The injunction in THBC’s lawsuit challenging the DSHS rules has been stayed (lifted) on June 5, 2026 following a request by the State.

As a result, the DSHS rules are back in effect while the litigation continues and the case moves toward trial.

What “staying” the injunction means:
The 15th Court of Appeals stayed the injunction awarded to the hemp industry, which means all the rules that were previously paused are now back in effect. DSHS does not have to alert anyone, nor do they need to send out a notice advising the current status.

So while the injunction has been stayed (lifted), we await the court’s ruling on the merits of the case.

There had been a trial date set for July 27th, but based on Texas Civil Practice & Remedies code (51.014(b)) all proceedings in the trial court are delayed until after the court makes a decision on the appeal. The appeal we are awaiting decision on is the states request to appeal the entire case. They want it thrown out entirely before it even makes it to trial.

At that point, if we win on appeal, the case will be remanded for trial seeking a permanent injunction against the 2026 Challenged Rules.

Side note: It is wholly UNKNOWN who the judge for that case will be.

What can be done?
It is possible to file something called a “Writ of Mandamus” to the supreme court to try to get the injunction back. It would be a last ditch effort while the 15th Court considers the merits of the state’s appeal to our case.There is no guarantee of success and it is not free. Despite pledges from certain groups to share costs of the lawsuit, THBC has thus far incurred all expenses for the lawsuit and funding for further actions is not clear. That is in addition to the funding needed when we eventually do get to trial and the funding needed to stop Lt. Gov. Patrick from taking what is left of the industry in 2027 (if he wins).

Next steps if no Writ of Mandamus is filed (and granted):
We can wait for the 15th Court (and then maybe the Texas Supreme Court) to rule on the appeal and then hopefully be remanded to the trial court to fight it out there. As noted above, the July 27th date is now moot (we are not going to trial July 27).

Every judge on the 15th Court is up for re-election, as are several of the judges on the Texas Supreme Court. The industry could try to vote them out. However, there is a real possibility that the 15th Court could decide this appeal before the end of December (when their terms would end if they lost re-election), and if they thought they were going to get voted out, they could hurry to decide the case before then. It is unclear (at best) what they will do and it is unclear (at best) how much firepower the statewide industry could bring to vote in a new set of judges. Again, judges could be motivated to move up the timeline if they felt threatened.

In short, THBC members and industry in general are going to have to decide how much deeper they want to dig to keep fighting this.

What’s NOT happening next:
There is no window, opportunity or avenue to lobby the governor to “do something” at this point. This is a legal matter and the governor has no legal standing to interfere with an ongoing court case. The rules at DSHS are set and they are standing by them, there is nothing for the governor to do there.