Texas appeals court cancels oral arguments in challenge to state hemp rules

Days after voters ousted all three Republican justices on the 15th Court of Appeals in Tuesday’s election, the court canceled oral arguments for four cases, telling lawyers the case will be reset “at a later date.”

The change will leave the cases — including a challenge to state rules limiting the sale of hemp-derived products containing THC — to three Democrats who will take office in early January.

The THC regulations, originally set to take effect at the end of March, included child-resistant packaging, a significant increase in licensing fees, new labeling, testing and bookkeeping requirements. The Texas Department of State Health Services rules also codified the legal purchasing age to 21 and increased licensing fees for manufacturers of hemp-derived THC from $258 to $10,000 per facility and retail registrations from $155 to $5,000. Industry leaders said the fees amounted to a ban by forcing businesses to close.

Smoke shops briefly pulled the products from shelves as the ban went into effect before a Travis County district judge on April 10 temporarily blocked the rules as a lawsuit by the hemp industry played out in court.

The 15th Court of Appeals, which has statewide jurisdiction over challenges to state laws and regulations, was set to hear oral arguments in the case Dec. 8.

The cancellation will let current justices deliver opinions on already argued cases, Justice Scott Field told Bloomberg Law.

“We know we can’t get the opinion out for cases orally argued before the end of the year so we don’t want to waste the lawyers’ time with an argument if there’s a chance the new court will also want to hear argument,” Field said.

There are 39 cases before the outgoing justices that have already presented oral or written arguments and are awaiting opinions.

Oral arguments set for Dec. 8 and 9 also were canceled in:

• The State of Texas vs. Sunrise Community Church Inc., a legal battle around a homeless shelter in South Austin. The attorney general’s office argued the shelter’s proximity to an elementary school makes it a public nuisance.
• Comptroller Don Huffines and Attorney General Ken Paxton vs. City of Lancaster, a dispute over about $3 million in sales taxes.
• Huffines and Paxton vs. Dave & Buster’s, which sued to recover $2.58 million that the company believed qualified for tax exemptions.