How a Tiny Texas Town’s Mayor Shaped Dallas’ Police Hiring Mandate and Sparked Legal Battle

In February 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Dallas officials, accusing them of failing to adequately fund the city’s police department and violating a voter-approved measure requiring the hiring of up to 900 new officers.

“I filed this lawsuit to ensure that the City of Dallas fully funds law enforcement, upholds public safety, and is accountable to its constituents,” Paxton said in a news release. “When voters demand more funding for law enforcement, local officials must immediately comply.”

The lawsuit was made possible by legal changes championed by Art Martinez de Vara, a private attorney, historian, and anthropologist based in Houston. Martinez de Vara is also the mayor of Von Ormy, a town of 1,100 people in South Texas.

Who Is Art Martinez de Vara?

Martinez de Vara’s personal website lists his roles as state historian, anthropologist, and attorney. Over the past two decades, he has become a prominent figure in Texas conservative circles, known for designing small towns with minimal local governments. His advocacy aligns with Texas’ long-standing reputation for limited government.

While the “liberty city” movement—communities with little to no taxation and regulation—never gained widespread traction, Martinez de Vara and other limited-government advocates have shifted strategies. In recent years, they have focused on restricting local governments’ autonomy over spending and policy decisions.

Martinez de Vara’s Role in Dallas’ Police Hiring Mandate

Two years ago, Martinez de Vara joined Dallas HERO, a nonprofit coalition backed in part by Republican megadonor and Dallas-area hotelier Monty Bennett. As HERO’s attorney, he helped draft and lobby for ballot measures that:

• Required Dallas to dedicate a significant portion of its budget to hiring more police officers, including a mandate to increase starting pay, even if it meant cutting other public services.
• Stripped the city of its immunity from litigation, making it more vulnerable to lawsuits from opponents of its actions.

Last year, Dallas agreed to fund the hiring of 350 additional officers to begin meeting the new requirements, though no compliance timeline was established.

The measures were framed as ways to enhance public safety and ensure local officials were accountable to voters. However, nearly all of Dallas’ elected officials opposed the changes.