Election night came and went, and we woke up in a brand-new Texas. There were winners and there were losers. However, we are all winners now that the political texts, emails, and ads will mercifully end. What does the new political environment mean for prosecutors? No one knows yet. We will give a legislative preview presentation at the Elected Prosecutor Conference next month, where we will offer our best hypothesis for the issues that will likely pop up during session. For now, let’s look at the elections we were monitoring and the new landscape at the Capitol.

Elections

Here are the outcomes from the races we were watching on Election Night:

Bexar County Criminal District Attorney
Ashley Foster (Republican)
Luz Elena Chapa (Democrat) WINNER
Jason Wolff (Independent)

Brazoria County Criminal District Attorney
Tom Selleck (Republican) WINNER
Bianca Santorini (Democrat)

Fort Bend County District Attorney
Shawn McDonald (Republican)
Brian Middleton (Democrat) WINNER

Harris County Attorney
Jacqueline Lucci Smith (Republican)
Abbie Kamin (Democrat) WINNER

Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney
Lydia Elizondo (Republican)
Terry Palacios (Democrat) WINNER

Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney
Phil Sorrells (Republican)
Tiffany Burks (Democrat) WINNER

Texas Supreme Court
Chief Justice
Jimmy Blacklock (Incumbent/Appointed Chief/Republican)
Maggie Ellis (Democrat) WINNER

Place 2
James P. Sullivan (Incumbent/Appointed/Republican)
Chari L. Kelly (Democrat) WINNER

Place 7
Kyle D. Hawkins (Incumbent/Appointed/Republican)
Kristen Hawkins (Democrat) WINNER

Place 8
J. Brett Busby (Incumbent Republican)
Gisela D. Triana (Democrat) WINNER

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Place 3
Thomas Smith (Republican runoff winner)
Okey Anyiam (Democrat) WINNER

Place 4
Kevin Yeary (Incumbent Republican)
Audra Riley (Democrat) WINNER

Place 9 (pending)
John Messinger (Republican)
Holly Taylor (Democrat) WINNER

Texas Legislature

The change in Texas politics was seismic, and that includes the Texas Legislature. The official vote counting is not yet finished, but it looks like the Texas House will be controlled by the Democrats for the first time since 2002. The current makeup of the Texas House is 62 Democrats and 88 Republicans, but now Democrats will hold 83 seats and Republicans will hold 67 seats when the legislative session begins. This means there will be a new House Speaker, so you can expect another campaign by House members to secure that final leadership position, which will be decided in January. 

The Texas Senate remained in Republican control with a projected 19–12 majority, the same as the current split, even with Democratic State Rep. Vicki Goodman (D-Austin) elected as Lieutenant Governor. In the past, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick appointed all the committees and their chairs, directed bills to the committees of his choosing, and controlled the flow of debate on the Senate floor. However, the Senate can decide its own rules, including who appoints committees and how many votes it requires to bring a bill to the Senate floor. All this will get decided when the 90th Legislature convenes in Austin in January. Until then, no one truly knows what the next Texas Senate will look like or how it will conduct business. Special elections need to be called for the seats of state Senators Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas) and Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin), who won the statewide offices of attorney general and comptroller on election night.

Now that the election is over, the winners can start to pre-file bills for next session starting on Monday, November 9. There are several bill drafts waiting for that first day of prefiling that probably seemed like an easy lift to get across the finish line, but now they may be dead on arrival. There are also several ideas for bills that might have been pre-filed by legislators who knew they would never become law—but now they could be at play in this new world!

What does all this mean for the changes in law you want to see? The split government means that bills have a completely different route to passing into law than in past sessions, and we can provide you guidance if asked. However, we can do that only if you let us know what bills you are working on and with whom. The other piece of advice is to get to know your newly elected legislators. It is best to do that now while they still have time on their calendars before the legislative session begins. We will talk more about how to be successful in this new environment during our Legislative Preview presentation at the Elected Prosecutor Conference in College Station.

Elected Prosecutor Conference—December 2026

Speaking of the Elected Prosecutor Conference, this year’s event will include sessions on productive public engagement, responsible AI adoption, and resources for prosecutors in crisis. Please click that link for more details. Our Annual Business Meeting will be held in conjunction with the conference, and that is where you get to elect TDCAA’s new Board members for 2027. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 2, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. at the Texas A&M Hotel & Conference Center. Again, click the links for more details, and don’t forget that we’ll have a special Legislative Preview that Friday at 8:00 a.m. for those interested!

Quotes

“If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO [Republican in Name Only] in the last six months of his political Life, he wouldn’t have lost. He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!”

—President Donald Trump posting late on election night on Truth Social hours after reiterating his endorsement for Governor Abbott.

“I blame this on Greg Abbott. I blame it on Dan Patrick. I blame it all on our leadership. Thinking they’re going to go for four terms as Governor. Four terms as Lt. Governor. Seriously? If they campaigned on lowering your property taxes, all that did is remind everybody why you didn’t do it 12 years ago.”

—Don Huffines, Texas Comptroller (and a Republican who previously tried to primary Gov. Abbott), speaking after the election results, where he lost to Democrat Sarah Eckhardt.

It is spookily quiet around the Texas capitol—the ghosts of dead bills from past legislative sessions are all that roam the hallways. (Those are not to be confused with zombie bills that never die and walk among the living during the legislative session hoping to become law one day.) It is as though everyone is out campaigning during an election season that will mercifully end next week. We will have a newsletter out again next week summarizing the election results that most directly affect prosecutors. For now, let’s quickly preview the upcoming contested elections and future trainings.

Elections

If you are looking for a refresher on all the races we are watching, please see our 2026 Primary Election Results. We updated the runoff races below, and these are the contested races we will follow on election night.

Bexar County Criminal District Attorney
Ashley Foster (Republican)
Luz Elena Chapa (Democrat)
Jason Wolff (Independent)

Brazoria County Criminal District Attorney
Tom Selleck (Republican)
Bianca Santorini (Democrat)

Fort Bend County District Attorney
Shawn McDonald (Republican)
Brian Middleton (Democrat)

Harris County Attorney
Jacqueline Lucci Smith (Republican)
Abbie Kamin (Democrat)

Hays County Criminal District Attorney
Alfonso Salazar (Democrat)
Kirsta Melton (Independent)

Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney
Lydia Elizondo (Republican)
Terry Palacios (Democrat)

Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney
Phil Sorrells (Republican)
Tiffany Burks (Democrat)

Texas Supreme Court
Chief Justice
Jimmy Blacklock (Incumbent/Appointed Chief/Republican)
Maggie Ellis (Democrat)

Place 2
James P. Sullivan (Incumbent/Appointed/Republican)
Chari L. Kelly (Democrat

Place 7
Kyle D. Hawkins (Incumbent/Appointed/Republican)
Kristen Hawkins (Democrat)

Place 8
J. Brett Busby (Incumbent Republican)
Gisela D. Triana (Democrat)

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Place 3
Thomas Smith (Republican runoff winner)
Okey Anyiam (Democrat)

Place 4
Kevin Yeary (Incumbent Republican)
Audra Riley (Democrat)

Place 9
John Messinger (Republican)
Holly Taylor (Democrat)

Elected Prosecutor Conference—December 2026

TDCAA’s Elected Prosecutor Conference is built to address the unique training needs of our county and district attorney members. This year’s conference will include sessions on productive public engagement, responsible AI adoption, and resources for prosecutors in crisis. The Elected Prosecutor Conference will be held at Texas A&M Hotel & Conference Center in College Station. Our Annual Business Meeting will be held in conjunction with the conference, and it is where we elect the new board members for 2027. Check out our website for updates.

Prosecutor Trial Skills Course–January 2027

Anyone who is new to a prosecutor’s office should attend our  Prosecutor Trial Skills Course. It’s a full week of intensive training that prepares new prosecutors for their work both in the courtroom and out. Seasoned faculty advisors are assigned to small groups of attendees to answer questions and direct discussions at each table. Jury selection and opening statement training is demonstrated by some of the best prosecutors from across the state. New prosecutors won’t want to miss this intensive, high-quality training customized especially for them. Make sure to alert all the new prosecutors in your offices about this great training opportunity!

Quotes

“If Lubbock doesn’t vote, if Amarillo doesn’t vote, if all the other great cities and counties do not vote, Travis County gets to decide what our state is all about. Austin is the craziest, most blue progressive place there is.”

—House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) rallying the people at a rally for President Trump in Lubbock.

“So if you go out and vote, we’re gonna have a tremendous win in Texas. You cannot have a guy like Talafreako, because he’s not even Christian. We can’t lose the votes.”

—President Donald J. Trump speaking to the attendees at his rally in Lubbock.

“I know that we’re not the only show in town tonight, and I appreciate all 4,000 of you who showed up here this evening. That’s a lot of Talafreakos in one room.”

—State Representative and U.S. Senate Candidate James Talarico addressing the attendees at his own competing Lubbock rally.

It was quite the show at the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight hearing this week. We have much to unpack, including a lawmaker pulling out his gun and showing it off to make a point during the committee meeting. No time to waste—let’s get to it.

The Charge

The Committee was charged with examining whether outside non-governmental organizations, donors, and consultants exert undue influence over local prosecutorial policies and individual case determinations. Lawmakers were supposed to evaluate the impact of these external partnerships on prosecutorial independence and public safety as well as identify any ethical concerns. However, lawmakers are always able to order off the menu. 

Most interim hearings are designed to evaluate issues or problems that concern Texans and then create solutions for the legislative session. This interim hearing had a solution in mind and was more about identifying the problem that would justify the solution. That was evident from the press statement by Texas leadership issued directly prior to the hearing in which the Governor stated that his statewide prosecutor proposal would solve all the issues with rogue prosecutors. Since the hearing, Governor Greg Abbott continues to post on his social media channels about his proposed statewide prosecutor and how such an office would “crack down on crime the locals refuse to prosecute”. Speaker Dustin Burrows also posted his thoughts on the outcome of the hearing. Also, the fact that only the elected prosecutors from Travis County were invited and most witnesses were there to air their grievances with that particular county gives credence to the theory that this show was produced with a very specific audience in mind.

The Hearing

The opening panel of crime victims set up the adversarial tone for the entire hearing. Their testimony triggered Representative Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) to start a conversation with the other lawmakers about issuing a subpoena to compel Travis County District Attorney José Garza to testify at the hearing. Travis County Attorney Delia Garza and Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza were the only prosecutors informally invited to attend the hearing, but neither appeared. The Chair of the Committee asked that the conversation be tabled to give Mr. Garza time to show up. No subpoena was ever issued.

Travis County Attorney Delia Garza did not appear, nor did anyone from her office. However, lawmakers did not seem to notice or make any mention of that absence. Instead, the committee was visibly agitated that the elected Travis County District Attorney was not at the hearing, and they took out their frustration on Travis County Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Gharakhanian, who did show up after hearing their request while following the hearing remotely. The lawmakers’ questions and monologues seemed as much for social media than as genuine questions, and their social media posts after the hearing bolstered that theory. Normally, this type of aggressive questioning is reserved for heads of agencies or elected officials and not for staff, but the gloves were off during their questioning of Ms. Gharakhanian. She refuted claims that the office refused to prosecute violent offenders and stressed that third-party consultants and NGOs exert zero control over her office’s prosecutorial decisions. 

TDCAA’s Executive Director, Shannon Edmonds, also appeared at the committee’s request to testify as a resource witness. Chairman Cody Vasut (R-Angleton) asked Shannon if the Texas House already has impeachment power over district attorneys. In his testimony, Shannon explained that elected prosecutors are county or district constitutional officers whose removal process is explicitly governed by Article V of the Texas Constitution rather than statewide legislative impeachment under Article 15.

Later in the hearing, Representative Carl Tepper (R-Lubbock) asked Shannon what the legislature can do about repeat misdemeanor offenders and offenders who suffer from mental health problems. Shannon gave three succinct answers that are definitely worth the watch to help you answer these questions from your own local officials. He explained:
1. For the past 10–15 years, the Legislature specifically instructed prosecutors to divert non-violent property offenders, reserving prison for people society fears, not people we’re mad at.
2. Texas lacks a simple mechanism to bump repeat misdemeanors into felonies. Prior legislative attempts to create enhancements failed due to massive fiscal costs to the State.
3. Prosecutors are barred from prosecuting defendants who are legally incompetent or insane. People should not blame the criminal justice system for the failures of the mental health system. 

Despite constructive discussions like that, the majority of the hearing consisted of advocacy groups, law enforcement organizations, and other witnesses who vented their frustrations with “rogue prosecutors,” with most of the arrows going towards the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. There was some discussion on the actual posted topic, though. That included testimony from a representative of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF) who presented open-records findings alleging that an Austin-based group called the Wren Collective has served as a shadow administration for the “Texas Five” (read: urban progressive DAs) to ghostwrite bail and charging guidelines and coordinate legal strategy behind non-disclosure agreements while receiving funds from national political donors like George Soros. (You can read more about those allegations in this report from last year.) FYI, the “Texas Five” were identified as Travis County District Attorney José Garza, Bexar County Criminal District Attorney Joe Gonzales, Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot, former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, and former Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez. And for those of you counting at home, as of January 2027 only Jose Garza will still be in office.

The LELDF witness proposed a statutory ban prohibiting prosecutors from entering into non-disclosure agreements with outside consultants, which was squarely on topic. However, there were plenty of other legislative fixes proposed by the witnesses in this wide-ranging discussion of “rogue DAs,” including finding easier paths to removing elected prosecutors and creating a statewide prosecutor model that, just coincidentally, has been a part of Governor Abbott’s re-election campaign since at least December of 2025.

Final Thoughts

The hearing was a preview of what we expect from the upcoming legislative session next year as state leaders attempt to further regulate all local prosecutors in an attempt to unseat the last member of the “Texas Five” who is still in office. The major players in this arena testified in this hearing and their discussions of various policy changes brought to light some surprising truths. For instance, one prevalent theme was that many lawmakers still do not understand the magistration process or how initial bonds are set upon arrest. They assume that all prosecutor offices have a representative at those hearings who is making the decisions on who stays in jail and who gets out. It also seems that there is an appetite to increase punishment for misdemeanor crimes, including non-violent property offenses. (Rest in Peace, “Smart on Crime” movement! Born 2014 – Died 2026.) In light of these trends, now is a good time to meet with your local elected officials to make sure they understand whether the problems highlighted in this hearing are happening in your jurisdiction. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or comments. 

Quotes

“What do you do? This is what you do. You carry this around.”

—Representative Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) flashing his pistol during the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight hearing after telling the other members that the Travis County Attorney’s Office declined to charge someone who had threatened him. 

“This is part of the problem. Y’all hiding the weenie. So nobody knows what’s going on.”

—Representative Richard Hayes (R-Lake Dallas) expressing his frustration with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office’s refusal to provide details about their decision-making process in specific cases during the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight hearing.

Fall is around the corner, and so is a big hearing about prosecutorial integrity. It seems that we may have spoken too soon last month about prosecutors not being mentioned at the Texas Capitol. There is a party being held next week to discuss “rogue” prosecutors, but the guest list seems to be missing an important guest. Let’s discuss!

Prosecutorial Integrity Hearing

The House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight will hold an interim hearing on Wednesday, September 30, at 9:00 a.m. to discuss prosecutorial integrity. No need to check your inbox for an invitation. At the time of publication, the only prosecutor’s office invited to attend is the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. (TDCAA has also been asked to be a resource witness.) What is the genesis of this hearing? When the committee received this charge several months ago, it was tasked with evaluating the involvement of for-profit and nonprofit nongovernmental organizations and consultants in local prosecutorial functions. This was most likely a reference to the involvement of left-wing groups like the Wren Collective in certain prosecutor races. But it’s campaign season, and things can change quickly!  

On September 18, Governor Greg Abbott, Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick released a joint press statement calling for “greater transparency [of] and accountability [for] rogue local prosecutors who refuse to enforce Texas law” in response “to a clear pattern of certain local prosecutors releasing repeat offenders back into the community and putting innocent Texans at risk.” Speaker Burrows (R-Lubbock) stated the committee would now hear testimony to “develop reforms that strengthen public safety, hold public officials accountable, and ensure political ideology never comes before law and order.” The committee will also take testimony on another related charge regarding the City of Austin’s relationship with and funding of nongovernmental organizations and other third-party consultants, which has raised the ire of some local taxpayers. In other words, it promises to be a very Austin/Travis County-centric “discussion.”

If you would like to watch the hearing, go to the Texas House website and tune in on September 30 at 9:00 a.m. We will be there to monitor what all the non-prosecutor witnesses say about the profession and report back to you.

The “Big Three” stated in their joint press release that “holding rogue prosecutors accountable” will be a top priority for them in the next session. You may not consider yourself to fall into that category, but are you sure others in your community agree? Now would be a good time to meet with your local elected officials and let them know the reality of the situation for prosecutors. You may also want to refer to the TDCAA website for our white paper on how county and district attorneys already operate under a level of accountability unmatched by virtually any other elected office in Texas. We have found that many policymakers are unaware of the checks and balances already applicable to your job, so it may be up to you to educate them on that point if you don’t want them “learning” about it on social media.

Datacenters and Prosecutors

It looks like prosecutors may be called into action in the ongoing datacenter controversy. As we noted in our June Interim Report, lawmakers were wondering about criminal penalties for datacenters that did not report their water usage to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). Lawmakers do not have to wonder anymore. Last week, Governor Abbott instructed the TWDB to refer datacenters that do not report their water usage to the appropriate county or district attorney for prosecution under Texas Water Code §16.012(m). Attorney General Ken Paxton has also launched his own investigation into datacenters that have not provided a response to the TWDB’s water use survey. Please be aware that you may start getting calls concerning both directives. We are here to help if you need any guidance. 

Prosecutor Data Reporting Rule

The Prosecutor Data Reporting rule that we have been anticipating has now been adopted by the Texas Judicial Council. We discussed the rule in our July Interim Update. Emily Teegardin, 110^th Judicial District Attorney, did a great job spearheading the prosecutor workgroup to help guide the drafting of the proposed rule. The final rule (published in the September 18, 2026 edition of The Texas Register) incorporates key changes suggested by prosecutor feedback, including a delayed start date and the removal of several burdensome data fields.

What Offices Must Report:
1. Case Categorization: The number of offenses in each criminal case filed, categorized by offense level (from capital felony down to Class B misdemeanor).
2. Staffing & Caseload Sufficiency (Annual): The number of personnel employed by your office and your (subjective) determination of whether that staffing level is sufficient to support your specific caseload.
3. Article 17.151 Releases: The number of times a defendant was released under CCP Art. 17.151, regardless of whether an application for a writ of habeas corpus was filed.

Other highlights of the revised final rule include:
1. Prosecutors do not have to report Class C misdemeanors.
2. The first reporting period begins December 1, 2026, with the first report due on March 31, 2027.
3. There is no requirement to report someone’s release under Art. 17.151 for a fine-only misdemeanor.
4. Prosecutors will not have to report Art. 17.151 writs filed.
5. The definition of “criminal case” means a case in which a criminal indictment or information has been filed in a district or other court in the county.    

The Office of Court Administration (OCA) will be issuing formal reporting guidelines soon, and we will alert you when those guidelines are finalized. We will also host a speaker from OCA to address this topic at our upcoming Key Personnel & Victim Assistance Coordinators Conference in Fort Worth in November.

Interim Hearing on Oil and Gas Theft

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources met this week to discuss legislative solutions to oilfield theft. The Legislature passed several bill last session to address it, including SB 494, which created the State Taskforce on Petroleum Theft under the Railroad Commission; HB 48, which created an oilfield theft prevention unit within the Department of Public Safety; and SB 1806, which increased criminal punishment related to oilfield theft. Midland County District Attorney Glenn Harwood testified about the challenges linking stolen oil to individual victims, the importance of asset forfeiture, and the value of collaboration among local district attorneys (instead of a statewide prosecutor). To view his testimony, click here.

Quotes

“Prosecutors must enforce Texas law and keep violent criminals behind bars. When murder charges are dropped and repeat offenders walk free, innocent Texans pay the price. Texas will hold rogue prosecutors accountable and deliver justice for victims.”

—Governor Greg Abbott in a joint press statement with House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

“Liberal, soft-on-crime prosecutors have endangered Texans for far too long.”

—Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in a joint press statement with House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Governor Greg Abbott.

“For far too long, Texans have been left at the mercy of certain local prosecutors’ soft-on-crime policies.”

—Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows in a joint press statement with Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

Check on your friends from other states who moved here during the fall or spring. They are realizing that the lower cost of living comes with a price: heat advisories. The Capitol is also starting to heat up with more interim hearings and state agencies presenting their budgets for approval. It’s also campaign season, so if you are not feeling popular, all those campaign texts and emails will soon make you feel like the prom queen (or king).

Interim Hearings

There were several interim hearings this month that touched on issues concerning prosecutors.

The House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight met to discuss the Texas Public Information Act (PIA). Jennifer Tharp, Comal County Criminal District Attorney, testified about the issues counties face complying with PIA requests, including protecting crime victims’ privacy. The Committee heard from other officials about individuals abusing PIA requests to harass elected officials and burden offices economically. The committee seemed reluctant to make any major changes to the PIA law. 

The House Permanent Standing Subcommittee on County and Regional Government met to discuss strengthening county law enforcement. Robert Leonard, the Executive Director of the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), testified that district attorneys who campaigned on prosecuting officers have hurt recruiting and retention, and he asked for help from the legislature to combat these “political attacks”. The Committee also heard testimony on the lack of medical examiners across the state and the need for more pathologists. Witnesses described autopsy and toxicology delays that can lead to delays in criminal prosecutions. Some witnesses advocated lowering the mandatory medical examiner threshold from 2.5 million to 1 million (with multi-county district carve-outs), noting fast-growing counties like Williamson and Hidalgo face severe caseload strain under the traditional Justice of the Peace system. We will monitor this issue to see if the legislature appropriates more money to help medical examiners.

The Senate Select Committee on Homeland & Border Security met to discuss expanding the role of the Border Prosecution Unit (BPU) to combat cross-border motor fuel trafficking, which has become a multi-billion-dollar enterprise for Mexican cartels. BPU Chair and 452nd Judicial District Attorney Tonya Spaeth Ahlschwede and BPU General Counsel Tom Krampitz testified at the hearing about the complications of building cases that traverse multiple jurisdictions. Senator Kevin Sparks (R-Midland)—who, just coincidentally, runs a family-owned oil and gas company back home—was the most enthusiastic committee member advocating for a larger appropriation to the BPU and requested that the BPU return with a budget that would add fuel trafficking to its mission. 

Flock Cameras

Data centers have found their hero in Flock cameras. Flock cameras, more properly called automated license plate readers (ALPRs; Flock Safety is the most well-known manufacturer), have replaced data centers on the anti-AI hot seat with the public and Texas leadership. Governor Greg Abbott ordered all state agencies to halt state funding for Flock cameras following scrutiny over how state grant programs were utilized. That freeze came alongside revelations that the Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority (MVCPA) has directed tens of millions of dollars in statutory auto-theft prevention fees toward deploying thousands of Flock cameras statewide, which lawmakers from both parties maintain was never the Legislature’s intent.  At the local level, cities and counties, including Pflugerville and Hood County, have moved to terminate contracts with Flock after public outrage on the perceived surveillance state they are contributing to. Between grassroots resolutions demanding warrant requirements and heated testimony during interim committee hearings, ALPR data retention, inter-agency sharing, and Fourth Amendment boundaries are going to be major issues in the upcoming legislative session. Prosecutors should be included in these conversations and now would be a good time to meet with your representatives and senators if you have thoughts on this issue. 

Hot (Button) or Not?

Every September, the Texas Tribune Festival (aka “Tribfest”) brings politicians, professors, and policy wonks from around the country to Austin to talk about the “Big Issues” in the news. This year’s agenda promises “250+ leaders, thinkers, and innovators across 100+ sessions digging into democracy under pressure, the battle for Texas, the future of education, AI, energy, and more.” It’s really a great program if you’re into that sort of thing. You still have time to register here. It will be in Austin September 24–26.

That said, guess how many of those “100+ sessions” at the Tribfest address criminal law or government representation? One. (And it’s on the death penalty, which means for most of you, the actual answer is “zero.”) And you know what? That’s probably a good thing. Ditto for the results of this month’s poll by the Texas Politics Project at UT–Austin. Guess where “crime” ranks on the list of most important issues facing the State of Texas in August 2026? Tied for 18th, with only 1 percent of respondents identifying crime as the state’s most important issue. (You have to dive down to page 4 of the toplines to find where crime ranks, so we did it for you.) Instead, Texas voters are focused on inflation (19 percent), political corruption (15 percent), the economy (10 percent), and immigration (10 percent), among many others.

Why do we share this observation? First, to congratulate you—good job, good effort, everyone! Crime is down, and voters are more worried about other things. Keep that in mind if you start to get stressed about the impending legislative session. But also, when policymakers do begin to file the inevitable flood of crime-related bills in a few months, keep these things in perspective. Considering everything else going on in this crazy state right now, prosecution-specific issues may have to take a number and wait in line for the legislative spotlight in 2027. And wouldn’t that be a nice change?

Bill ideas

Speaking of bills being filed, that will begin in earnest on the Monday after the November elections. Language for new bills is already being drafted and shopped around and vetted by legislative staffers. We know this because many of them send us those bill drafts to get background information, past legislative history, or our generally well-informed opinion about the new idea’s language, wisdom, or prospects of passage in 2027. What complicates that process is when staffers ask us to review a bill submitted by a prosecutor that we have never seen before. (Legislative staff sometimes draw their own assumptions into the viability of a bill requested by prosecutors if TDCAA has not seen the bill.) The non-partisan, low key nature of our association’s involvement in the legislative process may contribute to this piecemeal participation by our members, but we want to take this opportunity to remind you that we are here to help you work smarter, not harder. If you reach out to Hector or Shannon, we can share what we know about your new idea as well as help you coordinate with other prosecutors with similar goals. The legislative process is designed to kill bills, and less than 15 percent of all bills become law. This is why proper preparation and coalition-building helps turn good ideas into laws. Of course, this benefit made available to you through your membership in TDCAA is optional, and you are always welcome to fly solo through the legislative storm if that is your preference. Please know that we are here to help.

Election Law Resources

The Texas Secretary of State (SOS) held its Annual Election Law Seminar for County Election Officials and covered statutory compliance, recent legislative changes, and procedural nuances governing local elections. Fear not if you missed the conference. The SOS kindly provides all its presentation materials and other resources on its website. The November election early voting period is right around the corner and election integrity continues to be a hot topic, so keep these resources handy if you anticipate election-related issues arising in your backyard.

Upcoming Interim Hearings

The legislature continues its interim hearings in September. The following hearings have posted their agendas that contain issues that are pertinent to prosecutors.

The House Committee Human Services will meet on September 9at 10am to discuss: Protecting Due Process and Civil Rights in Child Protective Services Investigations.
The Senate State Affairs Committee will meet on September 14 at 9am to discuss: Protecting Minors Online.
The Senate State Affairs Committee will meet on September 15 at 9am to discuss: Closing Gambling Loopholes, Protecting the Integrity of the Judiciary, and Ensuring Consumer Protection in Alcohol Sales.
The Senate Natural Resources Committee will meet on September 21at 9am to discuss: The establishment of a theft of petroleum products task force, creation of an organized oilfield theft prevention unit within the Department of Public Safety, and creating criminal offenses and increasing the punishment for existing criminal offenses.

Quotes

“Where district attorneys who have campaigned on promises of prosecuting law enforcement officers and have targeted law enforcement officers for unnecessary prosecutions, who continue to persecute law enforcement officers every chance they get—these acts are destroying recruiting and retention efforts at every turn. We trust the legislature will continue to place safeguards in the law as these political attacks on the profession continue.”

—Robert Leonard, CLEAT Executive Director, testifying at the House Permanent Standing Subcommittee on County and Regional Government.

“The sheer volume of information captured is not something that is entertained, in my view, by the Fourth Amendment.”

—Representative Mitch Little (R-Lewisville), discussing Flock cameras and their capabilities.

“In a million years, I never could have even contemplated that this would be used to fund what is effectively warrantless surveillance. Otherwise, I can’t imagine it would have gotten unanimous support. I sure as hell wouldn’t have voted for it if I knew some bureaucrat was going to redirect the money to Flock cameras.”

—Representative Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian), referring to a 2023 law passed by the Texas Legislature raising auto insurance costs for Texans by $1 to combat catalytic converter theft. The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority turned the $1 fee hike into grants that purchased at least 3,200 Flock cameras.

“By refusing to extradite Castro, Greg Abbott is turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals. Regardless of today’s ruling, I will keep fighting so that Agent Castro will face justice in Minnesota.”

—Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, referring to the ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) agent charged with four counts of assault who was released from a Texas jail after a court denied a request to force Governor Abbott to extradite him to Minnesota.

“We are not going to have this filth and vulgarity and violence of graphic scenes of rape, of stories of teachers and students having a sexual affair, in our school libraries, so we’re going to put an end to this.”

—Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, warning school districts to remove explicit books from the school libraries or face stricter penalties from the legislature.

The World Cup is over and our fun guests from other countries have gone home. (It’s almost like they didn’t want to stick around for the dog days of American summer where we wait for [tackle] football to begin!) Fear not—we are just one month away from American football kicking off. But we don’t have to wait any longer for the contact sport of Texas lawmaking. It awaits you in our latest update.

Interim Hearing

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee met on July 7 to discuss strengthening crisis-related mental health and homeless services and to address the societal impacts of THC product consumption. Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp testified in front of the committee. She talked about the unprecedented surge in defendants with severe mental illness, substance use disorders, and homelessness cycling through emergency rooms and county jails. Also, Tharp raised the involuntary-to-voluntary loophole in Chapter 574 of the Health and Safety Code. Currently, private psychiatric facilities can convert court-ordered involuntary commitments into voluntary status without notifying the court or prosecutor, which allows high-risk individuals to walk out untreated. Lawmakers indicated a willingness to mandate pre-discharge and status-change notifications to judges, prosecutors, and local law enforcement.

Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne, President of the Sheriffs Association of Texas, testified too and advocated for the passing of HB 305, which was vetoed last session by Governor Greg Abbott. HB 305 would have required that a court conduct the next pretrial hearing for a defendant who has been restored to competency within 14 days of that restoration. Governor Abbott did not agree with the 14-day time period but vowed to work with lawmakers to pass a different version of the law. Chief Steve Dye of the Allen Police Department testified about the explosion of retail THC shops and the easy accessibility of high potency consumables, which have led to an increase in juvenile addictions.

Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) promised to refile legislation to completely ban consumable THC products and Chair Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) made it clear that the current lack of uniformity across local mental health authorities is no longer acceptable. We will continue to follow these issues during the regular session when they become real life bills.

Speaking of THC …

New THC Regulations

On July 10, 2026, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reinstated its 2021 definitions of “tetrahydrocannabinols” and “marihuana extract” as controlled substances. Before those 2021 revisions could ever take effect, a Travis County district court issued a temporary injunction in Sky Marketing Corp. v. DSHS, preventing enforcement. That changed on May 1, 2026, when the Texas Supreme Court reversed the lower courts and upheld DSHS’s authority. After the Court issued its mandate on June 5, 2026, DSHS formally reinstated the 2021 definitions through a July 10 notice in the Texas Register, making them effective July 31, 2026. This new schedule concludes that delta-8 and all THC isomers that are NOT delta-9 THC are considered controlled substances.

This goes into effect today, July 31, 2026. Delta-9 and delta-8 are both intoxicating cannabinoids found in hemp products. While delta-9 THC is the primary psychoactive compound found in cannabis, delta-8 is found in much lower levels and is typically synthesized for retail sale. Under HB 1325, the state differentiates between legal hemp based on delta-9 THC content, which left delta-8 and other cannabinoids in a gray legal area. The definitions enacted by DSHS in 2021, now set to take effect today, closed the loophole by making delta-8 a Schedule I controlled substances.

The Court in Sky Marketing Corp. v. DSHS held that “Delta-8 THC occurs in almost undetectably trace amounts in hemp, but it can be derived synthetically from CBD to produce a dramatically higher concentration than that which occurs naturally in the cannabis plant. Texas law considers such synthetic THC to be a Schedule I controlled substance. See 46 Tex. Reg. at 1768 (listing “synthetic equivalents of the substances contained in the cannabis plant, . . . and/or synthetic substances, derivatives, and their isomers with similar chemical structure and pharmacological activity to those substances contained in the plant” as Schedule I controlled substances).” Therefore, possession of Delta-8 would start as a state jail felony and be charged by weight under the Texas Health & Safety Code §481.116.

Labs will need to perform quantitative analysis to establish exact percentage weights rather than mere presence because legal hemp can contain up to 0.3 percent Delta-9 THC. Such testing would be on top of DPS’s and other labs’ already heavy workload of sexual assault kits, drugs, and blood draws. You should have a discussion with your lab analyst about their lab’s capabilities in testing for THC. Please let us know if you get one of these cases. We are here to help answer any questions. 

New Prosecutor Rules

The Prosecutor Data Reporting rule that we discussed in our last legislative update is still posted in the Texas Register and available for public comment. You have until August 8, 2026, to submit feedback on these reporting instructions. You can email your comments to reportingsection@txcourts.gov. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Emily Teegardin, 110th Judicial District Attorney and Chair of TDCAA’s Data Reporting Workgroup (emilyteegardin@co.floyd.tx.us), if you have any questions about the proposed rule or the comment process.

No Vacancies in Prisons

The Legislative Budget Board (LBB) released its five-year projections for adult and juvenile correctional populations so that the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice can adjust their legislative appropriations requests for the 2028–2029 biennium. In other words, these agencies need to request more money from lawmakers to deal with the anticipated growth of people needing their services. State prisons are projected to exceed operational limits by 2028, which could lead to backlogs in county jails as defendants await transfer to TDCJ. Does this mean more prisons will be built or more people will be let out on parole? We will see how the 90th Legislature decides to tackle this new reality when the initial drafts of the next state budget are filed in the House and Senate.

Bail Bond Reform

This week the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s (TPPF) Right on Crime arm published a policy paper entitled “Accountability, Transparency, and Public Safety: A Conservative Approach to Bail Bond Oversight.” For civil prosecutors, this article foreshadows TPPF’s desire to abolish local bail bond boards and transfer all licensing, oversight, and forfeiture collection enforcement to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). The final recommendations are located at the second to last paragraph of the paper. Please let us know your thoughts. 

Election Law Training

The 44th Annual Election Law Seminar for County Election Officials, hosted by the Texas Secretary of State, will be held August 10–12 in Round Rock. The conference will cover statutory compliance, recent legislative changes, and procedural nuances governing local elections. Election integrity continues to be a hot topic in Texas and across the country and will only heat up as we get closer to the November general election. The seminar has been approved for 16.5 hours of CLE including 1.5 hours of ethics hours.

Judicial Compensation Commission Meeting

The Judicial Compensation Commission will hold its next public hearing in the courtroom of the Court of Criminal Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas on August 7 from 10:00am-12:00pm. The Commission was created to recommend the proper salaries to be paid by the state for all justices and judges of the Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the courts of appeals, and the district courts. The Commission always appreciates prosecutorial testimony at its hearings. Please email Hector Valle if you plan to attend.

Quotes

“I was mad that I went to jail, and I didn’t understand politics. Now we’re working together because we have to and we need to because it’s what’s best for you.”

—Representative Shelley Luther (R-Sherman) discussing her new relationship with Governor Abbott at her political rally that brought nearly all of Texas GOP leadership together. Luther, a former salon owner, first gained national attention in 2020 after being jailed for reopening her Dallas business in defiance of Abbott’s COVID-19 shutdown orders.

“I care what rural Texans think about data centers. You cannot build in rural Texas neighborhoods. Period.”

—Governor Greg Abbott at Rep. Luther’s political rally discussing his latest view on data centers in Texas.

“Convicted felon trying to be a player.”

—Midland County Judge Terry Johnson’s caption on his personal Facebook page’s post of an unredacted arrest warrant showing a citizen reporter’s full legal name, Social Security number, birthdate, and driver’s license number. The citizen journalist has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging Johnson used his official access to government records to dox him in retaliation for critical reporting on county government.

“My office has reached out to DHS (the Department of Homeland Security) on a number of occasions after this shooting, and not only have we not been told no, we haven’t gotten anything back. We haven’t gotten a response to anything. In the 20 years that I’ve been in law enforcement, I’ve never seen behavior like this.”

—Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare testifying at a Congressional hearing in Houston regarding his office’s investigation into the ICE agent who fatally shot a Harris County man earlier this month. 

The Prosecutor Data Reporting Rule is public.

The Prosecutor Data Reporting rule that we have been anticipating is now posted for public comment, and there are only 30 days to speak up to the Judicial Commission about the rule prior to its adoption. On July 10, 2026, the Texas Judicial Council formally published proposed rule 1 TAC §171.12 in the Texas Register. This rule implements the mandatory reporting requirements enacted by HB 16 (89th Legislature, 2nd Called Session). Because these rules carry an indeterminate fiscal and logistical burden for your offices, it is critical that prosecutors review the rule and submit formal public comments before the rule is finalized. The earliest possible date of adoption is August 9, 2026, which makes for a short comment period.

Key Elements
The rule establishes a mandatory quarterly reporting structure (with an additional annual personnel metric). The first quarterly reporting period runs from September 1, 2026, to November 30, 2026, with the inaugural report due to the Office of Court Administration (OCA) by December 31, 2026.
Under subsection (b), each office will be required to report data broken down by individual county served, including:

1. Case Categorization: The number of offenses in each criminal case filed, categorized by offense level (from capital felony down to Class C misdemeanor).
2. Staffing & Caseload Sufficiency (Annual): The number of personnel employed by your office and your determination of whether that staffing level is sufficient to support your specific caseload.
3. Article 17.151 Releases: The number of times a defendant was released under CCP Art. 17.151, regardless of whether an application for a writ of habeas corpus was filed.
4. Article 17.151 Writs: The number of applications for a writ of habeas corpus received under CCP Art. 17.151.

(Note: While HB 16 included outdated language requiring reporting of electronic notices under CCP Art. 17.027(a)(2), the Council has acknowledged that no data will be collected on that metric.)

Areas for Potential Public Comment
When drafting your feedback to OCA, consider focusing on the following points. (However, it has been our experience that agencies prefer alternative solutions rather than simply a critique of the rule.)

• Logistical & Software Issues: Does your current case management system easily pull these offense-level metrics, or will this require upgrades or manual data tracking?
• Fiscal Impact: OCA’s fiscal note states the local impact is “indeterminate” but states it may incur costs to local counties based on your staffing levels. What will compliance with this new rule cost your office?

How to Submit Comments
You have until August 8, 2026, to submit feedback on these reporting instructions. You can email your comments to reportingsection@txcourts.gov. (Comments can also be physically mailed to a person and address listed in the posted rule, but in our experience, agencies prefer comments to be emailed, even if as attachments.)

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Emily Teegardin, 110th Judicial District Attorney and Chair of the TDCAA’s Data Reporting Workgroup (emilyteegardin@co.floyd.tx.us), if you have any questions about the proposed rule or the comment process.

Rogue Prosecutor Report

This week the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Right on Crime arm published a policy paper titled “Going Rogue: How Radical, Reformist Prosecutors Are Endangering Public Safety.” The report outlines proposed legislative changes to provide more oversight of prosecutors. The Texan also wrote an article about the report that can be found here. Please let us know your thoughts as this will likely be a hot topic for the upcoming legislative session.

DNA on Trial CLE

There is an upcoming CLE course directed by Lynn Garcia of the Texas Forensic Science Commission and funded by the Court of Criminal Appeals, taking place from August 12–14, 2026, in Austin, Texas that prepares lawyers for trials with DNA evidence, from the collection of evidence at the crime scene to interpretation, statistics, testimony, and post-conviction issues. Click here for more information or to register.

Summer school started at the Texas Capitol—lawmakers could not stay away and kept coming back for different interim hearings. The Judicial Council was given a summer assignment that requires collecting information from prosecutors, and we here at TDCAA have been working with them to keep it from turning into a doctoral dissertation for prosecutors. Let’s check in on the summer vibes at the Texas Legislature!

OCA Data Reporting

The Texas Legislature passed HB 16 during the 89^th Second Called Session, which amended Chapter 71 of the Government Code. The changes require that prosecutor offices submit reports to the Judicial Council that include categories of criminal offenses prosecuted, staffing levels, whether the current staffing level is sufficient to support the prosecutor caseload, the number of times a defendant was released as provided by Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 17.151, and the number of electronic notices submitted by the prosecuting attorney to a court (as required by the Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 17.027 (a) (2)). The Judicial Council’s Data Committee met with prosecutors and interested parties to better understand what data would be most useful to understand the challenges that prosecutors face on a daily basis and to gather recommendations on the proposed Prosecutor Reporting Rule. This rule will define how prosecutors will report this information. The Judicial Council plans to have the Prosecutor Reporting Rule published in the July 10 edition of the Texas Register, which will trigger the 30-day comment period, with a final adoption occurring after that period. Anyone (including prosecutors) may comment on the Prosecutor Reporting Rule, and the Council could change the final Prosecutor Reporting Rule based on the public feedback. We will send out a notice once the rule is posted in the Texas Register.

Interim Hearings

The House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight met on June 4 to discuss the interim charge regarding the Texas Regulatory Consistency Act (often referred to as the “Death Star bill”). HB 2127 was passed in 2023 to bar cities and counties from passing or enforcing local ordinances that go further than or conflict with state law. It also gives private citizens the right to sue local governments over non-compliant ordinances. During the first part of the hearing, the charge called for reviewing local ordinances that have been repealed or modified since the act’s effective date, identifying ordinances that conflict with the act, examining lawsuits brought to enforce preemption, and suggesting ways to reduce regulatory inconsistency for small businesses. Committee members questioned witnesses about how to ensure that local municipalities were enforcing state law. Committee members discussed different enforcement measures, including an audit of all ordinances, empowering the Attorney General to enforce compliance, and withholding funds from noncompliant local governments. 

For our civil folks, the second half of the hearing focused on governmental and sovereign immunity. Committee members focused on the six-month notice requirement found in §101.101 of the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA). A claimant must give a governmental unit formal notice of a claim within six months of the incident, or they are barred from suing. Some lawmakers were concerned that strict bar applies to injuries to minors and applies even if the injury was inherently undiscoverable within that timeframe. These are the types of observations that start the conversation for future bills in the upcoming legislative session. Representative Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) described his frustrations with the current state of the TTCA and with local governments being able to circumvent lawsuits from plaintiffs. Click here for a three-minute video that provides a likely preview of future legislation.

The House Committee on Natural Resources met on June 23. The meeting lasted several hours as the committee focused on the water use and sustainability challenges posed by the rapid expansion of data centers. Members of the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) testified that they sent out water use surveys to 341 operating data centers for the year 2025 but had only received a 17-percent response rate. Representative David Spiller (R-Jacksboro) brought up criminal prosecution as a potential tool to put some teeth into the rules and compel the remaining 83 percent of data centers to disclose their water usage. (Those remarks can be viewed here.) He references §16.012(m) of the Texas Water Code, noting that the law allows for a criminal charge against entities that fail to timely complete and return their water use surveys. Data centers and their water usage will be a hot topic in the upcoming session, and we will keep our eyes out for any proposed bills that bring local prosecutors into the discussion. 

The House Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs met on June 24 to discuss interim charges related to homelessness, mental health, criminal justice system recidivism, and agency oversight. In this three-minute clip, Representative Carl Tepper’s (R-Lubbock) questioning of Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis shows the frustration that lawmakers have with the current homeless situations in cities across Texas. Witnesses also testified about the lack of beds in state hospitals that keep prosecutors from moving cases as they wait for defendants to be restored to competency. Bills concerning the homeless population will certainly be introduced in the upcoming legislative session, and we will keep watch on how they affect prosecutors. 

The Senate State Affairs Committee met on June 23 to discuss the regulation of proxy advisory firms and the integrity of elections in Texas. On election security, Jennifer Doinoff, the Hays County Election Administrator and Legislative Chair for the Texas Association of County Election Officials (TACEO), highlighted the severe threats facing election staff and recommended expanding laws to protect their personal safety (video of her testimony is linked here). At this point, there was no direct mention of expanding prosecutors’ duties on either subject, but there is still plenty of time for that to change. 

New Federal Grant Rules

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has proposed a sweeping rewrite of federal grant rules – and the comment deadline is July 13. The proposed rewrite of the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200) would affect every county that receives, administers, and passes through federal grant funding. The good people at TAC and their national counterparts at NaCo have more information about this online. If you would like to learn more before you comment or otherwise weigh in on the proposed federal changes to the grant rules, then please go this site.

New Case Summaries Release Day

Beginning in July, TDCAA’s Weekly Case Summaries will be released each Monday, rather than on Friday. The next edition will be released on July 6. If you don’t already receive our case summaries, you can sign up here.

Quotes

“It’s a cumbersome tool that basically is ineffectual. We just want to make sure that we add more tools to the toolkit to make sure that there is accountability for DAs across the entire state of Texas.”

—Governor Greg Abbott, describing the Rogue Prosecutor bill (HB 17) passed in 2023 that allows courts to remove district attorneys for misconduct if they decline to pursue certain types of crimes.

“Disappointing to see so many Republican AGs rush to defend liberal, digital ID style legislation in Texas that was supported by almost every Democrat in the legislature, including James Talarico. SB 2420 grows government, takes options away from parents, and opens the door to surveillance, data abuse, censorship, and [Chinese Communist Party]-style social credit scores.”

—Brian Harrison (R–Midlothian), one of the House members who voted against SB 2420, the App Store Accountability Act, which requires age verification of consumers and parental consent for minors to download apps. The law is being challenged in federal court.

“Placing monitoring equipment in every vehicle and collecting data on every American driver is not a safety measure. It hands other third parties a backdoor into the daily lives of law-abiding citizens who never consented to being watched. The Constitution does not bend just because the technology exists to make surveillance more convenient.”

—Congressman Michael Cloud (R–TX,) explaining why he offered an amendment to the Appropriations Bill that would prohibit the use of FY 2027 appropriated funds to implement the impaired driving technology mandate. The “kill switch” technology for automobiles was mandated in 2021 under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), a bipartisan law passed during the Biden administration. (For more context on this public safety law that is supported by MADD, see this Snopes article from earlier this year.)

The month of May refuses to go quietly into the night. Between elections and interim hearings, lawmakers are staying busy right up to summer break. They do not seem to be in a rush to go get Aerosmith tickets—top priority of the summer, just yet. Luckily, we are also patrolling the Capitol hallways to get our yearbooks signed by those lawmakers who will not be coming back next legislative session.

Elections

Prosecutor Runoff Results:

Criminal District Attorney Bexar County Democrat Primary: Former Fourth Court of Appeals Justice Luz Elena Chapa narrowly defeated longtime prosecutor Jane Davis. Chapa will take on the Republican nominee, Ashley Foster, in November. 
Criminal District Attorney Van Zandt County Republican Primary: Richard Schmidt defeatedincumbent, Tonda Curry. There is no Democrat opponent, therefore Schmidt will assume the office in January 2027.

Statewide Republican Runoff Results:
U.S. Senate: Attorney General Ken Paxton successfully unseated four-term incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Paxton will now face Democratic State Representative James Talarico in November in what is likely to be one of the most expensive races in Texas history.
Attorney General: In the hard-fought battle to secure the GOP nomination to succeed Paxton, State Senator Mayes Middleton defeated U.S. Representative Chip Roy.
Railroad Commissioner: Bo French, former chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party, narrowly edged out incumbent Jim Wright.

Statewide Democratic Runoff Results:
Lieutenant Governor: State Representative Vikki Goodwin easily won her runoff over Marcos Velez.
Attorney General: State Senator Nathan Johnson secured a commanding victory over former Galveston Mayor, Joe Jaworski, to claim the Democratic nomination.
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, (Place 3): Turnover continues at the state’s highest criminal court. Thomas Smith, an assistant attorney general backed heavily by Paxton (and more quietly by Governor Abbott), secured a decisive victory over Alison Fox, a veteran staff attorney for the Court. Smith will face Dallas-based criminal defense attorney Okey Anyiam in the general election in November.

As a reminder, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled 8–1 in the State v. Stephens decision to restrict the Attorney General’s office from unilaterally prosecuting election law violations, stripping away a core pillar of the AG’s enforcement agenda and confirming that authority lies with local county and district attorneys. In retaliation, Paxton mounted aggressive primary campaigns to unseat the Republican incumbents who voted against him, resulting in three judges being ousted in 2024 and two more choosing not to seek re-election in 2026—including the current holder of Place 3.

Committee Hearings

The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee met this month to discuss interim charges focused on rural legal workforce issues and elder fraud. Lawmakers discussed the lack of data on law school graduates taking jobs in rural areas and expressed frustration with the scale of the rural attorney shortage and the limited resources available. Montgomery County District Attorney Mike Holley testified that rural prosecutor offices constantly have difficulty filling open positions. Holley urged lawmakers to fund paid summer internships, which serve as a pipeline to rural employment. 106th Judicial District Attorney Philip Mack Furlow testified about operating a four-county district with only two lawyers to handle more than 1,100 pending felonies. Furlow also highlighted the challenges of recruiting interns without pay and emphasized the human impact on victims and defendants. Law school deans and other academics testified that massive law school debt forces newly graduated attorneys away from modest public sector salaries toward higher paying law firms. Different panelists advocated for a rural attorney student loan forgiveness program modeled after the state’s physician repayment system.

The second half of the hearing focused on different types of financial fraud against the elderly and how perpetrators are using new technology to exploit senior citizens. Amber Moore, Deputy Chief of the Elder Abuse Unit at the Dallas County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, testified about cases involving unlicensed boarding homes and exploitation. Moore urged lawmakers to create mandatory permits for boarding homes, enhanced penalties, and an emergency victim fund. The Committee then focused on crypto kiosks. Adam Colby from the Financial Crimes Intelligence Center in Smith County argued that cryptocurrency kiosks (CVC kiosks/Bitcoin ATMs) are the primary conduit for elder fraud money laundering. Colby recommended an outright ban on the kiosks, citing data that most users are over age 60 and that transaction fees have shifted to hyperinflated exchange rates.

The House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety, & Veterans’ Affairs met yesterday to discuss three different subjects: the implementation of House Bill 33 (school safety and active shooter response), the authority of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE), and strategies for strengthening the state’s law enforcement workforce.

There was extensive debate surrounding off-duty reserve officers driving personal, unmarked vehicles while utilizing red and blue emergency lights to direct traffic in construction zones that are located far away from their appointing agency. TJ Vineyard from TCOLE testified that if a reserve officer conducts an investigative stop or traffic-related arrest outside his jurisdiction, any resulting evidence could be ruled inadmissible in trial. The rumor of reserve officers wearing tank tops and flip flops and streaming Netflix for hours in their personal vehicles was the theme for many questions and rebuttals concerning reserve officers. Representative Don McLaughlin Jr.(R-Uvalde), a member of the committee, stated that he would not let that type of officer pull him over. 

The difficulty of recruiting and retaining peace officers was discussed by several witnesses. Some witnesses claimed that prosecutors who prosecute officers or keep Brady/Giglio lists are part of the reason it is difficult to retain and recruit peace officers. We reported on Brady/Giglio list discussions during last session’s committee hearings, but none of those discussions turned into new laws. However, it sounds like the conversation will continue into next legislative session.   

Upcoming Interim Hearings

The House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight will hold a hearing on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at 9am. Some prosecutors might be interested in the Texas Tort Claims Act discussion that will happen at that hearing.

The Senate State Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at 9am. They will discuss election security, abortion pills, and other bills that they passed last legislative session.   

Victim services award nominations

Is someone in your office going above and beyond the call of duty? If so, you should nominate them for the Suzanne McDaniel Award! The award is named after our first Victim Services Director. Here are the criteria for nomination:

• The person must be employed by a county attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney’s office;
• At least a portion of the person’s job duties must involve working directly with victims and showing empathy and advocacy for victims; and
• The person must have demonstrated impeccable service to TDCAA, victim services, and the profession of prosecution.

To nominate someone, please email Jalayne Robinson with the nominee’s name, office of employment, phone number, and a 100 word or less description of why you believe the person deserves this award. The nomination must be received by Tuesday, June 30, 2026.

DVRP job posting

TDCAA is seeking an attorney to serve as our next Domestic Violence Resource Prosecutor (DVRP). This is a full-time legal position based in Austin, Texas, that is primarily responsible for the development, production, and evaluation of regional and statewide domestic violence training offered by TDCAA. The DVRP also provides technical assistance to Texas prosecutors and allied professionals to improve their ability to see justice done in these complex cases. Interested applicants can learn more by visiting our website.

Quotes

“No one rapes a Texas child and gets this kind of royal treatment. If my House Judiciary Committee has to subpoena Ken Paxton himself to explain this—be assured that we will do so. We deserve answers. And this is not going away.”

—Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) posting on X (prior to this week’s election returns) about the controversial plea deal by the Attorney General’s office in a child sexual abuse case in McLennan County.

“We have police officers, not just reserves, police officers [who] are guilty until proven innocent. We have district attorneys [who] are lifting the blindfold of Lady Justice to determine how they want to judge this person based on whether they’re law enforcement or [a] regular citizen. That is the root cause of all these issues for retaining and recruiting, not that there’s a bunch of reserves making more money than everyone else.”

—Willy Ng, President of the Reserve Peace Officers Association, testifying in front of the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety, & Veterans’ Affairs about why he feels that is difficult to retain officers. 

“What’s solving crime is sending people to these homicide [schools], investigator schools, sexual assault schools, and using all the different tools and technologies and laboratory services. That stuff is expensive, for us to get our personnel properly trained. And the district attorneys need us to get our people properly trained so that when we end up in the courtroom, that our testimony can stand up.”

—Sheriff Brian Hawthorne, Chambers County Sheriff and President of the Sheriffs Association of Texas, testifying in front of the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety, & Veterans’ Affairs about the needs of his officers to attend trainings. 

“Another thing that was brought up that we’ve seen, and this relates more to how we keep people in law enforcement: The Senate had a hearing on a bill that was designed to address the Brady/Giglio issues that we’ve been seeing around the state. The weaponization of those witness lists. In that committee there was a gentleman [who] testified that he was criminally charged and he was acquitted by a jury and the local DA put him on a nondisclosure list or a Brady list, citing that it was because he took the Fifth. So now we’re going to punish a police officer [and] could potentially end their career by putting them on a list for exercising their Fifth Amendment right.”

—John “JW” Wilkerson, Legislative Liaison for the Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA), testifying in front of the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety, & Veterans’ Affairs about issues in retaining officers when dealing with Brady/Giglio lists and requesting the legislature look at new legislation to address the situation. 

There is no offseason in the game of lawmaking.  We have a few updates for you as schools start to close and pools start to open. 

New State Prosecutor?

Yesterday, Governor Greg Abbott held a press conference in Austin flanked by Michael Bullock, President of the Austin Police Association, and newly elected State Senator (and former Montgomery County DA) Brett Ligon, along with several House members standing behind them. Governor Abbott laid out his plans for his new campaign, “Protect Communities, Not Criminals.” The plan has four parts:

• Deny Bail for Illegal Immigrants (see SJR 1, which failed to pass last session)
• Establish a “Texas Statewide Prosecutor”
• Impeach Rogue District Attorneys
• Expand the Texas Repeat Offender Taskforce

We will focus on the statewide prosecutor and the new impeachment proposal. First, Governor Abbott discussed the proposed structure of the as-yet-unnamed statewide prosecutor as he envisions it:

• The statewide prosecutor will be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate for two-year terms.
• The statewide prosecutor will be independent of the Governor.

The statewide prosecutor will serve as a backstop for local law enforcement and the judicial system.

• The 90-Day Trigger: If a local DA fails to secure an indictment within 90 days of an arrest, the statewide prosecutor will have the authority to step in and handle the case to prevent the automatic release of the defendant.
• Backstop: The statewide prosecutor ensures that police arrests result in prosecution even if the local prosecutorial process stalls.

The statewide prosecutor would serve as a mechanism to counter the practice of local DAs declaring they will not prosecute certain classes of crime. (Something already addressed by the HB 17 “rogue prosecutor” law from 2023, but we digress.) The goals would include:

• Overriding political agendas: In jurisdictions where a DA ignores state laws, the statewide prosecutor would be authorized to bring those charges forward.
• Uniform Application: The intent is to ensure that the Penal Code is applied consistently across all counties, regardless of the political leanings of a local DA.

Left unsaid in all of this is how the new office will be structured in a way that is constitutional. The creation of this office will also likely carry a fiscal note, which complicates a bill’s journey through the legislative process. These are all details that will be revealed in the future.

Impeachment Proposal

Governor Abbott also stated that current methods for removing prosecutors from office are ineffective, including HB 17, the rogue prosecutor bill that was passed in 2023.  Abbott stated that prosecutors are the only elected official not subject to impeachment. However, there are several ways to remove an elected prosecutor. During the discussion of HB 17, we put them in a user friendly memo which you may use to educate those who are unfamiliar with the law in this area. 

Governor Abbott’s proposal would allow the Texas House to bring articles of impeachment against an elected prosecutor, which would trigger the suspension of that prosecutor until the end of the impeachment trial.  Abbott stated that local prosecutors are circumventing the intent of HB 17 through tactical delays and official misconduct that stops just short of the current legal threshold for removal. By moving to an impeachment model, the Legislature gains a more direct and potent tool to remove prosecutors who they believe are nullifying state law through their administrative policies. And if you haven’t already figured out those targets, the DAs that were specifically mentioned included those from Travis, Harris, Bexar, and Dallas Counties (although Travis County seemed to be the main impetus for the proposed changes, which explains the location of this first press conference). 

Interestingly, recent impeachment proceedings against the attorney general highlighted a lot of dissatisfaction with the impeachment process among legislators, so this idea could experience some twists and turns during the legislative process. But perhaps most importantly, everyone agrees that this change requires a constitutional amendment, and that dims its prospects if there is opposition from the minority party in either chamber.

Illegal Entry (SB 4)

Senate Bill 4 from 2023 was scheduled to go into effect today, May 15, 2026, but it has been partially stayed (again). How did we get here and what happens next?

1. The Fifth Circuit Ruling (April 24, 2026)
The law’s path to implementation was cleared late last month when the en banc Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a long-standing injunction. Crucially, the court did not rule on whether SB 4 is constitutional; instead, it dismissed the primary challenge on procedural grounds, stating that the plaintiffs (which included El Paso County and several advocacy groups) lacked standing to bring the suit. The court’s formal mandate to lift the injunction was set to issue today, May 15, 2026.

2. Today’s breaking news (May 15, 2026)
U.S. District Judge David Ezra held a hearing this week in Austin regarding a new class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU and the Texas Civil Rights Project. This new suit features different plaintiffs to specifically address the standing issues raised by the Fifth Circuit. Late last night, Judge Ezra issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of most of SB 4. The injunction prevents the enforcement of the following:

• §51.03 Illegal Reentry from a Foreign Nation  
• §51.04 Refusal to Comply with order to Return to Foreign Nation
• Art. 5B.002 Order to Return to Foreign Nation
• Art. 5B.003 Abatement of Prosecution on Basis of Immigration Status Determination Prohibited

3. What part of SB 4 does move forward today?

• §51.02 Illegal Entry from Foreign Nation: Illegal entry other than at a port of entry is now a Class B misdemeanor.
• Art.42A.059 Placement on Community Supervision Prohibited for Certain Offenses Involving Illegal Entry into this State: Probation or deferred adjudication is prohibited for a Chapter 51 offense.

4. No need for a TRO?
In the hearing earlier this week, the AG’s office stated that DPS had not finalized the operational manuals for how troopers will enforce the law so there was no need for a TRO. DPS has not made any statements as of this writing announcing that they are prepared to enforce SB 4. Nevertheless, the judge granted the injunction while the case winds its way through the federal court system again. Note also that this injunction only applies to DPS—however, the issues will be the same in any other attempted prosecution.

We will continue to monitor this situation, but on the off chance that you are presented with an illegal entry case by one of your law enforcement agencies, you should be aware of this litigation to make an informed decision on how to handle it.

Committee Hearing

The House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence will hold an interim hearing on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at the Texas Capitol at 10am (official notice available here). The committee will hear invited and public testimony regarding two interim charges focused on rural legal workforce issues and elder fraud. Prosecutors Mike Holley, Montgomery County DA, Philip Mack Furlow, 106th Judicial District Attorney, and Trey Brown, Somervell County Attorney, have volunteered to make the trip to Austin and provide testimony on the need for help from our state law schools in producing the future rural prosecutors of tomorrow, and Amber Moore, an Asst. Criminal DA from Dallas who specializes in elder fraud cases, will provide testimony on that topic. Please let us know if you wish to be heard on these charges and would like to testify in person on Tuesday; if so, we can help you do that.

Quotes

“A person arrested for murder was allowed to get out of jail for a $1 bond. That’s outrageous. And we have to have a state prosecutor who will back stop that type of failure, that type of neglect by a district attorney. And that’s exactly what this state prosecutor would do.”

–Governor -Greg Abbottciting a Travis County case in which the defendant was not indicted within 90 days as one of his justifications for creating a new statewide prosecutor. 

“The statewide prosecutor position that we talked about with the governor is specifically to address the lack of district attorneys appropriately filing charges within 90 days. And this is the part that keeps me up at night and this is the part I can’t understand. And this is why I volunteered to run for this position, to say, ‘I will get under the hood of these DA’s offices and I will tell you how this machinery work.’”

-New State Senator Brett Ligon explaining why he wanted to help the Governor craft the bill to create the state prosecutor. 

“This is a backroom process designed to give prosecutors more control, less accountability, and more opportunities to quietly decide which criminals are held accountable and face consequences and which ones get a free pass. So, they want discretion without accountability. They want control without transparency. And they want the ability to blame everyone else when their policies fail and crime continues to hurt our communities. Time and time again, [the] Travis County District Attorney and County Attorney have chosen the wrong side.”

–Michael Bullock talking about concerns the Austin Police Association has with certain prosecutors’ diversion programs.