Sam Parker wears an outfit from "The Handmaid's Tale" as she protests the confinement of Rep. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, outside the House Chamber at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Rep. Nicole Collier is asking a Travis County district judge to rule that she’s allowed to leave the Texas Capitol. The Fort Worth Democrat has been confined to Texas Capitol since Monday after refusing to sign a “permission slip” turning her over to Texas Department of Public Safety custody for monitoring.

Democratic Texas Rep. Nicole Collier has been an outspoken critic of the redistricting maps, which she argues dilute minority voting power.

House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Monday that Democrats who previously left the state could not leave the chamber unless they agreed to having a DPS escort. Collier refused one and must remain in the chamber.

Rep. Nicole Collier is refusing to sign an order requiring a DPS escort in the Texas House redistricting battle, drawing support from fellow Democrats.

A compilation of livestreams of the House chamber posted by the House Democratic Caucus and Collier have captured much of her time locked in, earning tens of thousands of views. Though they are able to leave, she was joined overnight by Rep. Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat, who chairs the caucus and Rep. Vince Perez, an El Paso Democrat.

Texas Republicans mandated that Democratic lawmakers not be allowed to leave the state house without a permission slip and a police escort.

State Rep. Nicole Collier can’t leave the Texas Capitol building because she won’t sign a paper agreeing to a state police escort.

A Fort Worth lawmaker’s sit-in on the Texas House floor picked up steam late Tuesday as fellow Democrats flocked to her side for the second night of her round-the-clock vigil after she refused to allow a state trooper to shadow her until the chamber could vote on a new congressional map.

The Fort Worth Democrat was confined in the Capitol overnight after refusing to be shadowed by state police, a requirement for lawmakers who had left the state over the GOP redistricting plan.