Courts, Prosecutor Offices, Law Schools Close for Hurricane Ike

As Hurricane Ike approaches the Gulf Coast of Texas, several Texas courts are closing, and the attorney general has a plan to warn shelter officials of potential sex offenders in their midst.

Tex Parte Blog reports court closings in Harris County, at the 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont and the 13th Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi. The South Texas College of Law, Texas Southern's Thurgood Marshall School of Law and the University of Houston canceled law school classes. Federal courts are closed in Houston, Galveston, Victoria and Corpus Christi, according to the court website, and U.S. Attorney's offices in the area are also closed, the Associated Press reports. The Texas Access to Justice Commission has also canceled hearings.

Criminal justice officials are evacuating prisons in the storm's path, the Texas Death Penalty Blog reports.

Meanwhile Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced a hotline that will make information on registered sex offenders available to personnel at evacuation shelters, Tex Parte Blog reports.

The Houston Chronicle is carrying updates on the storm on a blog.

Updated at 12:25 p.m. to include information about the closing of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.