law, the court sided with the County in a brief order issued after the hearing.

"The League of Women Voters of Tarrant County believes in a government that is transparent and fair to all citizens. The District Court’s failure to hold the Tarrant County Commissioners Court accountable for its racially discriminatory map is clear injustice that directly harms the representation of Black and Latino voters," said Janet Mattern, president of the League of Women Voters of Tarrant County. "We are confident that the Texas Constitution and state law protect the rights of voters to challenge such abuses of power. The League will continue to fight for a truly representative Tarrant County."

"While we are disappointed by this ruling, we strongly believe that the Texas constitution and Texas laws are clear that state courts must step in where Commissioners Courts abuse their discretion or discriminate based on race, and that nonpartisan civil rights organizations like LULAC Council 4568 and the League have a right to bring those challenges on behalf of their members," said Nina Oishi, TCRP Voting Rights Attorney. "Even as Defendant County Judge O’Hare and the Commissioners Court try to avoid accountability for their undemocratic and discriminatory map, we will never stop working to amplify the voices of Tarrant County residents and communities of color."

"As a local president of a national civil rights organization and thirty-year resident of Tarrant County, I am very concerned about the ability to receive justice in this County," said Alberto Govea, president of LULAC Council 4568, based in Fort Worth. "This illegal redistricting scheme is an attack on our communities' ability to vote for representatives that know and understand our needs. This decision must be challenged both in the courts and streets. This is not party politics. This denies people their right to equal representation."

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