Former Austin police officer Christopher Taylor is taking his fight to get his badge back to court, suing Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis and the City of Austin on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. In his new lawsuit, Taylor asks a judge to order his return to the force, restore his back pay, and essentially hit rewind on his termination. His complaint argues he was fired only because his peace officer license was pulled, and that the decision should be undone now that courts and licensing officials have cleared him.
What the complaint says
The suit, as described by KVUE, claims Taylor lost his job only after his peace officer license was revoked. According to the filing, Chief Davis then refused to bring him back even after his criminal conviction was reversed. Taylor is asking the court not just to reinstate him to the Austin Police Department, but also to restore his seniority and benefits and award damages for lost wages and harm to his reputation. The city told KVUE it plans to defend the chief and the municipality in court.
Criminal case background
Taylor was convicted in October 2024 of deadly conduct in the July 31, 2019, shooting of Mauris DeSilva and was sentenced in December 2024 to two years in prison, a rare on-duty conviction for an Austin officer, according to KUT. That sentence triggered the move to terminate him under rules that block convicted felons from holding peace officer licenses. The case and its fallout became a flashpoint in Austin’s ongoing debates over policing and how officers respond to mental-health crises.
Appeal and license reinstatement
In late December 2025, a Texas appeals court reversed Taylor’s deadly conduct conviction and entered a judgment of acquittal, according to FOX 7 Austin. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement later restored his peace officer license, a step reported by Police1. Taylor’s legal team now points to those two decisions as wiping out the original basis for his firing.
Other legal fallout
Taylor was also embroiled in separate proceedings over the April 2020 death of Michael Ramos. After two mistrials, a grand jury declined to re-indict him in June 2024, leaving that case closed on the criminal side as the DeSilva prosecution moved into the appeals phase, according to the Houston Chronicle. The overlapping criminal cases, licensing decisions, and internal personnel moves have together raised thorny questions about when, or if, an officer can return to duty once a conviction is thrown out.
What’s next
The Travis County district attorney’s office has filed a petition asking a higher court to review the appeals ruling that acquitted Taylor, a move reported by FOX 7 Austin. That means the criminal saga may not be over even as the civil fight over his reinstatement kicks off. On the civil side, the city has said it will defend Chief Davis, and the lawsuit is expected to wind through months of motions, discovery, and possible hearings before a judge or jury decides whether Taylor gets his old job back.
