Newsroom
The latest on the American AF Dumpsters / Waxahachie lawsuit, plus the Texas legal background behind exclusive waste franchises and construction dumpsters. Links open on the original publisher’s site. Newest items appear first.
The Lawsuit
American AF Dumpster Rentals v. City of Waxahachie — videos and coverage of the active case.
We’re Suing Our City — The Outcome Could Affect Everyone
American AF Dumpsters discusses its lawsuit against its city and why the outcome could affect dumpster operators and customers across Texas.
Texas Cities Are KILLING Roll-Off Operators — Here’s PROOF
American AF Dumpsters documents the Midlothian, TX job at 750 North Highway 67, where a city inspector issued a stop-work order until the company’s dumpster was swapped for the franchise hauler’s.
'American AF' Company FIGHTS Texas Monopoly
The Institute for Justice's video on Josh Roman and American AF Dumpsters' challenge to Waxahachie's construction dumpster monopoly.
Press Conference: Texas Small Business Fights Dumpster Monopoly
Institute for Justice press conference announcing the lawsuit by Josh Roman and American AF Dumpster Rentals challenging the City of Waxahachie's construction dumpster monopoly.
Case Coverage
Taking Out The Trash: Texas Entrepreneur Fights City’s Dumpster Monopoly
IJ attorney Daniel Woislaw recounts how Waxahachie's 2021 exclusive franchise agreement gave a single national waste company the sole right to rent roll-off construction dumpsters in the city, and how inspectors threatened Josh Roman's customers with $2,000-per-day fines and permit delays. The article explains IJ's claims under the Texas Constitution's anti-monopoly, equal rights, and law-of-the-land provisions.
Read on Institute for Justice (Liberty & Law) →Austin is prosecuting a dumpster manufacturer over a container it didn’t place
A City of Austin municipal-court complaint accuses a roll-off container manufacturer of leaving a bulky item in the public right-of-way — apparently because the manufacturer’s placard was the only name on the container. The company builds and sells dumpsters nationwide and is located hours from Austin; it does not rent them or place them at job sites, and says the city did no research to identify who actually put the container in the right-of-way. Austin is not an exclusive-franchise city; it licenses private haulers.
Read on Texas Waste Freedom Project →Public records: Midlothian collected $390,969 in waste franchise fees while enforcing against competing dumpsters
Records released by the City of Midlothian under a Texas Public Information Act request — including the executed Waste Connections franchise agreement, the rate exhibits, the RFP file, the city’s fee ledger, and code-enforcement email threads — show a 10% franchise fee built into customer rates, free service for all city facilities and events, and city staff writing that they “need to protect our franchise agreement” and weighing “Work Stop – Red Tag enforcement” against competing roll-off containers.
Read on Texas Waste Freedom Project →
Institute for Justice challenges Waxahachie franchise agreement
The Waxahachie Sun reports that American AF Dumpster Rentals, represented by the Institute for Justice, is challenging the city's exclusive construction-dumpster franchise with Waste Connections as an unconstitutional monopoly. The case is pending in the 40th District Court of Ellis County under Judge Bob Carroll; the city said it does not comment on pending litigation.
Read on Waxahachie Sun →
Short Circuit (Volokh Conspiracy): Waxahachie's Construction Dumpster Monopoly Headlines a New IJ Case
The Institute for Justice's weekly Short Circuit column, published at Reason's Volokh Conspiracy, leads with the new Waxahachie case: it notes the Texas Constitution says monopolies 'shall never be allowed,' yet the city handed construction dumpster rentals to a national chain and outlawed competition from IJ client American AF Dumpster Rentals.
Read on Reason (The Volokh Conspiracy) →
Texarkana's waste contract gives Waste Management exclusive rights, and the city a 10 percent cut
Texarkana Today reviews the city's Waste Management contract: records show an exclusive right that reaches construction roll-offs, a 10% franchise fee to the city, and enforcement against competitors.
Read on Texarkana Today →
Waxahachie Entrepreneur Sues City Over Unconstitutional Construction Dumpster Monopoly
IJ press release: Josh Roman and American AF Dumpster Rentals joined the Institute for Justice to file a lawsuit challenging the city's monopoly for construction dumpster rentals.
Read on Institute for Justice →Texas Construction Dumpsters Monopoly — Case Page
IJ's case page for American AF Dumpster Rentals LLC v. City of Waxahachie — background, case documents, and the legal team.
Read on Institute for Justice →Background, Precedent & Other Cases
Context only — Texas legal precedent, statutes, other cities, and related rulings (including the Arkansas case that helped spark this fight). These are not part of the current lawsuit.
Arkansas Supreme Court Strikes Down City’s Illegal Trash Monopoly
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled (Hedrick v. City of Holiday Island, 2025 Ark. 194) that a city cannot bar an independent roll-off operator, X-Dumpsters, just because it has a trash contract with another company — the ruling that helped spark the Texas challenge.
Read on Goldwater Institute →The Truth About Exclusive Contract Cities in Texas
An overview of exclusive hauling contracts in Texas cities and how they affect dumpster rental options, prices, and homeowner rights.
Read on In-Laws Services →What Happened When a Texas Homeowner Association Opted to Sign with a Single Hauler
Trade-press look at single-hauler exclusivity arrangements and the disputes they create for residents and competing haulers in Texas.
Read on Waste360 →Texas Supreme Court Addresses Validity of a Municipality’s Gross-Revenue License Fee on Construction Waste Hauling
Legal analysis of Builder Recovery Services v. Town of Westlake (2022), where the Texas Supreme Court held a general-law city could not impose a percentage-of-revenue license fee on construction trash haulers.
Read on Mitchell Williams (Between the Lines) →3rd party roll off companies facing new ordinance
The Wichita Falls City Council voted 4-2 to approve an ordinance requiring third-party roll-off dumpster companies to obtain a city franchise and haul all solid waste to the city landfill. According to the report, operators would no longer be able to serve residential customers unless a building permit was involved.
Read on KAUZ Newschannel 6 (Wichita Falls) →Solid Waste: Legal Q&A (Texas Municipal League)
The cities’ own reference: TML’s legal Q&A explaining how Texas municipalities may grant exclusive solid waste franchises and charge franchise fees.
Read on Texas Municipal League →Resolving a Hauler Conflict in Texas
Trade-press analysis of Republic Waste Services v. Texas Disposal Systems, the San Angelo case in which the 5th Circuit held a home-rule Texas city could fold temporary construction roll-offs into an exclusive solid waste franchise.
Read on Waste360 →Republic Waste Services of Texas, Ltd. v. Texas Disposal Systems, Inc. (5th Cir. 2016)
Primary source: the Fifth Circuit opinion holding that section 364.034(h) of the Texas Health & Safety Code did not clearly strip a home-rule city of authority to grant an exclusive construction-waste contract.
Read on FindLaw (court opinion) →Texas Disposal Systems Wins Round One in Legal Battle Over San Angelo Trash Contract
Local Texas news coverage of the San Angelo exclusive-franchise fight, where a federal judge initially freed Texas Disposal Systems to compete for temporary construction roll-off pickup.
Read on San Angelo LIVE! →Texas Health & Safety Code §364.034 — County Solid Waste (statute)
Primary law often argued in these disputes, including subsection (h): the section does not apply to a private entity contracting to provide temporary solid waste disposal services to a construction project.
Read on Texas Statutes →Have a story or document to add?
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