Texas AG sues hospital for $10K after off-duty police barred from carrying guns
Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, is suing a health system for banning off-duty police officers from carrying firearms, court records obtained by the Houston Chronicle show.
According to Paxton’s office, Memorial Hermann Health System violated criminal code procedure, which says any entity serving the public may not “prohibit or otherwise restrict a peace officer or special investigator from carrying on the establishment's premises a weapon that the peace officer or special investigator is otherwise authorized to carry.”
Forbidding police officers—even those who are off-duty and in plain clothes—from carrying concealed weapons also violates a policy from the county Sheriff that states law enforcement have a “duty to carry firearms.”
“While off-duty, deputies will carry or have in their immediate possession their issued—[or] optional employee-purchased wallet badge—Harris County Sheriff’s Office identification, and an approved firearm,” the policy states.
The lawsuit notes 10 instances where officers were barred from carrying firearms at Memorial Hermann locations, including one involving a former FBI special agent. The alleged violations occurred between 2022 and 2024, the complaint said.
Paxton is seeking a civil judgment of $1,000 per incident, plus court costs.
In a similar lawsuit from August, the attorney general sued the city of Dallas for banning the carry of firearms at the Texas State Fair. The case ended with the justices upholding the gun ban, with exceptions made for off-duty police officers, according to a report from the Houston Chronicle.
For more on the legal claim against Memorial Hermann, read the Houston Chronicles’ coverage at the link below.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.