VON ORMY — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit in February accusing the City of Dallas of failing to adequately fund its police department and violating a voter-approved measure requiring it to hire up to 900 new officers. The ballot measure was drafted with the help of Art Martinez de Vara, a South Texas lawyer who served as attorney for the nonprofit Dallas HERO.

"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. "When voters demand more funding for law enforcement, local officials must immediately comply," he added.

Dallas maintains that it still has immunity from the lawsuit. Last year, the city agreed to fund hiring 350 additional police officers, and elected officials are cutting city services and staff to fund hiring new officers. Crime in Dallas has declined. The ballot measure has no timeline for compliance. Dallas HERO argued that the measures would improve safety and ensure local officials' accountability to constituents.

Martinez de Vara, a lawyer and historian whose personal website lists him as a state historian, an anthropologist, and an attorney, has helped promote a theory of limited government across Texas. He serves as mayor of Von Ormy and runs a private law practice based in Houston and Von Ormy. Over the past two decades, he has been the architect behind the formation of several small Texas towns with minimal local governments. In recent years, he and other limited-government advocates increased efforts to restrict local governments' fiscal and policy autonomy.

Two years ago, Martinez de Vara joined a coalition associated with Dallas HERO, which is funded in part by Monty Bennett. As attorney for the group, he helped draft and lobby for ballot measures requiring Dallas to dedicate a large share of its budget to hiring more police officers and increasing starting pay.

Earlier in his career, Martinez de Vara persuaded five small towns to incorporate. At least two of those towns still struggle to provide basic services. "The Republican officials running Texas have long sought to gain leverage over the Democrat officials running the state's largest cities, so I am not surprised that Attorney General Paxton joined with HERO lawyers to sue Dallas," said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University.