The City of Dallas has taken Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to court to avoid releasing flight details for trips taken by the mayor, the city manager and City Council members, WFAA reported Friday night.
The city filed the case in Travis County District Court after WFAA and other news organizations asked for records on taxpayer-funded travel, including trips to New York, Montreal and Taiwan.
When the city answered those requests, it blacked out the ticket information, in some cases leaving only the dollar amount paid for a flight. City lawyers then asked the attorney general's office, which decides disputes over what records are public, for permission to withhold the details.
The office turned the city down and ruled that the information must be released to WFAA and the other requesters. Instead of handing it over, the city went to court.
A spokesperson said the city would not comment because the case is pending. WFAA did not report a hearing date.
The exception Dallas is using
The city's argument rests on a Texas Transportation Code change that has been in force since September 2025. According to Reid Pillifant, a Haynes Boone attorney WFAA hired to argue for release before the attorney general's office, that provision keeps private the personal information connected to the public's use of an airport facility, such as flight information, names, phone numbers and TSA PreCheck status.
"The city is stretching this exception way beyond its intended purpose," Pillifant told the station. "The legislature was not trying to protect information about taxpayer-funded travel by elected officials, like what's at issue here."
The two Dallas Democrats who carried the bill agree with that reading. State Rep. Yvonne Davis, the House sponsor, told WFAA the law was "never intended" to be used this way.
