Taxpayers paid $3.3 million for Paxton's travel security, and a review finds most trips had no listed state purpose

Texas taxpayers have spent $3.3 million on state police protection for Attorney General Ken Paxton's travel since he took office in 2015, and only a small share of those trips can be tied to state business in the records, according to an analysis published Friday by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune.

The two newsrooms reviewed Department of Public Safety logs for Paxton's security detail along with travel receipts, per diems and daily calendars from the attorney general's office, which they obtained under the state's Public Information Act. They counted nearly 1,000 trips with the detail. Only 138 of them, accounting for about $553,000 of the security cost, could be linked to official business.

Paxton, a Republican, faces Democrat James Talarico and Libertarian Ted Brown in the U.S. Senate race on the Nov. 3 ballot. Early voting begins Oct. 19.

What the records show

According to the analysis:

• His trips with the detail reached 36 states and 19 foreign countries, and for most of them no purpose is recorded.
• He made 53 trips to Florida and 24 to Utah, states where Paxton or a family trust owns property.
• During his 2023 suspension, as he awaited his impeachment trial, he took at least 17 trips with state police, including to Park City, Utah, and Vail, Colorado. The Senate later acquitted him.
• Last year, just five of 91 trips with the detail listed any business purpose.

The newsrooms compared Paxton's costs with those of his predecessor, Greg Abbott, whose detail during his last three years as attorney general cost $203,000. Adjusted for inflation, they put Abbott's monthly cost at $7,400 and Paxton's average at $24,300.

State law allows DPS to protect top officials such as the attorney general, though accepting that protection is optional, the report says. The newsrooms found no record that Paxton or his campaign has repaid the state for any security costs.

Paxton's response

Paxton did not answer the newsrooms' detailed questions or provide records showing that trips were not personal, the report says. His office instead issued a statement saying he has faced "numerous security threats" because of his work, which it said stem from "him taking on the cartels terrorizing Texans and some of the nation's most dangerous violent criminals."

The attorney general's office has also said that negotiating large legal settlements requires regular travel. DPS declined to answer questions, saying it does not discuss security arrangements.

A Columbia Law School ethics professor quoted in the report, Richard Briffault, said trips with no benefit to Texans should not be paid for by taxpayers. A Marquette University political scientist, Paul Nolette, said the attorney general's job has grown and can require more travel, though he said the volume of undocumented trips raises questions.

Sources

The Texas Tribune