Texas “regulatory issue case” and resulting lawsuit moving forward

July 16, 2026/Business, Regulations/

In March 2025 the Texas Funeral Service Commission sent a cease and desist order to the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC) ordering “the mosque to stop what it alleged were unlicensed funeral services, and the commission accused the mosque of operating a funeral home without a license.”

According to this recent article from the Dallas Morning News EPIC responded by saying “it was not running a business or embalming, but stopped its religious funeral rites at the time.”

According to court documents, EPIC said the cease-and-desist letter resulted in at least 11 congregants being buried without receiving Janaza prayers at their home mosque.

The mosque eventually filed a lawsuit against the commission stating, in part, “The Commission’s actions forced EPIC to suspend sacred funeral rites, chilled its exercise of religion, and caused funeral homes to refuse to transport remains to EPIC for religious services—effectively barring Muslim families from practicing their faith in the moments that matter most. . ”

The mosque also contends that “its constitutional rights under the First Amendment and 14th Amendment were violated, and it is seeking a permanent injunction to keep the state from taking further action against its funeral services. It is seeking an unspecified financial award in damages.”

The linked article from the Dallas Morning News makes note that this lawsuit by EPIC will be allowed to move forward.

Related — Another article dated June 25, 2026, about this situation from Texas Monthly. The article is titled “A Reagan-appointed judge issued a firm rebuke of Texas’ Republicans claims about the East Plano Islamic Center.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take — I don’t like to comment on pending legal matters simply because I don’t pretend to know or understand all of the issues presented by both sides. However, this is an interesting case because in my opinion the situation started out as a “regulatory” situation about what a religious institution can and can not do with regards to funeral or mortuary regulations and has now evolved into a civil rights or equal protection type of case.

I’ve always looked at disagreements with the attitude that “Conflict is inevitable, but combat is a choice”. From my point of view in my understanding of the information presented in these articles, it almost appears that the Texas Funeral Service Commission jumped right to the “combat” stage before simply trying to resolve the “conflict” regulation issue. And now, they find themselves as defendents in a lawsuit because of that action.

Reading the two linked articles will give you a better understanding of the case than I can accomplish in this medium.

Funeral Director Daily will continue to follow and see how the potential rulings and/or lawsuit plays out.

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