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Legal and practical concerns raised as Fort Worth residents contest proposed offender residency restrictions
Summary
Attorneys, treatment providers and housing operators told the council the draft residency restriction ordinance risks legal conflict with state authorities, lacks operational guidance and may harm public safety by disrupting supervised placements.
Richard Gladden, an attorney with roughly 25 years’ experience in criminal and municipal law, told the Fort Worth City Council that the draft offender residency restriction ordinance contains two legal defects that could make it invalid. "Under Texas law, district court judges have exclusive authority to determine where people on probation reside," Gladden said, adding the draft lacks an exemption for people under court-ordered residency. He also cited the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Barr v. City of Sinton as reasons the ordinance could not bar residency in religiously affiliated transitional homes.
Gladden said he delivered a demand letter to the city and warned he expected…
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