Dallas judge denies AG Ken Paxton’s attempt to block State Fair of Texas gun policy

A Dallas County District judge on Thursday denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to block a new State Fair of Texas policy restricting who can bring guns to the 24-day event. The ban will go into effect when the fair kicks off next week.
Judge Emily Tobolowsky, at the end of a temporary injunction hearing on Thursday, said she didn’t believe there was enough evidence showing any laws were broken by the new restriction, which limits firearm carriers at the fair to elected, appointed or employed peace officers.
“I deny the injunction in its entirety,” Tobolowsky said.
Fair organizers announced Aug. 8 they would increase security and limit who would be allowed to carry guns into Fair Park. The fair previously allowed any attendee with a valid handgun license to bring a gun as long as it was concealed, but state law doesn’t require Texans to have a permit to carry a firearm in a public place.
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The policy change comes after a man shot three people at the fair last year. The nonprofit group leases Fair Park from the city for the event, one of the state’s largest annual celebrations and the most attended fair in the country.
Dallas officials have maintained city officials weren’t involved in the fair’s decision to enact the new policy. Fair officials say they believe it’s their right to take measures they deem fit to protect patrons.
Paxton sought a temporary injunction to prevent the new policy from being enforced. Paxton sued the fair, Dallas and interim city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert last month, arguing the restriction is illegal and infringes on gun owners’ rights.
The lawsuit was filed two weeks after Paxton sent a letter to Tolbert threatening legal action unless the city forced the fair to drop its new policy.
Ernest Garcia, an assistant attorney general, argued in court Thursday that since Dallas owns the 277-acre Fair Park and leases the grounds to the State Fair of Texas, the city was denying lawful licensed firearm holders access to government property by allowing the fair’s policy to stand.
“This case is about public policy and its application to public property,” Garcia said. “This is not a case about private property rights or interest.”
But attorneys representing the city, Tolbert and the fair disagreed, saying the State Fair of Texas is not affiliated with the city and Dallas had no involvement in the policy and will largely rely on fair staff to enforce the rules unless there is a criminal offense.
Jeffrey Tillotson, an attorney representing Tolbert and Dallas, said the city hasn’t issued any official opinion on the policy and during the 24 days of the fair, the private nonprofit has full authority over who has access to Fair Park.
“Our only position is they signed the lease, they’re honoring the terms, they’re a private actor, they can do what they want,” Tillotson said.
He noted Paxton recently withdrew a legal opinion issued by the AG’s office in 2016 saying nonprofits have the right to ban firearms from property leased from the government. Tillotson described the move as rare and said it was “withdrawn largely as a litigation tactic.”
Jim Harris, an attorney representing the State Fair of Texas, said as long as the gun restriction is the fair’s policy and not the city’s policy, he believes no state law has been violated. He noted the state provided no evidence that Dallas had taken any action from directly or indirectly stopping people from attending the fair.
“It’s not about whether what the state fair has decided to do is good policy or bad policy,” Harris said. “It’s the policy that the state fair believes best serves its interest.”
Mitch Glieber, president of the State Fair of Texas, testified Tuesday that fair officials began discussing the policy change last year after a man shot three people at the event.
The fair’s board of directors approved the policy change in February and officials told the police department of the coming restriction in May to aid in planning for this year’s event, Glieber said.
“We decided ultimately that it was in the best interest of the safety of our fairgoers, our vendors, our staff to prohibit firearms,” he said. “We made that decision. Ultimately, it would be my decision to make.”
He said many fairgoers expressed shock last year when they learned licensed carry was allowed during the State Fair.
“Our audience is made up of a lot of families with small children, and we heard from a lot of them afterward that they’re not comfortable coming to an event where there are that many firearms in individuals’ hands,” he said.
He said the nonprofit has access to Fair Park 90 days ahead of the start of the fair for set up, the 24 days during the fair and 30 days after for clean up.
The fair pays the city $1.75 million a year for the lease and another $500,000 in an annual marketing fee, Glieber said. He also said the fair pays all expenses incurred by the city’s police department for the event, including on-duty and off-duty officers assigned to work the event and vehicle expenses.
Three Texas residents were added to the lawsuit as plaintiffs alongside the state, including one who filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office about the new policy.
The suit describes the three as wanting to exercise their right to carry a firearm onto government-owned property like the 277-acre Fair Park. Two of them are listed as licensed firearm holders, and the third isn’t.
Alex Dubeau, an investigator with the attorney general’s office, testified Thursday he’s been fielding complaints about the fair’s new policy since it was announced last month. He most recently got a call about it on Wednesday.
“Almost on a daily basis, complaints come trickling in,” Dubeau said.
The investigator said he toured Fair Park nearly a month ago and seeing city police officers on the grounds led him to suspect the police department would be enforcing the fair policies.
“My recommendation was that I believed there was a violation,” Dubeau said.
Paxton and Tolbert didn’t attend Thursday’s hearing, and attorneys representing the state declined to comment after the hearing.
Attorneys representing the city, Tolbert and the fair said they were pleased with Tobolowsky’s ruling. Glieber said he looked forward to focusing on the fair’s opening day and didn’t rule out an appeal from the state
“We’re hoping that we can keep our folks as safe as humanly possible,” he said. “That’s the goal.”
The State Fair of Texas runs from Sept. 27 through Oct. 20.