UPDATE: TRO Court Hearing Friday (Aug 28) on Texas Hemp Businesses Lawsuit Against Texas Department of State Health Services
AUSTIN, Texas — August 27, 2026 — A court hearing will continue on Friday, August 28, 2026, at 3:00 pm online on the requested Temporary Restraining Order in the Texas hemp businesses’ lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services. The lawsuit challenges a recent state agency attempt to unilaterally reclassify lawful hemp products as controlled substances and rewrite the legal framework established by the Texas Legislature. The hearing can be viewed online at https://www.youtube.com/
“The Travis County Court has informed us that it has experienced difficulties with the YouTube feed. Recording of the YouTube feed is not permitted. Please be patient when viewing online, as it will be a few minutes before it is “on the record,” and the YouTube feed begins.
A copy of the proposed Temporary Restraining Order is attached. Please note this is only a copy of the proposed TRO made by the plaintiff’s lawyers; the judge may, and most likely will, if they issue the TRO, make adjustments and changes.
The hearing will be conducted online before Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of the 459th Civil District Court in Travis County, 1700 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX.
Statement on Today’s Hearing
At today’s hearing, the Department represented that it had not been able to coordinate with the Attorney General’s Office in time to have counsel appear on its behalf. We have no basis to dispute that representation. We can say, however, that our office began contacting the Attorney General’s Office about this case last week and made multiple efforts to ensure that the State was aware of the lawsuit and today’s hearing. Although it was not our obligation to independently notify or coordinate with the Attorney General’s Office on the Department’s behalf, we nevertheless made those efforts because we wanted all parties to have an opportunity to appear and address the issues before the Court.
We would have preferred for the Court to proceed with the substantive hearing today, but we understand the Court’s reasoning and respect its decision. We will return tomorrow prepared to present our case, and we hope the Department and the Attorney General’s Office likewise come prepared for a substantive hearing on the merits.
Brief Summary of the Case
This case challenges the Department’s use of an undefined “trace amount” standard following the July 31 scheduling action. That standard is not presently defined by statute, agency rule, or any other lawfully adopted standard, and we are asking the Court to declare that it cannot be enforced in its current form and that, if the Department wishes to establish and enforce such a standard, it must do so through lawful rulemaking.
David K. Sergi of David K. Sergi & Associates filed the lawsuit in the 459th Judicial District Court of Travis County against the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), Interim Commissioner Imelda Garcia, and Division Director Glenn Hargett.
The lawsuit (Cause No. D-1-GN-26-007113) was filed on behalf of Texas hemp businesses —including SS Distro USA LLC, Topps Distro LLC d/b/a KingPin Kush, Jason Moreno d/b/a My City Hemp, and Trevor Kocaoglan.
For media interviews with David Sergi, Attorney, and other attorneys involved in the lawsuit, please contact Kevin Lampe at (312) 617-7280 or kevin@kurthlampe.com.
