AUSTIN, Texas – Attorney General Ken Paxton issued letters to 11 Texas cities on Monday stating that the Texas Supreme Court determined banning plastics bags was in violation of state law.

Paxton issued letters to the cities of Austin, Sunset Valley, Port Aransas, Laguna Vista, Fort Stockton, Eagle Pass, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Kermit, Freer and South Padre Island.

The letters inform the cities of the recent Texas Supreme Court ruling that declared Laredo’s bag ban illegal. The Texas Supreme Court recognized that state law forbids cities from imposing their waste management duties and costs on citizens and retailers.

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“Municipalities ignoring this law are unlawfully passing their duty to manage solid waste on to their residents and retailers in violation of settled Texas law. A dislike of state law is no justification for a municipality to violate it,” said Paxton.

The Fourth Court of Appeals sided with merchants who argued the bag ban in Laredo on single-use bags is illegal because it is pre-empted by state law regulating solid waste disposal.