A Travis County judge has given Attorney General Ken Paxton a win that comes with strings attached in his fight over the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center. In a Jan. 7 order, Judge Aurora Martinez-Jones said Sunrise could be barred from offering outdoor services outside its Menchaca Road headquarters, but only if the state first signs on to a detailed plan that includes an alternative site and extra safety measures. Sunrise leaders counter that without those promised resources, the injunction is essentially unenforceable and could leave people without services.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, Martinez-Jones wrote that other city facilities are not equipped to absorb everyone who would be displaced if Sunrise’s outdoor operations were simply shut down, warning that a blanket ban could actually increase homelessness across Austin. To avoid that scenario, she tied any prohibition on outdoor services to the state partnering with the city and providing an alternative location plus “added safety and security measures” for clients and nearby residents.
As outlined by the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Paxton sued the city and the navigation center in November 2024, calling the operation a public nuisance that puts local residents and students at risk. His filings cite violent incidents and alleged drug activity around the Menchaca Road site and ask the court for emergency injunctive relief to halt what the office argues is dangerous activity near Joslin Elementary and the surrounding neighborhood.
The Austin American-Statesman reports that Sunrise executive director Mark Hilbelink views the order as a conditional ruling that cannot be carried out “unless the state does the things it requires,” warning that services would otherwise be cut off without a funded backup plan. Sunrise’s website describes the navigation center as the largest provider of homeless services in Travis County, listing meals, showers, housing navigation and substance-use support among its offerings. City staff say they have been exploring a move of navigation-center services to a new property so they can maintain care while addressing neighborhood safety concerns, according to Community Impact.
Legal context
The Attorney General’s complaint invokes Texas nuisance law and asks for a temporary injunction under the state’s Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as spelled out in the filing from Paxton’s office. The judge’s conditional approach signals an attempt to thread a narrow legal needle, weighing public safety concerns against the reality that abruptly shuttering the city’s largest navigation center with no immediate alternative could push people into even more precarious conditions on the street.
City and community response
City leaders and the Homeless Strategy Office have been hunting for a replacement site and have identified a parcel off I-35 as a potential new home for navigation services, a move staff say could provide tighter oversight of day-to-day operations. That relocation effort, along with whether the state is willing to put up money and security support, will likely determine whether the injunction becomes a powerful enforcement tool or mostly a legal warning shot in the weeks ahead. Hoodline previously covered an earlier chapter in the fight after the judge rejected an emergency hearing last summer, a reminder that this clash has been simmering for months.
For now, Sunrise continues to run its hub and mobile services, according to the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center, while the lawsuit plays out. Everything now hinges on whether Texas agrees to identify and fund an alternative location along with the added security the judge laid out, a decision that will determine whether Paxton’s courtroom win translates into actual changes on the ground or remains a conditional ruling that leaves services operating, at least for the moment.
