The Texas Ethics Commission on Thursday voted to end a long-running investigation into Empower Texans, a politically active nonprofit and one of the state's most influential conservative groups.

Texas has a record-breaking 15 million people registered to vote ahead of the November election — over 777,000 more than were registered in time for the March primaries. The deadline to register to vote was Tuesday.

Attorney General Ken Paxton is wading into another fight over local control — this one about plastic bags at certain retailers. The Republican on Wednesday sued the city of Brownsville over its $1 per-transaction fee on plastic and other one-time use bags offered at grocery stores and certain other businesses, calling it an “illegal sales tax.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants state lawmakers to pay for rifle-resistant vests for almost 60,000 patrol officers. It's unclear where — or whether — they'll find the $20 million to do it.

Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and four other agencies were questioned Wednesday about granting departing employees “emergency leave” as a form of separation payment.

The governor's office has put the Department of Family and Protective Services on notice to come up with a plan to help foster children find home placements faster and seek out those facing abuse.

The highest criminal court in Texas said Wednesday it will not hear Ken Paxton's appeal of securities fraud charges, putting the attorney general on the path to a trial in the coming months.

Attorneys for the state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland will ask a judge to let a second grand jury reconsider the perjury charge he faces.

President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush, have decided that they will be buried at the Texas State Cemetery. With that choice, Bush will become the first U.S. president to be buried at the cemetery in East Austin.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, speaking at a Tuesday fundraiser in San Antionio, continued to call out members of his own party for not being fully supportive of him, including U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, whom he accused of "total disloyalty to the party." Ryan on Monday said he'd focus on down-ballot races after a 2005 tape surfaced last week that caught Trump making lewd comments about women.