Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday that he is suing to shut down the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center (SHNC) in South Austin, claiming it operates just feet away from Joslin Elementary School and facilitates drug use and other criminal behavior.

According to the lawsuit, the operations of the SHNC have become a magnet for crime, drug abuse, and public indecency, posing a threat to both local residents and children at Joslin Elementary School. The lawsuit alleges incidents of public urination and defecation, as well as violence occurring both on and near the school grounds, the Daily Caller reported.

According to resident testimony, individuals frequenting the SHNC have threatened others with machetes. Paxton’s office also reported incidents of public masturbation and break-ins at nearby homes and businesses. The lawsuit accuses the SHNC of enabling such behavior by distributing drug paraphernalia.

“Drug activity and criminal behavior facilitated by this organization have hijacked an entire neighborhood,” Paxton said in a Tuesday press release. “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.”

In August 2024, the left-run city of Austin approved a grant of up to $1,083,530 for the SHNC for a 14-month period, with the option for four one-year extensions, potentially totaling up to $4,417,650. The grant’s stated goal was to help the SHNC provide digital resources to the homeless through a phone hotline and an informative website.

Notably, one of the criteria for receiving the grant was the applicant’s rating on “cultural competence/racial equity,” highlighting the city’s emphasis on race-based considerations.

The SHNC gained local attention in 2022 when it became the site of Texas’s first Narcan vending machine, according to The Austin Chronicle. Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, is a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses and can be administered via syringe or nasal spray.

The SHNC also hosts the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, an organization dedicated to ending the War on Drugs.

Paxton’s lawsuit claims that the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance (THRA) provides syringes, which it refers to as “sterile harm reduction supplies,” at the SHNC. According to the lawsuit, a THRA mobile van distributes these syringes every Thursday across the street from Joslin Elementary during school hours.

Residents reported that homeless individuals at the SHNC have set up meth labs in unoccupied residences, the lawsuit alleges. News reports indicated that used syringes were found just feet from the school.

The lawsuit also cited police reports revealing that officers frequently arrested individuals associated with the SHNC who were found in possession of drugs, the Caller added.

“It is regrettable that Attorney General Paxton took this route, especially during the week of Thanksgiving, but Sunrise intends to keep offering services to people in our community who need them,” Executive Director of SHNC Mark Hilbelink told the Caller in a statement.

“We are committed to being a good neighbor. We will continue to work, every day, to support Joslin Elementary School, our neighborhood, and our entire community,” the statement added.