Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton plans to appeal to a higher court after a Dallas County district judge on Thursday denied his office’s request to temporarily halt a new State Fair of Texas policy prohibiting firearms on its fairgrounds.

DALLAS – Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an expedited appeal Thursday after a Dallas County judge upheld the State Fair's gun ban earlier that day. Judge Emily G. Tobolowsky ruled almost immediately in favor of the City of Dallas and the State Fair after attorneys finished their closing statements early Thursday afternoon.

The Republican attorney general has been attempting to block the Texas State Fair from banning guns on fairgrounds.

A notice of appeal was filed hours after a Dallas County judge ruled to keep a ban on guns at the State Fair of Texas in place.

An Texas judge has slapped down an attempt by state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to force the state fair to allow guns. Paxton’s office sued in August to block a change in state fair policy to ban private firearms — a change Dallas County District Judge Emily Tobolowsky upheld Thursday.

Tobolowsky ruled almost immediately in favor of the City of Dallas and the State Fair after attorneys finished their closing statements early Thursday afternoon. The 2024 edition of the fair gets underway next Friday,

Despite the Texas Attorney General's efforts to reverse a gun restriction at the State Fair, the policy will remain in effect as fairgoers get ready for the season.