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

A protester who was arrested while supporting State Representative Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth) is speaking out.

The standoff began on Monday, when Democratic members returned to the Capitol after being out of the state for more than two weeks due to a controversial redistricting map. Rep. Collier refused to agree to leave the chamber under the surveillance of the Department of Public Safety.

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.

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.

A Democratic state lawmaker who fled Texas in protest of a GOP redistricting effort is asking a court to let her exit the Capitol, after she was told she needs a police escort to leave the building.

Rep. Nicole Collier, of Fort Worth, returned to the Capitol Monday, but remains in the House chamber because she wouldn’t sign a permission slip to be under escort by Texas DPS. The escort for all House Democrats who broke quorum is a guarantee that they will return to the House by 10 a.