AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against a south Austin homeless center saying it is "drastically harming the quality of life in the area and endangering neighborhood residents, local businesses, and the students of a nearby elementary school."
Paxton says the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center on Menchaca Road is a nuisance under Texas law.
The attorney general is asking the court to step in and issue a temporary stop to the center's operations while the case is heard.
The center's website states the center helped nearly 11,000 people last year and served 78,000 meals.
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More money for homeless services
Travis County is giving the controversial Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center a nearly $350,000 grant. This comes months after the nonprofit, located in the middle of a South Austin neighborhood, fell short on funding for an expansion.
Paxton argues the facility acts as a "magnet" for drug and criminal activity that operates near an elementary school.
"Students and staff at the elementary school have been terrorized by the conduct that Sunrise's operations facilitate," the filing states.
The filing goes on to claim that students and staff have witnessed the homeless walking around naked and using drugs openly.
"Drug activity and criminal behavior facilitated by this organization have hijacked an entire neighborhood," Paxton said. "By operating a taxpayer-funded drug paraphernalia giveaway next to an elementary school, this organization is threatening students’ health and safety and unjustly worsening daily life for every single resident of the neighborhood. We will shut this unlawful nuisance behavior down."
The lawsuit comes just days after Travis County commissioners voted to award Sunrise $350,000 in grant money to expand their efforts to help the homeless with healthcare.
Hours after the lawsuit was reported, the facility released a statement.
You can read the full statement below: