DALLAS (AP) — One of the nation’s first doctors accused of illegally providing care to transgender youth under GOP-led bans was found to have not violated the law, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office says, nearly a year after the state sued the physician.

Dr. Hector Granados, a pediatric endocrinologist in El Paso, was called a “scofflaw” last year by Paxton’s office in a lawsuit that accused him of falsifying medical records and violating a Texas ban that took effect in 2023. More than two dozen states have prohibitions on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, but Texas was the first to bring cases against doctors, filing lawsuits against Granados and two other providers.

The cases against the other doctors, both in Dallas, remain ongoing. But Paxton’s office quietly withdrew its lawsuit last week against Granados, saying in a statement that “no legal violations were found” following a “review of the evidence and Granados’ complete medical records.”

Granados, who says Paxton’s office never reached out before suing him last October, said he wished the state had first let him show he had stopped providing gender-affirming care for youth before the law took effect.

“It was just out and then we had to do everything afterwards,” Granados said in an interview.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that states can ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and at least 27 states have adopted laws restricting or banning the care. Although those accused of violating bans face criminal charges in some states, they do not in Texas, where the punishments instead expose providers to steep fines and revocation of their medical licenses.

Paxton’s office said in a statement that Dr. May Lau and Dr. M. Brett Cooper, the other accused physicians, will “face justice for hurting Texas kids both physically and mentally.” Their attorneys didn’t offer comment Wednesday.