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

Activists protest the confinement of Rep. Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth) outside the House Chamber at the Texas Capitol Austin, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. Rep. Collier has not left the House floor after refusing to have a DPS escort in order to do so.

Texas State Representative Nicole Collier has emerged as a key figure in the state’s ongoing electoral map controversy.

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

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

Other Texas Democrats, including from DFW, joined Rep. Nicole Collier after they tore up their “permission slips” to leave the chamber.

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.

Texas’ Republican-led legislature gave initial approval to a controversial new electoral map on Wednesday, a redistricting move designed to give the GOP an additional five seats in the U.S.