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

Collier is among the Texas House Democrats who broke quorum to block mid-decade congressional redistricting. She and at least 51 other lawmakers left the Capitol to block a map that opponents say would disenfranchise voters and position Republicans to gain five seats in Congress.

Texas State Representative Nicole Collier has emerged as a key figure in the state’s ongoing electoral map controversy.

Texas Republicans mandated that Democratic lawmakers not be allowed to leave the state house without a permission slip and a police escort.

Rep. Nicole Collier is asking a Travis County district judge to rule that she’s allowed to leave the Texas Capitol. The Fort Worth Democrat has been confined to Texas Capitol since Monday after refusing to sign a “permission slip” turning her over to Texas Department of Public Safety custody for monitoring.

Other Texas Democrats, including from DFW, joined Rep. Nicole Collier after they tore up their “permission slips” to leave the chamber.

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.

Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier says she remains locked in the House chamber because she wouldn't sign a permission slip to be under escort by the Texas Department of Public Safety.