Court records and court hearings in the divorce case of Angela Paxton v. Ken Paxton should be open and available to the public, according to a motion filed late Tuesday by The Texas Lawbook and a half-dozen other news media companies, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the Houston Chronicle.
In a seven-page plea intervention, the news organizations jointly ask Collin County District Court Judge Ray Wheless to reverse his earlier decision to seal the court records in the case, which pits Angela Paxton, a Texas state senator, against her husband of 38 years, Ken Paxton, who is the state’s attorney general and the highest-ranking regulator of businesses in Texas.
Senator Paxton filed for divorce in July. A week later, Judge Wheless granted a motion by the Paxtons to have all the documents in the case sealed without conducting a hearing on the matter.
“Texas common law recognizes a strong presumption in favor of public access to judicial records and proceedings,” the media organizations, which are represented by the Dallas litigation firm Reese Marketos, wrote in the brief filed Tuesday afternoon. “This presumption is rooted in the principle that the courts are public institutions, and their proceedings and records are presumptively open to public scrutiny.”
The petition points to a 2024 Texas Supreme Court decision in Baker v. Bizzle that states that “the public generally has a right to access judicial proceedings except for those rare cases in which competing rights or interests outweigh the public interest.”
“This right, which is a fundamental element of the rule of law, is recognized under the common law, constitutionally guaranteed, and incorporated into our procedural rules requiring court proceedings and court records to be open to the public,” the Texas Supreme Court held.
The Texas Lawbook, the state’s largest legal news publication, joined the other news organizations in filing the petition because Paxton, as Texas attorney general, is one of the leading regulators of businesses in the state. Paxton has filed scores of lawsuits accusing some of the world’s largest companies, including technology and social media corporations and pharmaceutical firms, of misconduct — an allegation that Sen. Paxton has now levied against the state’s highest-ranking prosecutor.
Legal experts also argue that the divorce case could present problems for the Texas attorney general in the current litigation over a new Texas law requiring Texas schools to display the Ten Commandments in the classroom. Paxton has argued that the presence of the Ten Commandments in schools will encourage “virtues and values” among students.
Legal analysts say lawyers for groups will demand Paxton explain in court how he thinks students should be forced to read the seventh commandment — “Thou shall not commit adultery” — when Sen. Paxton has accused him of adultery as the reason for the divorce.
“The grounds alleged for divorce and the disposition of property are of substantial public interest because they bear on integrity in public office, potential use of public resources and transparency in judicial proceedings,” the petition for the media organization states. “The divorce proceedings between Senator Paxton and AG Paxton are matters of significant public interest. Both parties are elected officials, and the issues raised in the pleadings — including allegations of adultery and requests for disproportionate division of property — may bear directly on the conduct of public office, the use of public resources, and the financial interests of public servants.”
“The public has a compelling and legitimate interest in understanding the conduct of these public officers, the nature and extent of assets held by these long-serving public officers, and any allegations of fault, misconduct, or abuse of trust — particularly where such issues may bear on the performance of official duties, the ethical obligations of office, or AG Paxton’s service in current or future public office,” the brief states.
The other news media companies involved include ProPublica, The Texas Observer, The Texas Tribune and The Texas Newsroom, a collaboration of public radio news stations across the state.
The lawyers representing the news organizations are Joel Reese and Tyler Bexley of Reese Marketos in Dallas.
The case is In the Matter of the Marriage between Angela Suzanne Paxton and Warren Kenneth Paxton, Cause No. 468-54065-2025.