Freedom Place Church

Closing churches just because they do something you do not like is not the American way.

After election officials asked Freedom Place Church to serve as a voting location and verified that the church met all the legal requirements, the mayor tried to shut down the church entirely. The mayor also said that churches are “not where voting belongs.” The city’s actions to prevent it from serving as an early voting site not only violate the church’s civil rights and Texas law, but is also constitute illegal religious discrimination and election interference.

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In 2023, Freedom Place Church was chosen by election officials to be Dallas County’s only early voting site in Rowlett, Texas. Election officials said that the church meets all the legal requirements to be a voting location. However, in an email to other city officials in September 2023, Rowlett Mayor Robert Margolis said, “Rowlett City Council will not allow voting to occur in any church building. That’s not where voting belongs, and especially when the Pastor of this specific church has endorsed a candidate who will be on the ballot in November.” Mayor Margolis’s hostility to Freedom Place resulted in Dallas County revoking an agreement for the Church to serve as a voting site in 2023.

Then in 2024, Dallas County election officials again selected the church as a voting site for the 2024 election. But a few weeks prior to the start of early voting, the city suddenly claimed it discovered problems with the church’s certificate of occupancy even though the certificate was issued nearly a year earlier. Withdrawing the certificate would not just prevent the church from serving as an early voting site. It would force the church to shut down entirely.

That’s when First Liberty Institute stepped in. Attorneys sent a letter warning Rowlett city officials that First Liberty is ready to file a lawsuit against the city as its actions to close the church’s doors and prevent it from serving as an early voting site violate the church’s civil rights and Texas law.

In its letter, First Liberty argues, “The City’s repeated objections to the Church serving as a voting site in Rowlett reveals the City’s intent to discriminate based on the Church’s religious status… The City’s view that churches should never serve as voting sites is not only contrary to history and widespread practices across Dallas County and the United States, but also demonstrates an intent to discriminate based on religious status that is ‘odious to our Constitution . . . and cannot stand.’”

“The City of Rowlett and its mayor are engaged in illegal religious discrimination and election interference,” said Hiram Sasser, Executive General Counsel at First Liberty. “Freedom Place simply wants to serve its community just like thousands of other churches across America that serve as voting sites. For city officials to claim at the last minute that it is somehow improper for a church to serve as a voting location shows blatant religious hostility and flies in the face of American history and tradition. This kind of election interference cannot be tolerated.”

Although the mayor went to court to stop the church from serving as a voting location, the judge denied the mayor’s request, and simply allowed a second, alternative polling location.
First Liberty is representing Freedom Place and standing up for the rights of the church, because closing churches who do things you do not like is not the American way.

News Release
For Immediate Release: 10.7.24
Contact: Peyton Drew, media@firstliberty.org

Law Firm Vows Lawsuit if Texas City Continues Religious Hostility and Unlawful Election Interference Against Church Serving as Polling Location

Mayor of Rowlett, Texas vows, “Rowlett City Council will not allow voting to occur in any church building.”

Rowlett, TX—First Liberty Institute today warned city officials in Rowlett, Texas against revoking Freedom Place Church’s certificate of occupancy and thereby shutting down the church. The religious liberty law firm argues that actions to close the church’s doors and prevent it from serving as an early voting site violate the church’s civil rights and Texas law and intends to sue the city if it does not allow the church to continue to operate.

You can read First Liberty’s letter to the city here.

For the second year in a row, Freedom Place Church was chosen by election officials to be Dallas County’s only early voting site in Rowlett. Election officials said that the church meets all the legal requirements to be a voting location. However, in an email to other city officials last September, Rowlett Mayor Robert Margolis said, “Rowlett City Council will not allow voting to occur in any church building. That’s not where voting belongs, and especially when the Pastor of this specific church has endorsed a candidate who will be on the ballot in November.” Mayor Margolis’s hostility to Freedom Place resulted in Dallas County revoking an agreement for the Church to serve as a voting site in 2023. Then this month, just days prior to the start of early voting, the city claims it discovered problems with the church’s certificate of occupancy, though the certificate was issued nearly a year ago. Withdrawing the certificate would force the church to shut down and prevent it from serving as an early voting site.

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About First Liberty Institute

First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.

To arrange an interview, contact Peyton Drew at media@firstliberty.org.

10.7.24 – Demand Letter