ELECTION INTEGRITYTexas Senate Once Again Tries to Give the Attorney General Authority to Prosecute Election Crimes
A similar proposal stalled out earlier this year over disagreements between the House and Senate. This time, lawmakers might clash over whether to approve the new bill along with a constitutional amendment.
The Texas Senate voted 17-12 Friday to approve a bill that would allow the attorney general to independently prosecute election crimes without waiting to be invited by a local district attorney, a long-standing priority for the office’s GOP incumbent, Ken Paxton.
A similar proposal stalled out just before the finish line during the regular session, with the House and Senate unable to agree on how quickly the attorney general should be allowed to take the case from local authorities.
This time around, both chambers are starting from the same spot on that issue, directing the attorney general to immediately step in and take over election fraud cases.
But a potential new line of disagreement has opened. In setting the agenda for the Legislature’s ongoing special session, Gov. Greg Abbott asked lawmakers to grant this authority to the attorney general with a constitutional amendment, after Texas’ highest criminal court ruled in 2021 that the state constitution bars the agency from unilaterally inserting itself into criminal cases.
A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote from both chambers — including 12 House Democrats — and final signoff from voters to take effect.
In the House, Plano GOP Rep. Matt Shaheen took up that call, filing a joint resolution to accompany his bill. Sen. Bryan Hughes, the Mineola Republican carrying the Senate version of the bill, said during a hearing he does not believe a constitutional amendment is necessary.
Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Dallas Democrat who is running for attorney general, tried to get Hughes’ bill thrown out Wednesday on the grounds that it did not comply with the governor’s call. Johnson’s point of order was overruled by the Senate parliamentarian.
Hughes said the Legislature might eventually end up passing a constitutional amendment, but he believed his proposal was “a clean way to get this done.”
Abbott, a Republican who previously served on the Texas Supreme Court, did not respond to an inquiry about whether he would sign a bill if it were not a constitutional amendment.
In its 2021 ruling, the Court of Criminal Appeals found that the separation of powers clause of the Texas Constitution only allows the attorney general to step into a criminal prosecution — election-related or otherwise — at the invitation of the local district or county attorney.
