AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared an agency holiday Friday to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
In a news release commenting on the ruling, Paxton said June 24 will now be an agency holiday “in recognition of this momentous decision.” To mark the day, he closed the office and sent most of his 4,000-employee agency home.
According to an internal memo obtained by The Dallas Morning News, staff are required to stop working at noon.
“Today we celebrate life and the protection of the unborn with the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade,” First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster wrote. “Going forward, today will be an annual agency holiday to commemorate the sanctity of life.”
Employees required to work from home “due to non-discretionary reasons” must request approval to do so from Webster and coordinate with human resources “if approval is granted,” the memo added. Staff who must work will receive comp time, employees were told.
Paxton, a Republican, is up for re-election this year. He faces Democrat Rochelle Garza in the November general election.
Paxton has the power to release his employees, a former agency head told The News. This authority is usually exercised around the holidays or, on a more limited basis, to respond to extreme weather events, they said.
“I don’t know of anything that prevents him from doing so,” said Claire Bow, former head of the State Office of Risk Management. “I cannot think of another example of the AG’s office closing and declaring an office holiday for a court ruling. That’s unprecedented to everything I know.”
The ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson, which was released Friday morning, struck down the Roe ruling creating a constitutional right to access abortion.
In 2021, Texas lawmakers passed a so-called trigger law to essentially outlaw abortion. The law will go into effect in 30 days; in the meantime, the state’s six-week abortion ban remains in place.
