The lawsuit Attorney General Ken Paxton filed against the Travis County Commissioners Court in September over allegedly violating the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) has been settled.

The lawsuit was filed after the commissioners court agreed to pay Travis County District Attorney José Garza $115,000 for private home security in a closed session in March 2024. Paxton’s office argued such a use of public funds should be deliberated during a regular session, when residents have a chance to weigh in.

Garza said a series of escalating threats, including tweets displaying his address and one handwritten note that read “Resign by the end of June or we will kill you” pushed him to ask for money for private security.

In the settlement, Travis County did not admit to violating TOMA but agreed to continue complying with the act going forward.

“This agreement balances public transparency with security concerns like those permitted for discussion in executive closed session, thereby protecting our employees and elected and appointed officials,” Travis County spokesperson Hector Nieto said in a statement.

Since the lawsuit was filed, the commissioners court has taken steps to ensure all elected or appointed officials receiving threats can get protection through the county. As attorney general, Paxton too has a taxpayer-funded security detail.

The Travis County Commissioners Court is in the midst of one other lawsuit with the attorney general. In September, Paxton also sued the county for funding a program that mailed out voter registration forms to unregistered voters ahead of the election. That litigation remains ongoing.

Traffic volumes on Austin’s highways climbed after state employees were ordered back to the office full-time March 31, according to new data obtained by KUT News. But average travel speeds during morning and afternoon rush hours were little changed on Interstate 35, MoPac and U.S. Highway 183.

City streets showed even less fluctuation in travel times, aside from some construction zones.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise. Government employees make up less than 2% of the 1.5 million workers in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The mixed results also reflect a complicated reality: traffic congestion is shaped by overlapping forces — everything from crashes to signal timing — not just the number of vehicles on the road.

“When you start talking about traffic, there are lots of things in play besides what you’re thinking about,” said David Schrank, senior research scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. “We can look in generalities at what’s happening, but it’s very difficult to pinpoint.”

KUT News requested Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) data comparing the first week of the state’s return-to-office mandate with the first week of March to avoid muddying the numbers with the spring break slowdown.

The week of March 31, highway traffic volumes increased most on I-35 at Onion Creek Parkway. About 5% more cars and trucks traveled on weekdays in both directions, suggesting more people commuting from suburbs south of Austin.

But during the morning commute, defined as 6 to 10 a.m., average weekday travel speeds on I-35 at Onion Creek actually increased from 18 to 28 miles per hour. The afternoon commute saw a more predictable drop in southbound travel speeds from 28 to 25 miles per hour.

One factor could be that workers now have more flexibility to decide when they hit the road.

“They might take a call at the house before they leave,” Schrank said. “And then, ‘OK. I’m going to drive in now. Traffic sort of died down.’”

City traffic data — supplied by the traffic analytics company INRIX — shows little change on local streets.

That’s not to say certain pockets could be worse.

“I think the data doesn’t necessarily indicate where hotspots may be,” said Brian Craig with the city of Austin’s Transportation and Public Works Department. “So that is something that we are actively looking for.”

The city monitors intersections with cameras and adjusts traffic signal timing as needed, especially in areas where return-to-office orders might put more cars and trucks on the road.

One focus has been the TxDOT campus on Stassney Lane, where state employees returned to a site where they struggled to find parking.

“We’ve made [traffic signal] timing adjustments,” Craig said. “We know if we had not, it certainly would have become a very hot spot as far as congestion goes.”

Cesar Chavez Street to the west of I-35 was another trouble area. Construction at the Austin Convention Center slowed travel times by as much as 37%, but only during permitted working hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

One of Austin’s most reliably jammed roads didn’t change much. I-35 at Lady Bird Lake averaged about 10 miles per hour during the afternoon commute before the state’s return-to-office mandate.

The week after? Still 10 miles an hour.