Governor Perry has officially vetoed 23 bills during the most recent regular session.  Very few criminal justice- or county government-related bills were vetoed.  The bills that could have impacted prosecutors but now will not include:

HB 242 by Craddick/Hegar “relating to the enforcement of public safety, including the privileges and duties of certain types of law enforcement officers.”

     This bill was filed to extend certain weapon-carrying privileges to retired officers, but it was amended late in the session with a statewide ban on texting while driving.  The governor’s veto proclamation focused on the texting ban, which he characterized as “a government effort to micromanage the behavior of adults.”  (If that’s his standard for vetoing bills, there should’ve been a heck of a lot more vetoes than a mere 23!)

HB 1616 by Geren/Estes “relating to the reporting of political contributions, political expenditures, and personal financial information, and to complaints filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.”

     This already controversial bill was changed late in the process by Sen. Mike Jackson (R-La Porte) with an amendment that “would inadvertently cripple the Texas Ethics Commission's authority to enforce compliance with state campaign finance laws,” according to the veto proclamation.  Realizing he had goofed, Sen. Jackson made a request to the governor to veto the bill (and save him from his own mistake), and the governor obliged.

HB 1768 by Munoz/Hinojosa “relating to the regulation of roadside vendors and solicitors in certain counties.”

     This bill would allow the commissioners court of a county with a population of 450,000 or more to regulate vendors in unincorporated areas of a county who are in the right-of-way of a public road or highway or in a parking lot.  This was too much for the governor, who feared the bill “would encroach upon the rights of private enterprise and property owners while fundamentally altering and expanding the role of county government” by potentially preventing “a Girl Scout troop with cartons of cookies from reaching their consumers.”  Apparently the lesson to be learned here is not to get between the governor and his Thin Mints.  (Note, however, that the existing law applying this ban to counties with a population of more than 1.3 million still exists; see Transportation Code §285.001.)

HB 2889 by Madden/Hinojosa “relating to the expunction of records and files relating to a person’s arrest.”

     At least six different elected prosecutors sought a veto of this bill, which we discussed at length in our previous updates.  Mission accomplished.

SB 167 by West/Veasey “relating to the automatic expunction of arrest records and files after an individual receives a pardon or a grant of certain other relief with respect to the offense for which the individual was arrested.”

     This bill was vetoed because the gist of it was also included in HB 351, which was signed into law in a slightly different form.  HB 351 and its companion, SB 462, make some big changes in expunction law starting this September, so read up on them.

SB 1035 by Williams/Harless “relating to motor vehicle title services; providing penalties.”

     This bill would’ve expanded county permitting of motor vehicle title service companies, created a state licensing requirement, and established new criminal and civil penalties relating to consumer fraud in this area.