US government, Texas city settle Muslim cemetery lawsuit


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

DALLAS (AP) — Federal authorities say they've reached an agreement with a Texas city that settles a lawsuit over the city's initial refusal to allow an Islamic group to develop a Muslim cemetery.

The Justice Department announced the agreement with Farmersville on Tuesday, the same day the lawsuit was filed.

Federal officials say the city, which is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northeast of Dallas, violated federal law protecting religious groups from discriminatory land-use regulations.

As part of the agreement, city workers must be trained to comply with federal law.

Plans the Islamic Association of Collin County submitted in 2015 were met with claims the cemetery was a precursor to a mosque or an extremist training center.

Design plans for the cemetery ultimately were approved in September , after a city leadership change.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent Religion stories

Related topics

Religion
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast