There are only nine days left in the 89^th Legislative Session. All the big, beautiful bills know that final call is about to be announced. They want to go to a place where everyone knows their name and are always glad they came (also known as the Governor’s Desk). Cheers to everyone fighting for their bills and priorities all the way to closing time.

End of session calendar

After midnight on Wednesday, May 28, any bill not passed by both chambers in some form is dead. After that, it’s just conference committees and clean-up for the final five days. Both chambers will work sporadically through the holiday weekend and then late into the night Tuesday and Wednesday. And now you know why everyone you talk to in Austin is so grumpy and tired!

Judicial branch pay update

The good news is that SB 293 by Huffman/Leach (judicial pay and accountability) was voted from the House Judiciary Committee as substituted and is now on the House calendar for Saturday. The bad news is that the tl;dr summary of the new version is “higher salary, less accountability,” and that is a non-starter in the Senate.
At this late stage, here are possible outcomes:

• SB 293 passes the House in that current form, the Senate agrees, done deal, huge raise, little judicial accountability. (LOL just kidding—this is not happening.)
• SB 293 passes the House, the Senate disagrees with the changes, and the bill dies without a conference to work out the differences (see., e.g., 2023 session). RESULT: NO RAISE.
• SB 293 passes the House, the Senate disagrees with the changes, the two chambers go to conference to work out their differences, but they can’t come to an agreement and it all dies. RESULT: NO RAISE.
• SB 293 fails to pass the House (point of order, runs out of time, lacks votes, quorum break, act of God, etc.). RESULT: NO RAISE.
• SB 293 passes the House, Senate disagrees with the changes, the two chambers go to conference to hash out their differences on pay and accountability, some horse-trading occurs, and they come to an agreement that passes into law. RESULT: A RAISE?

Keep an eye on SJR 27 (judicial conduct and sanctions) as well. That proposed constitutional amendment is also on the House calendar for Saturday and could be a piece of the puzzle to any final solution—a failure to clear the 100-vote threshold would be problematic. So, that’s where things are with SB 293. Barring a dramatic change to the bill on the House floor this weekend, we won’t know which of these options is most likely to happen until at least Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Isn’t this a fun game to play?

Grand jury update

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee took up HB 3664 by Smithee/Flores late last night, where it metastasized into a brand new bill that included the following provisions:

• mandatory transcription of all witness testimony before a grand jury;
• a ban on re-presenting a case to a grand jury without new evidence; and
• requiring prosecutors to swear in writing that they have presented all known exculpatory evidence to the grand jury before deliberations.

So, not only were old provisions rejected by the House resurrected at this hearing, but a new provision on exculpatory evidence was added, something that no other mandatory grand jury state requires (to our knowledge). Prosecutors who came to Austin on short notice and testified against this new zombie bill included Smith County Criminal DA Jacob Putman, Brazos County DA Jarvis Parsons, Coryell County DA Dusty Boyd, 106^th Judicial DA Philip Mack Furlow, 33^rd Judicial DA Perry Thomas, 81^st Judicial DA Audrey Louis, and Williamson County DA Shawn Dick, not to mention other offices registering in opposition.

The bill was left pending in committee and not voted out, so if you haven’t reached out to senators on that committee who you know, you still have time. Should the bill be voted out in this new form, we will let you know.

Banning THC in Texas

The Lt. Governor’s priority bill, Senate Bill 3 authored by Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), prohibits the manufacture, sale, and possession of consumable hemp products containing any cannabinoid other than cannabidiol (CBD) or cannabigerol (CBG). It also bans products containing any other cannabinoid, such as delta-8 and delta-9 THC. SB 3 was amended extensively by the House State Affairs Committee to make it a bill regulating consumable hemp instead of an all-out ban. SB 3 was heard on the House floor Wednesday, but Representative Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) proposed a floor amendment to restore the all-out ban on THC. Oliverson argued “As a physician, I cannot in good conscience support a system where Texans self-medicate with unregulated, inconsistent, and highly potent intoxicants. These substances are not medicine.”  Oliverson explained that retailers cannot ensure their THC products contain consistent amounts of THC, echoing criticism from law enforcement. Law enforcement had also complained about the high cost of testing products to ensure that the THC levels were within the legal limit. Oliverson’s floor substitute allows the non-intoxicating, non-psychoactive cannabinoids known as CBD and CBG to stay legal but with more restrictions in their packaging to be child resistant. The bill also establishes new criminal offenses:

1. New offenses added for the manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to deliver consumable hemp products containing cannabinoids other than cannabidiol or cannabigerol, classified as a third-degree felony.
2. A new offense for possession of certain consumable hemp products, classified as a Class A misdemeanor.
3. An offense for selling consumable hemp products to individuals under 21, which is a Class B misdemeanor, with provisions requiring proof of age.
4. A new offense established for the manufacture, distribution, or sale of consumable hemp products for smoking, classified as a Class B misdemeanor.
5. New provisions for selling consumable hemp products near schools, resulting in a Class B misdemeanor.
6. An offense for providing consumable hemp products via courier, delivery, or mail, classified as a Class A misdemeanor.

Lt. Governor Patrick took to social media during the House proceedings to explain that the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) that gives veterans access to low-dose THC products would be increased to win over support for Oliverson’s amendment. Oliverson’s amendment was approved by a vote of 86 to 53 and the bill as amended passed 95 to 44 on second reading. Representative Joe Moody (D-El Paso) also added amendments on second and third reading to reduce punishments for minors in possession, and the final version was approved on third reading by a vote of 87 to 54. Now the bill returns to the Senate for that chamber to concur with the House revisions or go to a conference committee. Meanwhile, hemp industry leaders have promised a lawsuit against the new law and are already pleading for a veto from the Governor.   

ABCD bills

The latest status of bills to make Anyone But Current DAs a front-line prosecutor in your jurisdictions:
HB 45 by Hull (OAG prosecution of human trafficking) passed the Senate after being amended to provide more guidance on the process for the AG substituting in as prosecutor after 180 days of inaction by the local prosecutor. It now heads back to the House for that chamber to concur with those changes or seek a conference committee.
HB 5138 by Shaheen (OAG prosecution of election crimes) is still pending in the Senate State Affairs Committee. Its Senate companion is SB 1026 by Hughes, which is now in the House Calendars Committee.
SB 16 by Hughes (OAG prosecution of illegal voter registration) is also pending in the House Calendars Committee.
SB 1210 by Hughes (SCOTX > CCA) was referred to the House Judiciary Committee but has not been voted upon.
SB 1367 by Hughes (SPA as statewide trial prosecutor) is still awaiting consideration by the full Senate.
SB 1861 by Hughes (CCA appointment of special prosecutor) was passed by the Senate this week and has been referred to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.
SB 2743 by Hagenbuch (OAG prosecution of election crimes upon removal of local prosecutor) has been referred to the House State Affairs Committee.

Status of other bills to watch

What’s up with that? Here are those answers for bills not already mentioned above.
HB 184 by Guillen (loan repayment for border prosecutors) was referred to the Senate Finance Committee but has not been heard.
HB 204 by Tepper (“doughnut hole” fix for certain DA county supplements) was referred to the Senate Finance Committee but has not been heard.
HB 503 by Tepper (SB 22 for larger counties) was referred to the Senate Finance Committee but has not been heard.
HB 917 by Spiller (prosecutors appointed as ad litems) was referred to the Senate Jurisprudence Committee but has not been heard.
HB 1845 by Orr (SB 22 funds for paralegals) was referred to the Senate Finance Committee but has not been heard.
HB 2215 by LaHood (retired prosecutor LTC defense) was referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee but has not been heard.
HB 2216 by Hull/Sparks (limits on CPS removals/terminations) is still pending in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
HB 2715 by Curry/Middleton (change to removal procedures) was voted from the Senate Local Government Committee on Tuesday and is eligible for debate on the Senate floor.
SB 19 by Middleton (ban on taxpayer funded lobbying) was referred to the House State Affairs Committee two months ago but never moved.
SB 330 by Huffman/Oliverson (ban on defunding urban DA offices) is now in the House Calendars Committee.
SB 779 by Middleton (limit on common law nuisance claims) died in the House Judiciary Committee.
SB 781 by King (confidentiality of peace officer personnel files) was passed by the Senate this week after being amended to ensure it complies with discovery laws and has now been referred to the House Public Safety Committee.
SB 1124 by Huffman/Cook (Heath fix to discovery laws) died in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.
SB 2878 by Hughes/Leach (omnibus courts bill) is now in the House Calendars Committee.
To read any bill, visit https://www.capitol.state.tx.us/.

Prosecutors at the Capitol

These prosecutors are in it to the bitter end as they fight for good laws! Montgomery County DA Brett Ligon and Fort Bend County DA Brian Middleton testified in favor of HB 2001, which increases the penalty for insider trading in Texas. Cass County Criminal DA Courtney Shelton, Gregg County Criminal DA John Moore, McLennan County DA Josh Tetens and McLennan County Asst. DA Maddie Beach testified in favor of SB 2785, which would require CPS to turn over records to prosecutors. Tarrant County Asst. Criminal DA Lauren Lawrence testified in favor of SB 957, which creates the offense of continuous aggravated promotion of prostitution. Dallas County Asst. Criminal DA Jason Hermus testified in favor of HB 2697, which would require that prosecutors be notified about a bond forfeiture by a defendant charged with a felony. Dallas County Asst. Criminal DA Phillip Clark testified in favor of SB 2611, which creates the offenses of real property theft and real property fraud. Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Alicia Patterson testified in favor of HB 2348, which allows a deposition of certain elderly or disabled persons in a criminal case. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Nancy Hebert testified in favor of HB 3185, which will allow prosecutors to issue administrative subpoenas during cybercrime investigations.

Senate Calendars

Friday
SB 2797 Creighton: Relating to discovery requirements in a criminal case.
SB 1505 Perry: Relating to the medical use of low-THC cannabis under and the administration of the Texas Compassionate-Use Program.

House Calendars

Saturday
SJR 87 Huffman/ Little:Proposing a constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail to persons accused of certain offenses punishable as a felony who have previously been convicted of certain offenses punishable as a felony.
SB 1719 Hughes/Smithee: Relating to the rulemaking power of the Texas Supreme Court.
SB 1610 Perry/Cook: Relating to sexually violent predators, to the Texas Civil Commitment Office, and to the prosecution of the offense of harassment by sexually violent predators and other persons confined in certain facilities.

Another AG opinion request for your attention

A state representative from Fort Bend County has requested an AG opinion regarding who gets to select outside legal counsel to assist with redistricting county election precincts: the commissioners court, or the county attorney? That legal answer may impact your jurisdiction, and it was also a topic discussed at our Civil Law Conference two weeks ago. For details on the request, click here for a PDF copy of RQ-0597-KP. If you want more information about the background of the request or how you might get involved, you can email Kevin Hedges, Chief of Litigation at the Fort Bend County Attorney’s Office, at [email protected].

Quotes of the week

“I’m voting no because the hypocrisy of it doesn’t withstand the smell test. If you’ve been found to have probable cause of continuous sexual assault of a child, you’re just as dangerous as the guy who is here illegally who did it. You want to get tough on crime— let’s deny all of them bail. Vote no on this piece of crap!”
—Representative Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), when speaking against Senate Joint Resolution 1, which would deny bail for undocumented people who are charged with certain violent offenses including murder, trafficking, and burglary.

“I can speak as a law enforcement officer about the frustration we feel when the hard work of our detective investigators to protect the public is diminished or outright jeopardized by our partners in the criminal court system, some of whom have inexplicably released violent criminals back into our streets.”
—Representative AJ Louderback (R-Victoria) during the SB 9 bill layout, the enabling legislation for bills to regulate or restrict bail release for some offenses.

“It is no surprise that rogue DAs who would rather turn violent criminals loose on the streets than do their jobs are afraid of transparency and accountability. My DA reporting rule is a simple, straightforward, common-sense measure that will shed light on local officials who are abdicating their responsibility to public safety. This lawsuit is meritless and merely a sad, desperate attempt to conceal information from the public they were sworn to protect.”
—Attorney General Ken Paxton responding to the lawsuit from Texas prosecutors in major urban counties over new rules requiring them to submit extensive “performance reports” and case files.  

“I voted for rope, not dope,”
—Representative Tom Oliverson, as he circulated an amendment on the House floor that would revert the House’s bill back to a virtual ban of all THC. Oliverson was referring to the 2019 legislative session that passed the hemp law that was aimed at helping farmers to produce hemp products.   

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It’s so hard to say goodbye. Especially, when you worked so hard to draft a bill and get it through committee and then it just ends up lifeless on the House floor. There were so many dreams that died last night that lawmakers may not want to ever fall asleep again. It was a long night that tested patience, physical stamina, and sanity. For all those who had to watch their pet project “cross the rainbow bridge” last night, there is always next legislative session!

New Calendars and Committee Postings! Please see below.

Bail reform

The governor’s bail reform emergency items finally emerged from the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and are now scheduled for debate on the House floor on Monday. Two of them are joint resolutions to amend the state constitution, which requires support from 100 House members. There being only 88 Republicans in that chamber, attempts are underway to find at least 12 Democratic friends to get those bills over that hump.

Here are brief summaries of the bail bills; read them for yourself for all the details.
SJR 1 by Huffman, aka “Jocelyn’s Law” (named after Jocelyn Nungary), denies bail upon a finding of probable cause that an illegal alien committed one of 20 types of felonies.
SJR 5 by Huffman denies bail for a person charged with any of nine types of listed felony crimes if the State proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant is a flight risk or a danger to the victim, law enforcement, or community. Related procedures are also laid out to implement that process.
SB 9 by Huffman is the omnibus bail reform enabling legislation for those joint resolutions that also serves as a “clean-up” bill for the major bail reform legislation that passed in 2021 as SB 6, aka the Damon Allen Act. This new legislation is now a 24-page substitute bill that revises the public safety report (PSR) system, limits certain appointed magistrates’ authority to set bail or reduce bail, limits personal bond for more types of crimes, clarifies the process for prosecutors to appeal allegedly insufficient bail, and makes lots of other changes.

In related bail news, HB 75 by Smithee was heard on second reading yesterday and is expected to pass out of the House today on third and final reading. It requires a magistrate who finds no PC for an arrest to enter written findings in support of that ruling w/in 24 hours. This bill has an identical Senate companion, SB 3073 by Huffman, that was filed Tuesday, passed from committee Wednesday, passed by the full Senate, sent to the House Thursday, and passed from that chamber’s committee. (All that happened in two days, which tells you just how fast they really can move when the legislative leadership suspends every possible rule to pass something to avoid a potential special session!)

Expansion of prosecutor carry defense

Last week we put you on notice about an AG Opinion request relating to the authority of a prosecutor with a license to carry (LTC) to carry in a courtroom pursuant to the non-applicability provisions of Penal Code §46.15; see the end of that newsletter for details if you missed it.
This week we wanted to alert you to a bill that would grant that same prosecutor’s defense to a “retired” prosecutor (although “retired” is not defined in the legislation or existing statute). That bill is HB 2215 by LaHood (R-San Antonio), who is the brother of former Bexar County Criminal DA Nico LaHood. The bill has the support of Joe Gonzales, the current CDA there, due to credible threats against Mr. LaHood stemming from his days as the elected CDA. The bill passed the House this week and is on its way to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. We have no idea whether other prosecutors support or oppose the expansion of this LTC defense to former elected or assistant prosecutors, so we are putting it on your radar for you to decide that for yourself and then engage with the Senate on the bill if you see fit. The bill could be heard in that committee as soon as Tuesday morning.

ABCD bills

The latest status of bills to make Anyone But Current DAs a front-line prosecutor in your jurisdictions:
HB 45 by Hull (OAG prosecution of human trafficking): passed through the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, awaiting consideration by the full Senate as soon as today.
HB 5138 by Shaheen (OAG prosecution of election crimes): passed the House last Friday and was heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee yesterday. Its Senate companion is SB 1026 by Hughes, which is now pending in the House Calendars Committee.
SB 16 by Hughes (OAG prosecution of illegal voter registration): pending in the House Calendars Committee.
SB 1367 by Hughes (SPA as statewide trial prosecutor): awaiting consideration by the full Senate.
SB 1861 by Hughes (CCA appointment of special prosecutor for election crimes): passed by the Senate on second reading yesterday (on a 20-11 party-line vote) and expected to pass on third and final reading by that same margin today, after which it will be referred to the House.
SB 2743 by Hagenbuch (OAG prosecution of election crimes upon removal of local prosecutor): referred to the House State Affairs Committee.

Criminal laws that have made it to the Governor

Here is a non-exhaustive list of the criminal laws that made it through both chambers and are just waiting for the Governor’s approval. 
HB 166 creating a presumption of endangering a child, an elderly person, or a disabled person by exposing them to fentanyl.
HB 353 creating the criminal offense of trespassing on or near a school or daycare center.
HB 2000, also known as Audrii’s Law, requiring sex offender registration for the offense of child grooming.
SB 305 extends “Move Over, Slow Down” protections to animal control officers, animal carcass removal vehicles, and parking enforcement vehicles.
SB 412 repeals the affirmative defense to prosecution for the sale, distribution, or display of harmful material to a minor by a person having scientific, educational, governmental, or other similar justification.
SB 487 allows victims of an offense of invasive visual recording or indecent assault to choose a pseudonym to be used in all public files and records concerning the offense.
SB 494 requires the Railroad Commission of Texas to establish a statewide task force to study theft of petroleum products and analyze the impacts.
SB 703 revokes the license of a massage therapist or massage therapy instructor who is convicted of, enters a plea of nolo contendere or guilty to, or receives deferred adjudication for certain sexual offenses.
SB 888 allows the Attorney General to defend a county or district attorney who is sued for the enforcement of a state statute.
SB 1809 creates an offense for the fraudulent use or possession of gift cards or gift card redemption information.
SB 2196 increases the effective period for certain emergency protective orders.

Prosecutors at the Capitol

These prosecutors have zero quit in them when it comes to fighting for good laws. Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon testified in favor of HB 2596, which would allow protective orders for, and extend other new rights to, victims of burglary of a habitation. Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton testified in favor SB 1220, which would solve the Court of Criminal Appeals decision in Ex parte Charette, which says that the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) has exclusive jurisdiction over certain election offenses. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Carmen Morales testified in favor of HB 2798, which would extend the statute of limitations for Chapter 32 fraud. Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp testified in favor of HB 1465, which would expand the scope of invasive visual recording and require the guilty to register as a sex offender. 

Calendars

Senate Intent Calendar
Monday
SB 781King: Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency.
SB 1861 Hughes: Relating to the appointment of a special prosecutor by the court of criminal appeals for certain criminal cases.
SB 2797 Creighton: Relating to discovery requirements in a criminal case.
HB 45 Hull/ Huffman: Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute human trafficking criminal offenses.

House Calendars
Monday
SB 664 Huffman/ Cook: Relating to qualifications, training, removal, and supervision of certain masters, magistrates, referees, associate judges, and hearing officers.

Tuesday
SB 3 Perry: Relating to the regulation of consumable hemp products and the hemp-derived cannabinoids contained in those products.
SB 1220 Hughes/Smithee: Relating to the subject matter jurisdiction of the criminal trial courts of this state.

Upcoming committee hearings

Please check back for updated committee hearings

Tuesday
Senate Criminal Justice: 7:00 a.m., E1.016
HB 47 Howard: Relating to sexual assault and other sex offenses.
HB 285 Ordaz: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of cruelty to nonlivestock animals.
HB 305 Hayes: Relating to the time period for conducting a pretrial hearing after a criminal defendant has been restored to competency.
HB 449 Gonzalez: Relating to the unlawful production or distribution of sexually explicit images using deep fake technology.
HB 908 Spiller: Relating to the reporting by law enforcement agencies of missing children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
HB 1024 Shaheen: Relating to the execution of a warrant issued for certain releasees who violate a condition of parole or mandatory supervision related to the electronic monitoring of the releasee.
HB 1443 Schatzline: Relating to creating the criminal offense of promotion of a child-like sex doll.
HB 1445 Hernandez: Relating to the compensation of counsel appointed to provide representation and services to indigent individuals in criminal and juvenile proceedings.
HB 1741 Johnson: Relating to certain proceedings and supervision following certain adjudications occurring in a criminal case.
HB 1866 Lujan: Relating to the state law enforcement authority of federal National Park Service law enforcement officers.
HB 1902 Cook: Relating to creating the criminal offense of jugging.
HB 2001 Meyer: Relating to increasing the criminal penalties for insider trading and other misuse of official information.
HB 2282 Lopez: Relating to the amount of the reimbursement fee paid by a defendant for a peace officer’s services in executing or processing an arrest warrant, capias, or capias pro fine.
HB 2355 Fairly: Relating to requests for law enforcement agency reports from the attorney general related to crime victims compensation applications.
HB 2492 Bowers: Relating to the period for which a person arrested for certain crimes involving family violence may be held after bond is posted.
HB 2637 DeAyala: Relating to the practice and procedures for summoning prospective grand jurors and petit jurors and the exemption of certain persons from grand jury and petit jury service.
HB 2697 Anchia: Relating to certain procedures in connection with a bond forfeiture.
HB 3464 Meza: Relating to the offense of providing a controlled substance to a person in custody of a correctional facility.
HB 4996 Dyson: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of refusal to execute the release of a fraudulent lien or claim.     

House Criminal Jurisprudence: 8:00 a.m., E2.014
SB 456 Middleton: Relating to the purchase or sale of human organs.
SB 826 Parker: Relating to the operation of a motor vehicle in a school crossing zone while intoxicated.
SB 872 Birdwell: Relating to the punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle involving theft of a firearm.
SB 957 Parker: Relating to the creation of the criminal offense of continuous aggravated promotion of prostitution.
SB 993 Nichols: Relating to the authority of a peace officer commissioned by the comptroller to apply for an order authorizing the installation and use of a mobile tracking device.
SB 1660 Huffman: Relating to the retention and preservation of toxicological evidence of certain intoxication offenses.
SB 2017 Bettencourt: Relating to the creation of a criminal offense for operating a vehicle under certain circumstances causing a tire of the vehicle to spin, lose traction, or leave the surface of a highway.
SB 2611 West: Relating to the status of certain documents or instruments concerning real or personal property.
SB 2785 Birdwell: Relating to notification and disclosure of records and information concerning an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect to county or district attorneys.
SB 2794 Paxton: Relating to the criminal offense of interference with child custody.

Wednesday
House Trade, Workforce, Economic Development: 8:00 a.m, E2.014
SB 2105 Blanco: Relating to the authority of a country attorney or district attorney to enforce human trafficking awareness and prevention in commercial lodging establishments

Now Showing – Forensics in the Courtroom: DNA

TDCAA is pleased to present our first training in our Forensics in the Courtroom series: DNA. Please join Tiffany Larsen, Asst. District Attorney from Brazos County, as she walks viewers through what prosecutors need to understand about DNA and how to use DNA evidence in the courtroom. Viewers that complete the course will receive 1.75 hours of CLE. This course is free of cost. To register, please click here.

NDAA funding letters

The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) is soliciting prosecutors’ support for funding of 1) the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) and 2) the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act (to shore up VOCA grant funding). If you would like to add your name to the other supporters that will be listed on letters submitted to Congress by NDAA, more information is available here.

Quotes of the week

“The Legislature, even with its rules and the politics and everything else—the first thing you learn is, never say never. I’ve seen things that were obviously just dead as a doornail miraculously come to life in the last few days of the session.”

 —Ken Armbrister, who served as chief legislative aide to former Gov. Rick Perry after a 24-year career serving in both chambers.

“So, I am going to ask you tonight. All of those little bitty wee-wee feelings that you’ve been having? Bury them. Dismiss them. Roll your sleeves back up and let’s get to work in solving the people’s problems. Thank you.”

—Representative Senfronia Thompson, the Dean of the Texas House, admonishing the entire Texas House to knock off their performative behavior and focus on the legislative process.

“Criminalizing homosexuality is not the role of government, and I support repealing it.”

—Representative Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) explaining his support and being a co-author of HB 1738 to revoke the Penal Code’s ban on homosexual conduct.

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Black smoke? White smoke? At the capitol, it’s all about blowing smoke and using smoke and mirrors to get your bills passed. Desperate legislators may be asking the new American Pope to pray for their bills struggling to hold on to their last breaths of life this coming week. Prepare for Leo XIV to be administering last rites over thousands of House bills that do not make it out of the House by Thursday. Requiescat in pace, House bills. It’s still the Easter season, so there’s always 2027 to look forward to!

New Calendars and Committee hearings alert! See below.

Governor focuses on bail reform

Governor Abbott is laser-focused on passing bail reform after securing a school choice/voucher legislative victory. Abbott is no stranger to fighting for bail reform as he has made it an emergency item for the last three legislative sessions. House Democrats normally stall out the effort as they do not join the two-thirds vote needed from the House to pass a constitutional amendment. There are currently 88 House Republicans, which means that 12 House Democrats are needed to pass out the constitutional amendments.

The Senate passed four different bills as part of the bail reform package back in February. SJR1 creates a constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail for an illegal alien charged with a felony. SJR 5 creates a constitutional amendment allowing the denial of bail to a person accused of certain violent or sexual offenses or of continuous trafficking of persons. SB 9 is the clean-up bill that mandates written findings for “no probable cause” determinations by magistrates and shifts bond-setting authority from appointed magistrates to elected judges for certain types of charges. SB 40 prohibits political subdivisions from using public funds to pay bail bonds. Lt. Governor Patrick threatened a special session to ensure bail reform is passed; however, only the Governor can call a special session. Governor Abbott also has the power to veto any bill once the legislative session is over, which could be used for leverage to “win over” enough House Democrats to get the joint resolutions over the hump and onto his desk.

The Senate bills have not had a hearing in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, which heard and left pending various House bill versions instead. Chairman John Smithee (R-Amarillo) stated that he expected the Senate bills to be heard in his committee next week, which normally meets on Tuesdays. Smithee and Huffman alluded that both chambers are close to an agreement on the legislation. But at this late stage of the session, many things can go awry for good reason or no reason at all.    

Hemp and THC’s future in Texas

The Senate passed Senate Bill 3 back on March 19, 2025, to criminalize consumable hemp products with any amount of THC, including gummies, beverages, vapes, and other edible products. The House heard SB 3 on April 7^th  and made significant changes to Lt. Governor Patrick’s legislative priority. The House version allows retailers to continue selling edibles and drinks, along with low-dose smokable hemp; bans vapes; and allows counties to vote to ban consumable hemp. It would also require products to be sold in child-resistant packaging that does not resemble popular snacks or otherwise appear marketed to kids, and it restricts sales only to people 21 and over. Hemp products could also be barred within 1,000 feet of a school or certain other areas frequented by children.

Lt. Governor Patrick has repeatedly stated that he would not settle for anything but an all-out ban on consumable hemp products. The House version must now go to the House floor where it will likely be amended again. The bill will then head to a conference committee made up of members from both chambers to attempt a negotiation. As with bail legislation, the Lt. Governor doesn’t have the constitutional authority to call a special session over an issue, but he does have pocket veto power over all legislation in his chamber, so negotiations over THC could determine the fate of many other unrelated bills.

Judicial branch bills

We keep fielding calls about the status of the judicial pay raise—aka SB 293 by Huffman and HB 1761 by Leach—and we keep giving the same answer: “No change.” But that’s not really true. If anything, the likelihood of a pay raise happening this session may be decreasing. The two chambers’ proposals on this topic are now very different. Furthermore, the House and Senate have entered the final weeks of the session when one chamber feels aggrieved and starts to take bills from the other chamber hostage, then the other chamber retaliates for said hostage-taking, and things devolve into a stand-off where many of the hostages end up being shot rather than released. But then, most of you know all this because you’ve seen it before on this pay raise issue, as recently as two years ago. At this point in 2025, with three weeks and change to go, things are in roughly the same position as they were in 2023: same disputes, same players, same ticking clock. We wish we had better news for you, but we don’t.

Other judicial bills to watch include the two grand jury “reform” bills, HB 3362 by Little and HB 3664 by Smithee. The latter is the omnibus grand jury “reform” bill for this session, while the former consists of two of those provisions (recording and pre-presentment discovery). Those bills are in the House Calendars Committee for further consideration behind closed doors; feel free to reach out to those committee members if they concern you.

A final judicial branch bill to know about is SB 2878 by Hughes, which will be this session’s omnibus courts bill. If you are looking for new courts, new DA offices, or other related changes to how the judicial branch does its thing, this is the bill for you. It will pass the Senate in the coming days and go to the House, where it is likely to grow even longer as legislators in the lower chamber look for a vehicle for resurrecting (via amendment) their good ideas that failed as stand-alone bills. We will keep a close eye on SB 2878 and let you know if anything goes amiss with it.

ABCD bills

You may claim to have trouble finding lawyers in the job market who want to be prosecutors, but the legislature hasn’t gotten that memo. Here is an update on some of their bills to task Anyone But Current DAs with that job:
HB 45 by Hull (OAG prosecution of human trafficking): referred to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, likely to be posted for consideration on Tuesday.
HB 2309 by Villalobos (OAG doing forfeitures in certain cases): pending in the House Calendars Committee.
HB 5138 by Shaheen (OAG prosecution of election crimes) passed out of the Texas House and is on its way to the Senate. Its Senate companion is SB 1026 by Hughes, which was passed by the Senate 19-12 (one R in opposition), passed the House State Affairs Committee, and is now pending in the Calendars Committee.
SB 16 by Hughes (OAG prosecution of illegal voter registration): pending in the House Calendars Committee.
SB 1367 by Hughes (SPA as statewide trial prosecutor): pending in the House Calendars Committee consideration for Senate Intent Calendar. <corrected>
SB 1861 by Hughes (CCA appointment of special prosecutor): pending in the House Calendars Committee consideration for Senate Intent Calendar. <corrected>
SB 2743 by Hagenbuch (OAG prosecution of election crimes upon removal of local prosecutor): referred to the House State Affairs Committee.

30-day report, Part II

In last week’s newsletter we gave a 30,000-foot view of some bills that are still alive on various topics as the session nears its end. Here is the second half of that summary; if you see something you like or don’t like, let your legislators know! (You can read any bill at https://www.capitol.state.tx.us/.)
DISCOVERY: HB 3330 (Heath fix), SB 1124 (companion Heath fix), SB 2797 (reciprocal discovery).
FIREARMS: HB 1794 (LTC carry at polling places), HB 2180 (return of weapons to defendants), HB 2215 (LTC carry by retired prosecutors), HB 2458 (agg. assault defense), HB 2993 (carry by a county commissioner), HB 3669 (use of less-lethal weapons), SB 870 (open carry by school marshal), SB 872 (theft of firearm from vehicle), SB 1065 (LTC carry at State Fair, etc.), SB 1596 (legalizing short-barrel firearms), SB 2570 (use of less-lethal weapons).
GRAND JURIES: HB 2637 (impaneling and exemptions), HB 3662 (recordings and discovery), HB 3664 (omnibus “reform” bill), SB 2878 (omnibus courts bill).
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: HB 45 (AG prosecutions), HB 1778 (omnibus human trafficking bill), HB 2306 (no parole for child traffickers), HB 2761 (lack of consent), SB 1212 (punishment enhancement), SB 1278 (duress defense), SB 2105 (commercial lodging awareness/prevention).
JUVENILES: HB 31 (treatment in juvenile facilities), HB 355 (TJJD accepting custody from counties), HB 1461 (county costs of juvenile confinement), HB 1831 (juvenile drug court eligibility), HB 2147 (remote proceedings), HB 2234 (raise the age), SB 1019 (outcry in juvenile trials), SB 1727 (crimes in custody).
MENTAL HEALTH: HB 305 (post-restoration pretrial hearings), HB 3163 (court-ordered services venue), HB 5465 (procedures for defendants with mental illness/IDD), SB 528 (competency restoration), SB 1164 (emergency detention).
OPEN RECORDS: HB 111 (applying PIA to certain associations, limiting exemptions for certain legal communications), HB 2248 (deadlines and complaints), HB 2486 (law enforcement personnel files), HB 4219 (responses to requests), SB 758 (applying PIA to certain associations), SB 986 (responses, bad faith requests).
SEX CRIMES: HB 380 (sex offender registration for improper educator–student relations), HB 1422 (continuous sexual abuse of adult), HB 1443 (criminalizing child-like sex dolls<ugh>), HB 1552 (changing the name of child pornography), HB 1953 (victims’ rights), HB 2000 (sex offender registration for child grooming), HB 2151 (sex offender registration for indecent assault), HB 3073 (redefining consent for sexual assault), SB 20 (AI-generated obscene material), SB 412 (showing harmful material to minors), SB 535 (rape shield law expansion).
Remember, you can find updated information on all bills amending the Penal Code or Code of Criminal Procedure by clicking on those respective links on our Legislative webpage. We track more categories of bills than Baskin-Robbins has flavors, so if you are interested in any other specific type of bill, contact us for more details.

Prosecutors in the Capitol Hallways

Prosecutors still have clear eyes, full hearts as they keep fighting the good fight to bring home some good legislation. Kleberg & Kenedy County District Attorney John Hubert testified in favor of SB 1101, which addresses the issue of smuggling of persons in state parks, allowing law enforcement to make arrests. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Taylor Vanegas testified in favor of SB 2799, which increases the penalty for reckless driving. Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Rachel Carrico testified in favor of SB 1019, which addresses the admissibility of hearsay statements in sexual assault of a child cases. Smith County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Laura Severt testified against HB 2216, which would change the burden for terminating the parent-child relationship from “clear and convincing evidence” to “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Was someone from your office here this week that we missed? Be sure to let us know next time and we will be happy to give them a shout-out in a future newsletter!

Calendars

Daily House Calendar: Sunday, May 11, 2025
HB 1422 Hull: Relating to the rights of victims of sexual assault and other sex offenses, the offense of continuous sexual abuse, and the prosecution and punishment of certain sex offenses.
HB 3425 Capriglione: Relating to the prosecution of certain criminal offenses involving the unlawful disclosure of a residence address or telephone number.
HB 5354 Leach: Relating to the information reported by prosecuting attorneys to the Texas Judicial Council.
HB 3664 Smithee: Relating to the training of prospective grand jurors and to grand jury proceedings.

Senate Intent Calendar: Monday, May 12, 2025
SB 1723 Creighton: Relating to the establishment of a rapid DNA analysis pilot program in certain counties.
SB 1858 Hagenbuch: Relating to eligibility for the bulletproof vest and body armor grant program.
SB 2017 Bettencourt: Relating to the creation of a criminal offense for operating a vehicle under certain circumstances causing a tire of the vehicle to spin, lose traction, or leave the surface of a highway.
SB 2403 Middleton: Relating to the functions and duties of the Texas Ethics Commission.
SB 2878 Hughes: Relating to the operation and administration of and practices and procedures related to proceedings in the judicial branch of state government.

Upcoming committee hearings

Monday
House State Affairs: 8:00 a.m., JHR 120
SB 1220 Hughes: Relating to the subject matter jurisdiction of the criminal trial courts of this state (response to Ex parte Charette).
SB 2601 Blanco: Relating to a program to compensate landowners for property damage caused by certain criminal activities.

House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence: 9:00 a.m., E2.036
SB 53 Zaffirini: Relating to certain notice and filing requirements in court proceedings involving persons with mental illness.
SB 311 Hughes: Relating to expanding the writ power of the Texas Supreme Court.
SB 1164 Zaffirini: Relating to emergency detention of certain persons evidencing mental illness and to court-ordered inpatient and extended mental health services.
SJR 27 Huffman: Proposing a constitutional amendment regarding the membership of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the authority of the commission and the Texas Supreme Court to more effectively sanction judges.

Tuesday
House Criminal Jurisprudence: 8:00 a.m., E2.014
SB 1099 Flores: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain offenses committed by an alien.
SB 1896 Huffman: Relating to the provision of information regarding an arrested person to a magistrate for purposes of an order of emergency protection.
SB 1980 Hall: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of assault committed against certain public servants and to the prosecution of the criminal offense of interference with public duties of those public servants.

Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00 a.m., E 1.016
HB 33 McLaughlin/ Senator Flores:  Relating to active shooter events and other emergencies, including certain accreditations of law enforcement agencies that respond to such emergencies.
HB 45 Hull/Senator Huffman: Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute human trafficking criminal offenses.
HB 48 Darby/ Senator Sparks: Relating to the creation of an organized oilfield theft prevention unit within the Department of Public Safety.
HB 1261Cunningham/ Senator Flores: Relating to the disposition of abandoned or unclaimed property seized by a peace officer.
HB 1465 Hickland/ Senator King: Relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of invasive visual recording and the applicability of sex offender registration requirements to that offense.
HB 1778 Thompson/ Senator Huffman: Relating to human trafficking, prostitution, and child pornography and to the prosecution of sexual or assaultive offenses or the prosecution of a failure to stop or report those offenses.
HB 2596 Metcalf/ Senator Zaffirini: Relating to the issuance of certain protective orders for certain burglary offenses.
HB 5238 Lopez/Senator Hinojosa: Relating to the criminal offense of disrupting a meeting SB 2969 Parker: Relating to the creation of the criminal offense of trespass in a facility housing an animal and to restitution for property damage resulting from that trespass.

Wednesday
House Homeland, Public Safety, Veterans: 8:00 a.m., E2.016
SB 659 Schwertner: Relating to the punishment for the offense of smuggling of persons using government resources.
SB 1585 Hughes: Relating to a prohibition on governmental contracts with companies of foreign adversaries for certain information and communications technology.
SB 2201 Birdwell: Relating to intelligence databases for combinations, criminal street gangs, and foreign terrorist organizations.

2025 TDCAA code books available for preorder

While the legislative session is not over, TDCAA’s publications department is already starting to prepare new editions of all your favorite books. These publications—including the annotated Criminal Laws of Texas, the spiral-bound Code of Criminal Procedure and Penal Code, and the Legislative Update—are available for preorder here. Books will be shipped later this summer, but you can reserve your copies today. Note that TDCAA’s TxDOT grant is once again allowing TDCAA to provide free copies of the 2025–’27 edition of Transportation Code Crimes to all Texas prosecutor offices. These books will be shipped in early September.

Attorney General Opinion request

Putting this one on your radar because it could impact many local courthouse practices:
RQ-0598-KP re: the carrying of concealed firearms in courtrooms by the District Attorney and Assistant District Attorneys. (Requested by 142^nd Judicial District Attorney Glenn Harwood in Midland.) For those wishing to weigh in on this request, briefs should be submitted no later than June 3, 2025, by e-mail to [email protected].

Quotes of the week

“I want every person in Texas who is struggling with addiction to get the help they need. But I can’t fix that if they are dead.”
— Representative Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) author of a bill that would decriminalize fentanyl testing strips.

“I’ve gotten indications tonight just in the past few minutes that I haven’t been able to validate, but I’m working actively to validate that the Senate possibly is considering a weaker version of Trey’s Law, which to me as the author of the bill is simply unacceptable. And so, members, we are going to cancel tomorrow morning’s committee meeting and will not be taking up those five Senate bills.”
—Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) during a committee hearing in response to rumors that the Senate plans to water down his bill to prohibit the use of non-disclosure agreements in sexual abuse settlements named Trey’s Law.

“I took the house, the kids, and now the job.”
—Representative Charlene Ward Johnson (D-Houston) while passing her first bill in the Texas House and explaining during the traditional hazing of first-timers that her seat had formerly been held by her ex-husband, Jarvis Johnson.

“There are a lot of bills before our committee that draw a lot of passion, and the attorney general’s office does not send someone here to testify. In fact, it’s been very difficult for our committee to get someone from the attorney general’s office to even attend our committee hearings. And so, I’m not asking you to go on the record tonight with respect to internal privileged communications. I am sitting here right now a bit concerned and troubled as to why the attorney general’s office sent you to testify on this bill as opposed to other bills before the committee.”  
—Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) questioning why the deputy solicitor general was sent by the Attorney General to testify “neutrally” on (against?) HB 4806, a tort-reform bill supported by political opponents of the current AG.

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Just like in college, nothing makes you cram like deadlines! End-of-session deadlines are approaching, and lawmakers are cramming to get their work done in hopes of passing their bills and pushing priorities. And just like cramming in college, it requires all-nighters, obscene amounts of caffeine, working harder than all semester, and hoping for the best. Grades will be posted by the end of the month, and everyone is praying the dean doesn’t make them come back for summer school.

New Committee hearings postings! See below.

Time waits for no one or bill

Sine Die (the last day of session) is June 2, 2025. That is not much time for the almost 9,000 bills to become law. Time is the enemy of any bill right now as there are only 31 days left in session. The most urgent deadline right now is May 15, 2025, at 11:59:59 p.m., which is the moment that will end the journey of any House bill that has not been approved on second reading by the full House. That day is sometimes known as “Bloody Thursday” because an extraordinary number of bills die on that night. We are 13 days away from that fateful moment. After the dust settles from that bill slaughter, May 28, 2025, marks the last day for the Texas House to pass Senate bills. It is also the last day for the Senate to pass any bills. Here is a link to the full, not-confusing-at-all, end-of-session deadlines. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about them.

Bills sent to the governor

In Texas, bills passed by both chambers are sent to the governor for final review. If the governor receives a bill before the end of session, he has 10 days to decide whether to sign it, veto it, or let it become law without his signature. (There is no pocket veto in Texas like in the federal system.)

So far, 37 bills have made it to the governor’s desk. The first bill signed into law this session was SB 14 by King/Capriglione known as the Regulatory Reform and Efficiency Act (RREA), which is apparently how we spell “DOGE” in Texas. That was not a bill we were tracking, but tracked bills that are on their way to the governor for his consideration include: SB 487 (victim pseudonym expansion), SB 836 (victim privacy protections), SB 1499 (Financial Crimes Intelligence Center), and SB 1809 (fraudulent use/possession of gift cards).

If you have questions about the veto process or how to request a veto in an effective manner, contact Shannon or Hector for guidance.

Grand jury “reforms”

It wouldn’t be a legislative session without attempts to change how grand juries work, with the ultimate result of limiting their usefulness in investigations. This session the two primary bills on that front were just voted out of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. They are HB 3362 by Little and HB 3664 by Smithee. The latter is the omnibus grand jury “reform” bill for this session, while the former consists of two of those provisions (recording and pre-presentment discovery). For more detailed summaries, see our Week 9 update.

Those bills are now headed to the House Calendars Committee for further consideration behind closed doors; feel free to reach out to those committee members if these bills concern you.

ABCD bills

Who doesn’t love a weekly update of all the ways our legislature wants to task other officials with your constitutional duties? First a list of Anybody But Current DAs (ABCD) bills, then some context on one that was debated this week on the House floor.
HB 45 by Hull (OAG prosecution of human trafficking) was debated on the House floor, amended, and passed 78­–62. (More below.) Now it heads to the Senate.
HB 933 by Spiller (SCOTX > CCA) passed the House Judiciary Committee (6–5 vote) and is pending in the House Calendars Committee. Its Senate companion is SB 1210 by Hughes, which passed the Senate and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
HB 2309 by Villalobos (OAG forfeitures in human trafficking and other crimes) was heard in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and left pending.
HB 5138 by Shaheen (OAG prosecution of election crimes) was voted out of the House State Affairs Committee (by an 8–7 margin) and is now pending in the House Calendars Committee. Its Senate companion is SB 1026 by Hughes, which was passed by the Senate 19–12 (one R in opposition) and will be referred to the House State Affairs Committee.
HB 5318 by Louderback (OAG prosecution of certain public order crimes) was heard in the House State Affairs Committee and left pending.
SB 16 by Hughes (OAG prosecution of new crime of illegal voter registration) was voted from the House Elections committee and is now pending in the House Calendars Committee.
SB 1367 by Hughes (SPA as statewide trial prosecutor) was voted out favorably from the Senate State Affairs Committee.
SB 1861 by Hughes (CCA appointment of special prosecutor) was voted favorably from the Senate State Affairs Committee.
SB 2743 by Hagenbuch (OAG prosecution of election crimes upon removal of local prosecutor) passed the Senate and has been referred to the House State Affairs Committee.

Despite lots of movement, the only significant floor debate over any of these bills happened this week when HB 45 (OAG prosecution of human trafficking) was passed by the House after being amended and debated. You can watch the fireworks here. After all was said and done, the votes fell almost completely along party lines. Only a handful of House Republicans were willing to buck Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is actively lobbying behind the scenes for this and other new powers, as AGs are wont to do in this state. Chalk that up as another nail in the coffin of “local control” and “limited government.” The 89^th Texas Legislature is not your father’s Oldsmobile.

30-day report

Political campaigns must file campaign finance reports 30 days before an election date. The Lege is 30 days out from its scheduled end. Combine those two ideas like peanut butter and chocolate and what do you get? A 30-day report on random legislative topics that you might find interesting! Herewith follows a list of bills on these topics that are on the move (there are too many to link, but you can read them at https://www.capitol.state.tx.us/):
BAIL: HB 413 (max pretrial detention periods), SB 9 (Guv’s bail reform), SB 664 (magistrate qualifications and training), SB 1020 (notice of EM violations), SJR 1 (denial for illegal aliens), SJR 5 (denial for violent/sex crimes)
CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE: HB 2309 (AG forfeitures in human trafficking, sex crimes, and Medicaid fraud), SB 1498 / HB 3110 (forfeiture of digital currency)
COURTS: SB 293 / HB 1761 (judicial pay and accountability), HB 2637 (grand jury impaneling), HB 4139 (courtroom telecasts), SB 1220 (reversal of Charette), SB 2878 / HB 5060 (omnibus judicial branch bill)
CPS: HB 116 (limiting involuntary terminations), HB 917 (elected prosecutors as ad litems), HB 1151 (limiting terminations for neglect), HB 2216 (limiting removals and terminations), HB 3281 (removing certain grounds for terminations), SB 2785 / HB 2665 (notification to prosecutor)
DRUGS: HB 46 (T-CUP expansion), HB 166 / SB 1234 (fentanyl presumption of danger), HB 463 (pretrial dismissal and expunction w/o lab report), HB 1644 (fentanyl strips), SB 3 (consumable THC ban/regulation), SB 1152 / HB 5467 (continuous mfr/del crime), SB 1505 (T-CUP expansion), SB 1868 (schedule/penalty group additions), SB 1870 / HB 5082 (local enforcement)
DWI: HB 1482 (no probation for DWI-3+), HB 1760 (intox manslaughter mandatory minimums), SB 745 (intox manslaughter penalty for multiple victims), SB 826 (DWI in school zone), SB 1660 (retention of toxicological evidence), SB 2320 (high BAC enhancement)
FAMILY VIOLENCE: HB 36 (GPS monitoring on bail), HB 2288 (defense to protective order), SB 1946 / HB 4155 (FV criminal homicide prevention task force), HB 4696 (remote participation in protective order hearing), SB 1021 (stalking as 3g offense), SB 2196 / HB 1194 (EPO duration)
That’s just seven of our 47 (!!) different bills tracks. Time permitting, we’ll provide more updates on other tracks next week.

Prosecutors in the Capitol Hallways

We are still seeing prosecutors trade courthouse hallways for Capitol hallways to fight the good fight. These are the prosecutors who were in Austin fighting for the bills they felt will assist them in administering justice. Chambers County District Attorney Cheryl Lieck testified in favor of SB 1723, which establishes the rapid DNA analysis pilot program. Tarrant County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Bill Vassar testified in favor of HB 3565, which would increase the penalty for interference with public duties. Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Rachel Burris testified in favor of SB 1021, which changes the eligibility for probation for someone convicted of stalking. Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Paige Williams testified in favor of HB 2046, which relates to expanding affirmative findings of family violence. She also testified in favor of SB 2373, which deals with financial exploitation using artificial intelligence. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorneys Amy Waddle and Laura Bond testified in favor HB 4254, which deals with the ability to appeal a mistrial order in a felony trial.Was someone from your office here this week that we missed? Be sure to let us know next time and we will be happy to give them a shout-out in a future newsletter!

Upcoming committee hearings

Monday
House State Affairs: 8:00 a.m., JHR 120
SB 330 Huffman: Relating to an election to approve a reduction or reallocation of funding or resources for certain county prosecutors’ offices.

Senate State Affairs: 9:00 a.m., Senate Chamber
SB 1807 Zaffirini: Relating to the confidentiality of certain personal information of an applicant for or a person protected by a protective order.

Tuesday
House Criminal Jurisprudence: 8:00 a.m., E2.014
SB 535 Huffman: Relating to the admissibility of evidence regarding a victim’s past sexual behavior in prosecutions of certain trafficking, sexual, or assaultive offenses.
SB 664 Huffman: Relating to qualifications, training, removal, and supervision of certain masters, magistrates, referees, associate judges, and hearing officers.
SB 1019 Huffman: Relating to the admissibility of certain hearsay statements in the adjudication of certain sexual or assaultive offenses committed against a child or a person with a disability.
SB 1020 Huffman: Relating to personal bond offices and notification to a judge regarding tampering with an electronic monitoring device while released on bond or community supervision.
SB 1120 Hinojosa: Relating to rights of a victim, guardian of a victim, or close relative of a deceased victim in certain criminal cases involving family violence, sexual or assaultive offenses, stalking.
SB 1537 Zaffirini: Relating to the appointment of an interpreter in a criminal proceeding.
SB 1804 Alvarado: Relating to restitution and compensation paid to victims of certain offenses for tattoo removal related to the offense.

Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00 a.m., E1.016   
HB 166 Capriglione: Relating to committing the criminal offense of endangering a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual by engaging in certain conduct involving a controlled substance.
HB 2000 Ashby: Relating to the applicability of sex offender registration requirements to the offense of child grooming.
HB 3248 Cortez: Relating to the authority of a defense base development authority to employ and commission peace officers.
HB 3513 Fairly: Relating to the composition, duties, and personnel of the Moore County Juvenile Board.
SB 155 Menendez: Relating to an attack by a dangerous dog.
SB 1659 Hughes: Relating to requiring a warrant to search certain location information purchased by a governmental entity from a data broker or electronic personal data tracker.
SB 1730 Hall: Relating to recovery of damages for injuries arising out of certain uses of force or deadly force.
SB 1778 Miles: Relating to the use of telemedicine services in the juvenile justice system.
SB 1790 Campbell: Relating to the composition of the Comal County Juvenile Board.
SB 1848 Zaffirini: Relating to the disclosure of confidential juvenile records to a managed assigned counsel program.
SB 2017 Bettencourt: Relating to the creation of a criminal offense for operating a vehicle under certain circumstances causing a tire of the vehicle to spin, lose traction, or leave the surface of a highway.
SB 2105 Blanco: Relating to the authority of a country attorney or district attorney to enforce human trafficking awareness and prevention in commercial lodging establishments.
SB 2794 Paxton: Relating to the criminal offense of interference with child custody.
SB 2917 Miles: Relating to the penalties for certain littering offenses.

House Public Education: JHR 140
HB 1325 Vasut: Relating to transfer of students who are children of certain judges, prosecuting attorneys, and service members.

Wednesday
House Homeland, Public Safety, Veterans: 8:00 a.m., E2.016
SB 1101 Flores: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of smuggling of persons

Senate Health and Human Services: 8:00 a.m., Senate Chamber
HB 2216 Hull: Relating to procedures and grounds related to the removal and placement of children, including for terminating the parent-child relationship, for taking possession of a child, and for certain hearings.

Senate Transportation: 8:00 a.m., E1.016
SB 2799 Creighton: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of reckless driving.

Thursday
House Sub Committee New Offenses and Changed Penalties: 8:00 a.m., E2.014
SB 990 Bettencourt: Relating to increasing the punishment for certain conduct constituting the offense of murder.
SB 1362 Hughes: Relating to prohibiting the recognition, service, and enforcement of extreme risk protective orders.
SB 1379 Flores: Relating to increasing the criminal penalties for forgery.
SB 1451 Flores: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of stealing or receiving a stolen check or similar sight order.
SB 2320 King: Relating to increasing the criminal punishment for certain driving while intoxicated offenses.

House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence: 8:00 a.m., JHR 120
SB 311 Hughes: Relating to the writ power of the Texas Supreme Court.
SB 1164 Zaffirini: Relating to emergency detention of certain persons evidencing mental illness and to court-ordered inpatient and extended mental health services.
SB 1574 Zaffirini: Relating to a centers of excellence program developed by the Texas Judicial Council and a merit payment for certain justices and judges.
SJR 27 Huffman: Proposing a constitutional amendment regarding the membership of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct and the authority of the commission and the Texas Supreme Court to more effectively sanction judges.

House Culture, Recreation, and Tourism: 9:00 a.m., E2.028
HCR 89 Hefner: Designating the cannon as the official state gun of Texas.

Quotes of the week

“What we did yesterday not only killed the misused and abused Local and Consent Calendar yesterday, but you won’t see another one for the rest of this Session and we’re not even close to being finished …. Burrows’  Leadership team has left us no other options than to burn it all down.”
—Representative Steve Toth (R-Conroe) in an X post explaining the state of the legislative session after a contingency of the most conservative House Republicans decided to block the Local and Consent Calendars from moving forward. The Local and Consent Calendars normally move large amounts of local and uncontested legislation without much opposition.

“The woman was slaughtered in Representative Jolanda Jones’s district in Harris County. Representative Jones needs to also support these tougher bail policies of seeking to make sure crimes, murders like this don’t happen in her district anymore.”
—Governor Greg Abbott advocating for bail reform and imploring Democrats to vote for the constitutional change. Constitutional amendments require 12 House Democrats to join all 88 Republicans to meet the two-thirds vote requirement.  

“Law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges have spent years asking the legislature for real fixes for crime and reforms to the bail system in Texas, and House Democrats are ready to deliver. In 2025, we know how to stop crime before it happens and keep dangerous criminals off our streets. But Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott don’t actually want to fix crime — they want to run on it in their next elections.”
—Representative and Democrat Caucus Chair Gene Wu (D-Houston) explaining the Democrats’ willingness to negotiate on bail and criminal reforms in Texas.

“Well, for good reason, Representative Harrison, because when you lie, mislead, and deceive not only the fellow members of the House but the people of Texas, you deserve to be called out on it, and your microphone deserves to be cut off.”  
—Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) admonishing Representative Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) after Harrison repeatedly looked at his cell phone while he was laying out his bill in the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence.   

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The Texas Legislature continues its own version of the NFL draft. All bills are eligible to be drafted into law just like all college football players are eligible to be drafted into the league, but most never get that phone call. Only some bills are invited to the combine (committee) to be looked over by scouts (committee members), and even many of those end up undrafted and then try to sign on as a free agent (floor amendment to another bill). There are only 38 days left to see which bills get to go pro. And with the first pick, Texas chooses …

New Committee Postings! See below.

Prosecutors at the Texas Capitol

The saying goes that if you are not at the table, then you are on the menu. These prosecutors made sure to be at the table by testifying on HB 3330 by Cook concerning the Heath fix: Fort Bend County DA Brian Middleton, Williamson County DA Shawn Dick, Montgomery County DA Brett Ligon, Comal County CDA Jennifer Tharp, and Montgomery County ADA Amy Waddle. HB 3330 attempts to end the unfair gamesmanship occurring in the wake of the Heath opinion by clearing up some ambiguities in Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 39.14. It was a raucous hearing that lasted hours as the committee asked tough questions of proponents of the bill. Defense attorneys brought in exonerees to voice their concerns that the bill might chip away at the Michael Morton Act. At the end of a contentious hearing, the bill was left pending in committee. The next step will be for Representative Cook (R-Mansfield) to negotiate the language that attracted the most resistance from committee members to see if a slimmed-down version of HB 3330 can pass out of the committee.

In other news, Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp testified in favor of HB 3167, which increases the punishment for organized retail theft. Parker County Criminal District Attorney Jeff Swain testified in favor of HB 2590, which increases the punishment for the offense of indecent exposure. Montgomery County DA Brett Ligon testified in favor of HB 1255, which increases the penalty for certain offenses committed by a professional who is required to report child abuse. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Nancy Hebert testified in favor of HB 2593, which increases the penalty for the offense of indecent assault against a disabled or elderly individual. She also testified in favor of HB 3185, which will help with investigations of certain cybercrimes. And Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Gary McDonald testified in favor of SB 816, which would allow cell phone companies to disclose location data to the police in life-threatening situations.

There is no substitute for in-person testimony for or against legislation! Lawmakers truly appreciate hearing from experts who will have to live with the real-life consequences of any legislation passed during the session. Just like in certain raffle games, you must be present to win. Thank you again to all the prosecutors who committed to travelling to Austin to make their voices heard. Please keep us posted if you or someone from your office plans to testify in a committee hearing this session. TDCAA is here to help you navigate the Texas Capitol, even if that only means a parking spot at the association’s HQ, free coffee, and showing you the way to the big Capitol gift shop.

Regional DA legislation

HB 4803 by Spiller (R-Jacksboro) would create four “regional DAs” (who aren’t really DAs) for certain parts of the state (map available here) who would have the power to take any criminal case from any local CA or DA in their large, multi-county regions and prosecute it (or not prosecute it, as the case may be). That bill was removed from its committee agenda the night before it was scheduled to be heard two days ago. There are several reasons why a bill might be removed like this: One of those reasons could be that there were many prosecutors who let their state reps know that they opposed the bill and were ready to testify against the bill in person. Some even showed up anyway—including Hill County CA David Holmes and Somervell County CA Trey Brown—and were able to register their support or opposition on other legislation while they were here. (There is always work to be done in Austin!)

While the fate of HB 4803 remains uncertain, there is also a Senate version that deserves your attention. SB 2384 by Hughes (R-Mineola) is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and we understand that the bill’s supporters are making a hard push for that to happen as soon as next week. The Senate bill’s structure differs from the House bill, resulting in a different map (copy available here) and different provisions. Be sure to read it for yourself and then take pre-emptive action with your senators if you wish.

Other bills on the move

Too many bills are now moving through the process for us to be able to stay on top of it all. If you can picture Hector and Shannon playing the roles of Lucy and Ethel working the conveyor belt trying (but failing) to keep up with everything coming our way, you would not be too far off. Here are some bon-bons we did manage to grab for you this week:

HB 45 by Hull requiring OAG to prosecute certain human trafficking crimes / passed from House State Affairs Committee to House Calendars Committee
HB 204 by Tepper to remove the DA salary supplement “donut hole” in certain counties / passed House, referred to Senate Finance Committee
HB 503 by Tepper adding counties to rural law enforcement (SB 22) grants / passed House 111-36, headed to Senate
HB 917 by Spiller authorizing county attorneys to be ad litems in CPS cases / passed House 119-8, headed to Senate
HB 2216 by Hull to limit CPS interventions in abuse or neglect cases / passed House 140-4, referred to Senate
HB 2715 by Curry changing procedures for removal of certain officials / passed from House State Affairs Committee to House Calendars Committee
HB 3964 by Vasut barring certain public nuisance claims / heard and left pending in House Judiciary Committee
HB 5138 by Shaheen requiring OAG to prosecute certain election crimes / heard and left pending in House State Affairs Committee
SB 16 by Hughes requiring OAG to prosecute certain voter registration crimes / passed Senate, referred to House Elections Committee
SB 1367 by Hughes granting the State Prosecuting Attorney trial court jurisdiction / heard and left pending in Senate State Affairs Committee
SB 1610 by Perry granting new civil commitment prosecution powers to SPU / passed Senate, referred to House Corrections Committee
SB 1861 by Hughes assigning certain election crime prosecutions to special prosecutors / heard and left pending in Senate State Affairs Committee
SB 2743 by Hagenbuch disqualifying certain local prosecutors from handling election crimes / passed Senate 19-12 (with Sen. Nichols (R-Jacksonville) joining Senate Ds in opposition), headed to House

Like one of these bills? Hate one of these bills? Even those that have passed one chamber have not had their final fate sealed. Contact us for more information if you want to get involved.

Recognition

We had the pleasure of helping to honor one of our own yesterday when the Texas House and Senate recognized former TDCAA Executive Director Rob Kepple on his retirement. The official resolution can be read here. A video clip of each recognition can be viewed by clicking these links: Senate and House (each is about five minutes long, but they may take a minute to load on handheld devices). It was a fitting tribute to Rob’s legacy, and we are glad we could share this special day with him!

Upcoming committee hearings

Tuesday
House Criminal Jurisprudence: 8:00 a.m., E2.014
HB 115 Cook: Relating to applications for a writ of habeas corpus after conviction.                                 
HB 1847 Collier: Relating to a maximum allowable caseload for certain attorneys.                                 
HB 2046 Davis: Relating to an affirmative finding of family violence entered in the trial of certain offenses.                             
HB 2239 Dutton: Relating to the locations in which certain knives are prohibited.
HB 2328 Orr: Relating to the procedures for the expunction of arrest records and files; authorizing a fee.                                      
HB 2309 Villalobos: Relating to the forfeiture of certain contraband and the authority of the Attorney General to bring certain forfeiture actions.                              
HB 2417 Campos: Relating to the eligibility of certain wrongfully imprisoned persons for compensation and for the expunction of arrest records and files in the case.                                  
HB 2728 Dutton: Relating to spoliation of evidence held for use in a criminal proceeding.                                  
HB 2794 Capriglione: Relating to the admissibility of evidence regarding a victim’s past sexual behavior in prosecutions of certain assaultive offenses.                              
HB 3206 Hayes: Relating to the sequestration of a jury in a criminal case.                                    
HB 3566 Flores: Relating to the frequency of county bail bond board meetings.                                    
HB 3694 Raymond: Relating to the unlawful production or distribution of sexually explicit media and removal of certain intimate visual depictions published on online platforms without the consent of the person depicted; increasing criminal penalties.                                
HB 3744 Manuel: Relating to the definition of intervenor for purposes of crime victims’ compensation.                             
HB 4254 Metcalf: Relating to appeal of a mistrial order in a felony case.                                 
HB 4697 Garcia: Relating to a defendant’s appearance by telephone or videoconference in a justice or municipal court.
HB 4733 González: Relating to the expunction of arrest records and files and the issuance of orders of nondisclosure of criminal history record information for certain persons.                     
HB 4915 Moody: Relating to legal representation of indigent persons in this state and to proceedings before a magistrate including the appointment of counsel for an indigent defendant.                                    
HB 5465 Moody: Relating to procedures regarding certain persons who are or may be persons with a mental illness or intellectual or developmental disability.  

Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00 a.m., E1.016
SB 614 Hinojosa: Relating to the authority of the Texas Forensic Science Commission to review and refer certain cases to the office of capital and forensic writs.
SB 872 Birdwell: Relating to the punishment for the offense of burglary of a vehicle involving theft of a firearm.
SB 1199 Birdwell: Relating to the investigation of the death of a prisoner in county jail.
SB 1212 Paxton: Relating to the prosecution and punishment for the offense of trafficking of persons.
SB 1278 Parker: Relating to an affirmative defense to prosecution for victims of certain offenses.
SB 1573 Birdwell: Relating to a limitation on the use of certain unsubstantiated information relating to peace officer misconduct.
SB 1588 Hancock: Relating to the failure to report child abuse or neglect.
SB 1602 Hagenbuch (F): Relating to creating the criminal offense of trespass on or near school or day-care center property.
SB 1660 Huffman: Relating to the retention and preservation of toxicological evidence of certain intoxication offenses.
SB 1704 Parker: Relating to certain rights of crime victims and witnesses and associated persons and to victim impact statements.
SB 1723 Creighton: Relating to the establishment of a rapid DNA analysis pilot program in certain counties.
SB 1833 Parker: Relating to the use of a social media platform in furtherance of an offense involving the delivery of a controlled substance.
SB 1858 Hagenbuch (F): Relating to eligibility for the bulletproof vest and body armor grant program.
SB 1946 Zaffirini: Relating to the creation of a family violence criminal homicide prevention task force.
SB 2009: Campbell: Relating to the compensation of counsel appointed to provide representation and services to indigent individuals in criminal and juvenile proceedings.
SB 2146 Huffman: Relating to the information reported by prosecuting attorneys to the Texas Judicial Council.
SB 2177 Hagenbuch (F): Relating to the creation of a grant program to assist local law enforcement agencies in solving violent and sexual offenses.
SB 2373 Johnson: Relating to the financial exploitation or abuse of persons using artificially generated media or phishing communications.
SB 2460 Creighton: Relating to rapid DNA analysis performed by certain law enforcement agencies and the content of certain DNA databases.
SB 2785 Birdwell: Relating to notification and disclosure of records and information concerning an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect to county or district attorneys.                                 

Wednesday
House Corrections: 8:00 a.m., E1.014
HB 2708 Allen: Relating to the eligibility of certain criminal defendants for an order of nondisclosure of criminal history record information.
HB 4515 Cook: Relating to the eligibility of certain criminal defendants for an order of nondisclosure of criminal history record information.
SB 1021 Huffman: Relating to changing the eligibility for community supervision of a person convicted of stalking.
SB 1610 Perry: Relating to the Texas Civil Commitment Office and the prosecution of the offense of harassment by sexually violent predators and others confined in certain facilities.

State Affairs: 8:00 a.m., JHR 140
HB 5318 Louderback: Relating to the authority of the attorney general to prosecute certain criminal offenses against public order.
HB 5360 Villalobos: Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute human trafficking offenses.                                                                    

House Homeland, Public Safety, Veterans: 8:00 a.m., E2.016 
HB 2956 McLaughlin: Relating to a central database about certain persons who have been convicted or received deferred adjudication for offenses involving family violence.

House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence: 8:00 A.M., E2.030
HB 4256 Spiller: Relating to actions brought by the attorney general on behalf of certain persons under the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act of 1983.
HB 1571 Jones: Relating to access to and notification of protective order registry information.
HB 4266 Kitzman: Relating to the application of the professional prosecutors law to the county attorney of Fayette County.
SB 251 Flores: Relating to the creation of criminal law magistrates for Bell County.
SB 1719 Hughes: Relating to the rulemaking power of the Texas Supreme Court.

Thursday
Subcommittee on New Offenses and Changed Penalties: 8:00 A.M., E2.014
HB 544 Gervin-Hawkins: Relating to the imposition of consecutive sentences for more than one criminal offense of injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual arising out of the same criminal episode.
HB 689 Gervin-Hawkins: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain offenses committed in a vehicle operated by a public transportation system.
HB 2915 Shaheen: Relating to the criminal penalty for rigging a publicly exhibited contest.
HB 3207 Dean: Relating to the prosecution and punishment of the offense of intoxication assault.
HB 3565 Cook: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of interference with public duties.
HB 5467 Kitzman: Relating to creating the criminal offense of continuous manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance.

NDAA survey on federal grant cuts

The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) has created a short survey to help evaluate the impact of recent grant terminations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). If you have been impacted (or fear being impacted) by those cuts, you can complete the survey by clicking here.

Quotes of the week

“Who is your District Attorney? Have you talked to him?”

—Representative Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) during a House State Affairs Committee meeting asking Representative Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) if he had spoken with his local DA prior to filing HB 5138 to give the Attorney General original jurisdiction over election crimes. (Representative Shaheen had not, in fact, spoken to his local DA.)

“The district attorney at that point would have said, ‘I choose not to prosecute.’ The way this bill is written, that would, to me, say, he chose not to so the AG can then decide, even though it has been to a grand jury and the grand jury no-billed.”

—Representative Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth) questioning Representative Shaheen during that same hearing about giving the Attorney General the power to take over a case that has been no-billed by a grand jury.  

“I had a great dinner with the Speaker last night. Our relationship is light years beyond any other speaker I’ve worked with over the last decade.”

—Lt. Governor Dan Patrick describing his relationship with Speaker Dustin Burrows in an X post. 

“Mr. Craddick, I do have one question. I was not expecting to stay here this late. So yeah.  This may be the first time you ever hear this question, but I’m requesting a school note to excuse my absence.”  

—A Frisco eighth grader speaking to Chairman Tom Craddick (R-Midland) after testifying before the Texas House Transportation Committee at nearly 1 a.m.   

“I’ve been to 9 rodeos and 6 world fairs and let me tell you, this is horseshit.”

—Representative Richard Hayes (R-Hickory Creek), overheard talking with his Republican colleagues on the House floor right before dozens of bills on the Local and Consent Calendar were rejected for that expedited consideration. (That calendar normally passes without much opposition since it contains non-controversial bills, but tensions are high on the House floor!)   

“Isn’t the goal of the bill, just wanting to know, if you’re turned down. Turned down for what!”

—Representative Anchia (D-Dallas) asking Representative Dennis Paul (R-Houston) about Paul’s HB 2067 that would require insurers to provide written statements detailing the reasons for declining, canceling, or refusing to renew an insurance policy.

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New Committee Listings Alert! See below.

Plenty of Easter eggs for prosecutors this past week as they searched the Capitol halls for good and bad legislation. The Legislature takes an Easter break with less than 50 days left in the legislative session, adjourning today and not returning until Tuesday. House members will need time away from each other to recover from the battle over education savings accounts (ESAs). Let’s hope the Easter bunny will be good to the lawmakers and the sugar high will get them through the last few weeks.

Prosecutors at the Texas Capitol

There were several prosecutors at the Capitol this week testifying in favor of and against different bills.
Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon, Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Jack Roady, and Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Jason Hermus testified in favor of SB 2797, which requires reciprocal discovery from criminal defense attorneys. (More about that bill below.)
Brazos County District Attorney Jarvis Parsons testified in favor of HB 1871, which would increase the punishment for attempted capital murder of a peace officer.
Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Jack Roady and 106th Judicial District Attorney Philip Mack Furlow testified against HB 3362, and 8th Judicial District Attorney Will Ramsay and Chambers County Assistant District Attorney Eric Carcerano joined in to testify against HB 3664. Both bills would change the grand jury system in Texas to require that prosecutors alert and provide discovery to any target of a grand jury investigation before he testifies and  record the full proceedings, while HB 3664 would also bar some re-presentations, not allow the State to proceed with witness testimony unless the witness has an attorney or decides against retaining counsel, and impose new training requirements for grand jurors. Both bills were left pending after testimony wrapped up around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Walker County Criminal District Attorney Will Durham testified in favor of HB 3507, which increases the punishment range for habitual theft offenders.
Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Jessica Trevizo testified in favor of HB 285, which addresses the prosecution of cockfighting.
Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Jenni Morse testified in favor of HB 3358, which redefines the term “emergency service provider” to include those who offer post-emergency response services. The new definition now includes attorneys, investigators, and other staff members affiliated with district attorneys’ offices as part of this group, acknowledging their role in crisis management and support services.
Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Alicia Patterson testified in favor of HB 2348, which would allow prosecutors to take depositions of elderly witnesses and to play the deposition during trial.
Dallas County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Cynthia Garza testified in favor of HB 2698, which would require a court to appoint an attorney for an indigent defendant for a writ of habeas corpus.
Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Carmen Morales testified against HB 2771, which would expand the ability of convicted felons who commit certain crimes to possess a firearm.

All the prosecutors did an excellent job testifying.  It is almost like they have experience advocating in front of an audience. If you or someone from your office testifies in a committee hearing this session, let us know so we can share your good work with other TDCAA members!

Discovery legislation

Senate Bill 1124 by Huffman (R-Houston) passed out of the Senate and has been referred to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. This legislation has been labeled “the Heath fix,” as the bill attempts to end the unfair gamesmanship occurring in the wake of the Heath opinion by clearing up some ambiguities in Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 39.14, encouraging pretrial resolution of discovery disputes before trial, and limiting a court’s ability to suppress “Heath evidence” absent bad faith by the disclosing party or incurable prejudice to the receiving party. The companion bill is HB 3330 by Cook (R-Mansfield), which is also awaiting a hearing by the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.

Senate Bill 2797 by Creighton (R-Conroe) passed out of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and is headed to the Senate Floor. The reciprocal discovery bill would change the way that criminal law is practiced in Texas. It would require defense attorneys to turn over witness names, witness statements, and other exhibits that will be used in criminal trials. If passed, it will end “trial by ambush” that most prosecutors are accustomed to handling.

“Regional DA” bill to be heard next week?

We don’t have a crystal ball to tell us what bills will be posted for hearings after the Easter break, but we think we know one bill that will: HB 4803 by Spiller (R-Jacksboro), which would create four “regional DAs” for certain parts of the state (map available here) who would have the power to take any criminal case from any local CA or DA in their large, multi-county regions and prosecute it (or not prosecute it, as the case may be). That bill was scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee this past Wednesday but fell victim to the House floor debate on ESAs, buying potential opponents more time to organize against it before it likely reappears on next week’s meeting notice. We know waaaaaaay more about this bill than we can share publicly. If you are interested in engaging with the legislature on this novel re-imagining of 21^st-Century prosecution in Texas, please read the bill for yourself and then contact Shannon or Hector for the scoop.

State budget process goes dark

Now that both chambers have passed different versions of the next State Appropriations Act (SB 1 by Huffman/Bonnen), the bill goes to a conference committee to resolve their differences. The Lite Guv has chosen the Senate fighters conferees: Sens. Huffman (R-Houston) (chair), Creighton (R-Conroe), Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), Nichols (R-Jacksonville), and Schwertner (R-Georgetown). The House Speaker has also made his selections: Reps. Bonnen (R-Friendswood), M. Gonzalez (D-San Elizario), Orr (R-Itasca), Kitzman (R-Pattison), and Walle (D-Houston). These 10 legislators will now fight for their respective chamber’s priorities in a process of horse-trading and log-rolling that takes place behind closed doors. They will emerge in a few weeks like Punxsutawney Phil to predict the next two years of bleak fiscal winter or sunny springtime support. Your mileage may vary depending on what you are hoping for, so check back in a month to learn the final forecast!

Upcoming floor debates

Bills scheduled for debate on the House floor next week include HB 1644 to legalize fentanyl strips, HB 2596 to authorize protective orders for victims of certain burglary offenses, HB 2216 to limit state interventions in cases of alleged abuse or neglect of children, and HB 503 to expand eligibility for SB 22 rural law enforcement grants to counties with a population below 400,000. For all the bills posted for debate on the House floor next week, click here.

Bills eligible for debate on the Senate floor next week include SB 552 barring illegal aliens from eligibility for community supervision, SB 1065 by Hall allowing LTC holders to carry a handgun at the State Fair or similar events, SB 1868 re-criminalizing kratom, and SB 2743 to disqualify local prosecutors from election fraud prosecutions and replaced them with the OAG. For all the bills posted for potential debate on the Senate floor next week. click here.

Upcoming committee hearings

The Texas Legislature has taken its Easter break and did not post many committee hearings as of the time of this writing. However, we will send out another update to announce all the committee hearings for the coming week when they are available. Please check your email and our website for updates. 

Tuesday
Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00 a.m., E1.016
SB 127 Hall: Relating to the offense of failure to report child abuse or neglect by certain professionals and the statute of limitations for that offense.
SB 456 Middleton: Relating to the purchase or sale of human organs.
SB 482 Alvarado: Relating to increasing the criminal penalties for assault and harassment against employees or agents of a utility and committed in a disaster area or evacuated area.
SB 659 Schwertner: Relating to the punishment for the offense of smuggling of persons through the use of government resources.
SB 739 Kolkhorst: Relating to the definition of authorized peace officer for purposes of laws governing the installation and use of tracking equipment and access to certain communications.
SB 816 Huffman: Relating to authorizing the disclosure of certain electronic customer data by a provider of an electronic communications service or a remote computing service in certain immediate life-threatening situations.
SB 1234 Hancock: Relating to committing the criminal offense of endangering a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual by engaging in certain conduct involving a controlled substance listed in Penalty Group 1-B.
SB 1666 Zaffirini: Relating to the payment of restitution by a person released on parole or to mandatory supervision.
SB 1886 Sparks: Relating to the execution of a search warrant for taking a blood specimen from certain persons in certain intoxication offenses.
SB 1980 Hall: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of assault committed against certain public servants and to the prosecution of the criminal offense of interference with public duties of those public servants.
SB 2580 Hancock: Relating to the definition of a designated law enforcement office or agency for purposes of certain laws governing the installation and use of tracking equipment and access to certain communications.
SB 2611 West: Relating to the status of certain documents or instruments concerning real or personal property.
SB 2693 Perry: Relating to the role of advocacy and support groups in the juvenile justice system.
SB 2776 Hinojosa: Relating to the disclosure of certain information by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

House Criminal Jurisprudence: 10:00 a.m., E2.014
HB 867 Jones: Relating to the dismissal of a criminal case by the attorney representing the state.
HB 1347 Turner: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of exploitation of a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual.
HB 1801Bhojani: Relating to the definition of authorized peace officer for purposes of governing the installation and use of tracking equipment and access to certain communications.
HB 1820 Bowers: Relating to the expunction of arrest records and files when a grand jury fails to find that probable cause exists to believe the alleged offense was committed.
HB 2197 Money: Relating to the protection of an unborn child’s rights and criminal liability and justification for prohibited conduct.
HB 2617 Anchia: Relating to the procedures for the expunction of arrest records and files for persons who complete certain court programs or pretrial intervention programs.
HB 3110 Perez: Relating to civil asset forfeiture of digital currency or other similar property.
HB 3166 Cook: Relating to the authority of a court to grant a commutation of punishment and to victims’ rights regarding a motion to grant a commutation.
HB 3330 Cook: Relating to discovery in a criminal case. (Heath fix)
HB 4237 Hayes: Relating to appeals from a justice or municipal court.
HB 4342 Cook: Relating to the admissibility of certain hearsay statements in the prosecution of certain sexual or assaultive offenses committed against a child or person with a disability.
HB 4629 Moody: Relating to jury instructions regarding parole eligibility for certain felony offenses that are not eligible for parole.
HB 4933 Curry: Relating to the disposition of a seized weapon belonging to a person who is not prosecuted or convicted for an offense involving the weapon.
HJR 148 Cook: Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to enact laws providing for a court to grant a commutation of punishment to certain individuals serving a term of imprisonment.

Licensing and Administrative Procedures: 10:30 a.m., E2.016
HB 1382 Virdell: Relating to a prohibition on weather modification and control.
HB 3945 Bumgarner: Relating to the licensing and regulation of massage therapy and other programs administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

House Subcommittee on Family and Fiduciary: 2:00 p.m., E1.014
HB 782 Thompson: Relating to the transfer of a protective order
HB 2288 Dutton: Relating to an affirmative defense by the respondent to an application for a protective order
HB 4696 Garcia: Relating to the remote participation of certain persons in a proceeding for the issuance or modification of a protective order

Wednesday
House State Affairs: 8:00 a.m., JHR 140
HB 1907 Paul: Relating to a prohibition on governmental contracts with Chinese companies for certain information and communications technology.
HB 3439 Guillen: Relating to the office of the attorney general with respect to the installation and use of tracking equipment and access to certain communications.
HB 5138 Shaheen: Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute criminal offenses prescribed by the election laws of this state.

House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence: 8:00 A.M., E2.030
HB 2799 Dutton: Relating to the exclusion of certain cases from judicial statistics reporting, court performance measures, or other efficiency reporting by the Texas Judicial Council.
HB 5060 Leach: Relating to the operation and administration of and practices and procedures related to proceedings in the judicial branch of state government.
HB 5080 Leach: Relating to confidentiality of certain information of a county, court, or the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System employees and family members.
HB 5081 Leach: Relating to the protection of personal identifying information of certain persons in the judicial system.
HB 3964 Vasut: Relating to common law public nuisance claims.
HB 4803 Spiller: Creation of Regional District Attorneys for the Northeast Texas, Central Texas, Southeast Texas, and South Texas Regions
HB 4260 Bumgarner: Relating to a prohibition on the practice of law in certain courts by a county commissioner or a county judge

House State Affairs: 8:00 a.m., JHR 140
HB 1907 Paul: Relating to a prohibition on governmental contracts with Chinese companies for certain information and communications technology.
HB 3439 Guillen: Relating to the powers and duties of the attorney general with respect to installation and use of tracking equipment and access to certain communications.
HB 5138 Shaheen: Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute criminal offenses prescribed by the election laws of this state.

House Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice: 8:00 a.m., E1.010
HB 3442 Reynolds: Relating to approved court-ordered alcohol awareness programs.
HB 5525 Jones: Relating to parole guidelines and procedures for inmates convicted of an offense committed when younger than 18 years of age.
HB 5561 Money: Relating to the diversion of certain foster youth from the juvenile justice system, including through emergency behavior intervention by foster care services.

House Homeland, Public Safety, Veterans:10:30 a.m., E2.016
HB 1455 Jones: Relating to the collection and reporting of information regarding mental health jail diversion.
HB 1777 Morales: Relating to a designation on a person’s driver’s license or personal identification certificate that the person is a registered sex offender.
HB 2136 Bhojani: Relating to design and use of a model criminal citation.
HB 2609: Bernal: Relating to prohibiting the denial of a driver’s license renewal for failure to appear in court, failure to pay a fine or cost, or failure to satisfy a judgment.
HB 3552: Hefner: Relating to criminal conduct involving the theft or unauthorized possession of copper or brass and to the sale of copper or brass material to metal recycling entities.
HB 3846 Louderback: Relating to the authority of a reserve peace officer.
HB 4155 Manuel: Relating to the creation of a family violence criminal homicide prevention task force.
HB 4879 King: Relating to the creation of a grant program to assist local law enforcement agencies in testing certain substances suspected of containing delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol.
HB 4995 Wilson: Relating to the carrying of handguns by tactical medical professionals while on duty providing support to tactical units of law enforcement agencies.
HB 5014 Isaac: Relating to the rights of special forces veterans who hold a license to carry a handgun.
HB 5139 Guillen: Relating to less-lethal force weapons, including a defense to prosecution for certain offenses involving the use of a less-lethal force weapon by a peace officer.
HB 5228 Ward Johnson: Relating to the collection of certain incident-based data reported to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

Thursday
House Subcommittee New Offenses and Changed Penalties: 8:00 a.m., E2.014
HB 108 Plesa: Relating to the use of metal or body armor while committing an offense.
HB 1255 Toth: Increasing the criminal penalty for offenses committed by a professional who is required to report child abuse or neglect and against a child under the care of that professional.
HB 1509 Hickland: Relating to the offense of failure to stop or report aggravated sexual assault of a child.
HB 1572 Campos: Relating to mail theft and certain criminal offenses committed against an employee or contractor of a common carrier or delivery service delivering mail.
HB 1720 Gervin-Hawkins: Relating to the creation of the criminal offense of trespass in a facility housing an animal and to restitution for property damage resulting from that trespass.
HB 2113 Reynolds: Relating to the creation of the criminal offense of hindering the investigation or prosecution of certain sexual offenses committed against a child.
HB 2181 Shaheen: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain conduct constituting the offense of solicitation of prostitution.
HB 2590 Olcott: Relating to the punishment for the offense of indecent exposure.
HB 2593 Metcalf: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of indecent assault against a disabled or elderly individual.
HB 3061 Oliverson: Relating to enhancing the punishment for committing certain criminal offenses while disguised or masked.
HB 3167 Cook: Relating to the prosecution and punishment of the criminal offense of organized retail theft.
HB 3189 Kerwin (F): Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain conduct constituting the offense of trafficking of persons.
HB 3425 Capriglione: Relating to the prosecution of certain criminal offenses involving the unlawful disclosure of a residence address or telephone number.
HB 4414 Alders (F): Relating to certain criminal offenses involving mail or a mail receptacle key or lock.

House Transportation: 8:00 a.m., E2.010
HB 2462 Leach: Relating to the use of a high occupancy vehicle lane by an operator of a motor vehicle who is pregnant.
HB 2621 Meyer: Relating to the recording and archiving of live video feed by the Texas Department of Transportation.
HB 3539 Harris Davila: Relating to the use of a high occupancy vehicle lane by an operator of a motor vehicle who is pregnant.
HB 4706 Paul: Relating to the applicability of certain pedestrian laws to certain sidewalk users

House Elections: 10:30 a.m., E2.012
HB 5337 Isaac: Relating to requiring a person to submit proof of citizenship to register to vote.

Friday
House State Affairs: 8:00 a.m., JHR 140
HB 5082 Leach: Relating to municipal and county enforcement of drug laws.
HB 5510 Leach: Relating to abortion, including civil liability for distribution of abortion-inducing drugs, and to the destruction of certain property.

Help preserve PSLF

The National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) and the National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators (NAPC) need your help to preserve prosecutors’ eligibility for student loan relief under the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program in the wake of the impending closure of the U.S. Department of Education. Please consider completing this online survey ASAP (but only once per office) to help those groups prepare for hearings in Washington, D.C., on that topic at the end of April:

PSLF Program Survey for Local Prosecutors’ Offices

The TDCAA office will be closed for Good Friday. Have a wonderful Easter weekend! 

Quotes of the week

“I just wanted to welcome you to the Committee on Government Inefficiency.”

—Representative Joe Moody (D-El Paso) welcoming Rep. Gio Capriglione (R-Fort Worth), chairman of the House Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee as the hearing went past midnight.

“You guys may have heard the old adage [that], you can indict a ham sandwich, and I think that right there is the problem. You truly can indict a ham sandwich. And fortunately, a lot of the ham sandwiches in this state have looked like Governor Rick Perry or Kay Bailey Hutchison or Robert Chody or Jason Nassour or Daniel Perry here in Austin.”

—Representative Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) discussing perceived issues with the grand jury system as he laid out his HB 3362.

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members, I’m gonna do my best to remain calm, but it’s hard for me to put into words how outraged I am about this amendment. And over my dead body will this body take the time and effort and energy and resource[s] to honor her.”

—Representative Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) attempting to keep the Texas House from honoring the late Cecile Richards, daughter of Governor Ann Richards and former president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The members debated the matter for several hours before all memorial resolutions for that day were withdrawn, after which all House bills on the Local and Consent Calendar were also withdrawn, both of which indicate significant disfunction in the House following the passage of the controversial ESA bill.

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Budgets and attempted coups highlighted this week in the Texas Legislature. Many dreams died on the House floor as underfunded and unwanted budget amendments were sent to Article XI heaven. The 13^th week proved unlucky for an army of one hoping to overthrow the Speaker of the House. The Legislative session waits for no one (or bill) and marches on to the bitter end!  

New committees added!

Budget day and night

The Texas House took its turn at shaping and approving the $337 billion budget, which is the only constitutional requirement of the Texas Legislature. Lawmakers filed over 300 amendments to Senate Bill 1, the General Appropriations Act, in hopes of funding their initiatives. Most of the amendments were sent to Article XI of the General Appropriations Act (titled the Savings Clause). It might as well be titled the Amendment Graveyard because any amendment sent there is dead on arrival. The event started at noon on Thursday and ended at 3:00 a.m. on Friday as lawmakers attempted to add their funding initiatives to the budget, which requires eliminating the same amount of funding from another part of the budget.  The large ticket items included $6 billion in new property tax relief, $4.3 billion for teacher pay raises, $6.5 billion for border security, and $1 billion for the education savings account program. The major fireworks came when Democrats attempted to expand Medicaid and when Republicans attempted to defund the University of Texas for offering courses regarding LGBTQ+ studies. Both attempts failed. Now SB 1 moves to a conference committee composed of members of both the House and the Senate to negotiate a final version. Those negotiations will be carried out mostly out of the view of the public. 

Judicial pay update

The House Judiciary Committee considered HB 1761 by Leach (R-Plano), the companion to SB 293 by Huffman (R-Houston). However, the substitute version of HB 1761 laid before the committee differs from SB 293. (We have seen the substitute version but it does not exist on the internet yet.) Judges might be most interested in the changes to the accountability provisions in these bills. For our purposes, though, the major differences between the two bills are that the new House version includes a proposed 30 percent raise (not 15 percent) and the addition of a provision that de-links legislators’ retirement benefits from the higher benchmark salary but keeps elected prosecutors’ retirement benefits linked. (That last bit is not in the initial committee substitute, but the author intends to add it.) Based on past history, both of those changes make the bill more likely to pass the House but less likely to pass the Senate. That means the bill will go to a conference committee to hash out the differences—or not. Last session, the Senate would not agree to House changes to a judicial pay raise bill, and hardball tactics on both sides resulted in nothing passing. It’s unclear to us why anyone watching this re-run of last session’s drama thinks it will end differently at this point.

If you are going to take a shot at the king

Representative Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) attempted a one-man coup of Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) on the House floor this week. Harrison filed a resolution that would remove Burrows based on allegations that Burrows unconstitutionally dismissed the House for more than three days, falsely declared a quorum, and handed control to the Democrats. Harrison was heckled by his fellow lawmakers during his speech laying out his reasons for the attempted ouster. After Harrison’s impassioned speech, Representative Cody Harris (R-Palestine) presented a motion to table Harrison’s resolution. In the end, 141 of the 150 representatives in the Texas House voted to end Harrison’s dream of a regime change. It demonstrated that the House was united against the continuous disruptions by Harrison.  It also showed that Speaker Burrows has gained control of the House since his election and can speak for the House during negotiations with Lt. Governor Patrick. 

Heath bill progress

Senator Huffman (R-Houston) passed SB 1124, the Heath fix bill, out of the Senate Criminal Justice committee, and it could be heard on the Senate floor as soon as Tuesday. SB 1124 has been labeled the Heath fix as the bill attempts to end the unfair gamesmanship occurring in the wake of the Heath opinion by clearing up some ambiguities in Code of Criminal Procedure Art. 39.14, encouraging pretrial resolution of discovery disputes before trial, and limiting a court’s ability to suppress “Heath evidence” absent bad faith by the disclosing party or incurable prejudice to the receiving party. We have discussed the importance of the bill here. Several elected district attorneys from across the state testified for the bill in front of the Criminal Justice Committee, including Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon, Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton, Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick, Wilbarger County Attorney Staley Heatly, and Brazos County District Attorney Jarvis Parsons. If you support the bill but were unable to appear in person, it’s not too late to reach out to your local senator(s) and let them know that before the bill gets debated on the Senate floor this week. (And look for more information from us on a hearing for SB 2797 by Creighton (R-Conroe) relating to the reciprocal discovery in criminal cases, coming soon.)

ABCD bills

What are “ABCD” bills? That’s our working term for bills that give the prosecution job to “anybody but current DAs.” (Catchy, no?) We started a list of them back in our Week 9 update and more have been added to that bill track, which now totals almost 30 bills. Most ABCD bills have not seen action yet, but here’s an update on the status of those that are on the move:

HB 45 by Hull (AG prosecution of human trafficking: set for a hearing in House State Affairs Committee Monday, April 14, at 8:00 a.m.
HB 933 by Spiller (appeal of certain CCA rulings to SCOTX): passed House JCJ Committee, referred to House Calendars Committee.
SB 16 by Hughes (election crimes, AG prosecutions): passed Senate, not referred to committee in House yet.
SB 1026 by Hughes (AG prosecution of election crimes): passed Senate State Affairs Committee, awaiting consideration by full Senate.
SB 1210 by Hughes (appeal of certain CCA rulings to SCOTX): passed the Senate yesterday.
SB 2743 by Hagenbuch (DA removal/AG prosecution of election crimes): pending before Senate State Affairs Committee.
SB 2880 by Hughes (AG prosecution of abortion crimes): pending before Senate State Affairs Committee.

For a full list of all the ABCD-related bills we are tracking for you this session, click here.

Calendars Committee bills

More than 180 of our tracked House bills have passed from their substantive committees to the Calendars Committee, which decides (behind closed doors) which bills get voted on by the full House. If you know any members of the Calendars Committee and want to help or hinder the passage of bills (below) that have been referred to them, now is the time to make those phone calls!

HB 116 by Dutton relating to grounds for the involuntary termination of the parent-child relationship
HB 155 by Raymond relating to the confidentiality of certain autopsy records
HB 166 by Capriglione relating to a presumption of child endangerment regarding fentanyl
HB 463 by J. Jones relating to pretrial hearings and automatic expunctions in certain drug prosecutions
HB 503 by Tepper relating to more counties qualifying for rural law enforcement (SB 22) grants
HB 917 by Spiller allowing certain prosecutors to be appointed as ad litems in CPS cases
HB 933 by Spiller granting the state Supreme Court authority over certain Court of Criminal Appeals decisions
HB 1552 by Paul changing “child pornography” to “child sexual abuse material” throughout state law
HB 1760 by Leach imposing mandatory minimums for certain intoxication offenses
HB 1762 by Leach barring all forms of community supervision for illegal aliens
HB 1953 by Thompson expanding the rights of victims of sexual assault, etc.
HB 2216 by Hull limiting the removal/placement/termination of the parent-child relationship
HB 2486 by Hefner limiting access to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency
HB 2596 by Metcalf relating to the issuance of certain protective orders for certain burglary offenses
HB 3073 by Howard relating to the prosecution of sexual assault

More visitors in Austin

Hays County Criminal District Attorney Kelly Higgins testified this week in support of HB 4139, which prohibits the use of videography during voir dire examinations and in cases involving alleged child victims or adult victims where evidentiary content could be embarrassing. Kleberg & Kenedy County District Attorney John Hubert testified in support of HB 1221, which increases the maximum reimbursement fee that can be collected for expenses associated with a defendant’s participation in pretrial intervention programs. Both bills were left pending.

Upcoming Committee Hearings

(NOTE: For those concerned about changes to the current grand jury system, two “grand jury reform” bills are set for a committee hearing Tuesday; see below for details.)

Monday
House State Affairs: 8:00 a.m., JHR 120
HB 45 Hull: Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute human trafficking criminal offenses.
HB 755 Spiller: Limiting lobbying by certain public entities
HB 2460 Leach: Relating to the attorney general’s defense of a district or county attorney against certain lawsuits in federal court.
HB 4565 Curry: Relating to access to certain law enforcement, corrections, prosecutorial, and civil enforcement records under the public information law.

House Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice: 8:00 a.m., E1.014
HB 4476 McLaughlin: Relating to the waiver of jurisdiction by a juvenile court for certain children who are accused the use or exhibition of a firearm, the mandatory transfer of jurisdiction for those children to a criminal court, and an order of expunction issued to those offenses.
HB 4628 Moody: Relating to enhancement of the penalty for a felony conviction based on a juvenile delinquent conduct adjudication.
HB 4923 Moody: Relating to status offenses committed by a child, including the repeal of the status offense of a child voluntarily running away from home.

House Homeland, Public Safety, Veterans: 10:45 a.m., E2.010
HB 2215 LaHood: Relating to the carrying or possession of a handgun by certain retired attorneys representing the state.
HB 2470 Virdell: Relating to the age at which a person may carry a handgun
HB 2771 Hayes: Relating to the possession of a firearm by persons convicted of certain felony offenses.
HB 3669 Guillen: Relating to the definition of firearm for purposes of certain criminal offenses

House Subcommittee on Family and Fiduciary: 2:00 p.m., E2.016
HB 3758 Schatzline: Relating to admissibility and disclosure of certain evidence in a suit concerning a child alleged to have been abused or neglected or to be at risk of abuse or neglect filed by a governmental entity.

Tuesday
Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00 a.m., E1.016
SB 330 Huffman: Relating to an election to approve a reduction or reallocation of funding or resources for certain county prosecutors’ offices.
SB 663 Huffman: Relating to the approval of a community supervision and corrections department’s budget and strategic plan.  
SB 1020 Huffman: Relating to personal bond offices, notification provided to a judge regarding tampering with an electronic monitoring device while on bond or community supervision, and the availability of information regarding a person required to submit to electronic monitoring.              
SB 1152 Huffman: Relating to creating the criminal offense of continuous manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance.             
SB 1164 Zaffirini: Relating to emergency detention of certain persons evidencing mental illness and to court-ordered inpatient and extended mental health services.        
SB 1896 Huffman: Relating to the provision of information regarding an arrested person to a magistrate for purposes of an order of emergency protection.               
SB 2111 Zaffirini: Relating to legal representation of indigent persons in this state and to proceedings before a magistrate including the appointment of counsel for an indigent defendant.          
SB 2196 Johnson: Relating to the period during which an order for emergency protection remains in effect.             
SB 2383 Bettencourt: Relating to the employment of certain peace officers of the Department of Public Safety.          
SB 2581Hancock: Relating to the repeal of a provision governing the operation of jail commissaries in certain counties.              
SB 2797 Creighton: Relating to discovery requirements in a criminal case.            
SB 2798 Creighton: Relating to certain statutes of limitations for criminal offenses, including the statute of limitations for certain fraud offenses.          

House Subcommittee on New Offenses and Changed Penalties: 8:00 a.m., E 2.014
HB 285 Ordaz: Relating to the prosecution of cruelty to non-livestock animals.
HB 795 Johnson: Relating to the punishment for the offense of aggravated assault.
HB 1795 Anchia: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain conduct constituting the offense of dog fighting or the offense of cockfighting.
HB 1871 Dyson: Relating to the punishment for the criminal offense of attempted capital murder of a peace officer.
HB 2407 Capriglione: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the failure of certain sex offenders to comply with sex offender registration requirements.
HB 2461 Leach: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of criminal mischief involving impairment of or disruption to a retail motor fuel pump.
HB 2695 Anchia: Relating to the use of a social media platform in furtherance of an offense involving the delivery of a controlled substance.
HB 3507 Wharton: Relating to the punishment for the offense of theft.
HB 4911 Fairly: Relating to prosecution of sexually explicit visual material involving depictions of children, computer-generated children, or other persons.

House Criminal Jurisprudence: 10:30 a.m., E2.014
HB 200 Buckley: Relating to early release on parole of inmates convicted of an offense committed when younger than 18 years of age.
HB 413 Jones: Relating to the release of certain defendants detained in jail pending trial.
HB 525 Vasut: Relating to a subpoena to compel the attendance of certain peace officers who are witnesses in a misdemeanor case punishable by fine only.
HB 867 Jones: Relating to the dismissal of a criminal case by the attorney representing the state.
HB 1418 Schatzline: Relating to the use of in-custody informant testimony in a criminal trial.
HB 1604 Bucy: Relating to public access to criminal proceedings.
HB 1650 Canales: Relating to a special bill of review to reform a final judgment of forfeiture of a bail bond.
HB 2333 Hopper: Relating to the statutes of limitations for felony offenses relating to an election conducted in this state.
HB 2348 Capriglione: Relating to the video recording of a deposition taken of the testimony of certain elderly or disabled persons in a criminal case.
HB 2458 Virdell: Relating to a defense to prosecution for the offense of aggravated assault.
HB 2507 Leach: Relating to retroactive automatic orders of nondisclosure for misdemeanor defendants following successful completion of a period of deferred adjudication
HB 2594 Metcalf: Relating to the venue for the prosecution of certain criminal conduct involving theft.
HB 2698 Anchia: Relating to the representation of certain indigent applicants for a writ of habeas corpus.
HB 2761 Johnson: Relating to the prosecution of the offenses of trafficking of persons and continuous trafficking of persons.
HB 2895 Patterson: Relating to the legal justification for using force or deadly force in response to the commission or attempted commission of a violent felony.
HB 3111 Perez: Relating to the search of certain wireless communications devices by a peace officer.
HB 3358 Garcia Hernandez: Relating to the definition of an emergency service provider for purposes of critical incident stress management and crisis response.
HB 3362 Little: Relating to grand jury proceedings.
HB 3449 Canales: Relating to the reimbursement of expenses to certain counsel appointed to represent a defendant in a criminal proceeding.
HB 3477 Canales: Relating to the expunction of all records and files related to a finding of criminal contempt by a court.
HB 3463 Walle: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of theft of service.
HB 3664 Smithee: Relating to the training of prospective grand jurors and to grand jury proceedings.
HB 4075 Leach: Relating to change of venue in certain criminal cases involving a peace officer.
HB 4933 Curry: Relating to the disposition of a seized weapon belonging to a person who is not prosecuted or convicted for an offense involving the weapon.

Wednesday
House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence: 8:00 a.m., E2.030
HB 5621 Dutton: Relating to the jurisdiction of district and county attorneys to prosecute certain consumer protection violations.                                             
HB 5067 Leach: Relating to the jurisdiction of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals.                                               
HB 5081 Leach: Relating to the protection of personal identifying information of certain persons in the judicial system; creating a criminal offense.                                              
HB 5354 Leach: Relating to the information reported by prosecuting attorneys to the Texas Judicial Council.                                              
HB 4088 Bonnen: Relating to the qualifications for jury service and the establishment of a juror mental health services reimbursement program.                                               
HB 4803 Spiller: Relating to the creation of offices of District Attorney for the Northeast Texas, Central Texas, Southeast Texas, and South Texas Regions and the powers and duties of and related to such officers. 
HB 2287 Oliverson: Relating to liability of judges and magistrates for the improper release on personal bond of defendants accused of committing certain felony offenses.                                         

Quotes of the week

“Let them laugh. Let them scoff. Let them hiss. Let the voters of Texas hear the vulgarity and the lack of professionalism being demonstrated on the floor right now.”

—Representative Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) yelling at his colleagues for laughing at him during his speech that attempted to whip votes to remove Speaker Burrows.

“Senator Hancock, you were worrying me when you were asking him about what motions that I might not be happy with. Were there going to be two [motions to] vacate the chairs today? I just wasn’t sure. I always want to be sure.”

—Lt. Governor Patrick speaking during Senator Hancock’s freshman year hazing ritual referencing that Hancock could possibly be trying to remove him like the attempted coup of Burrows that day.

“My family always comes first, and so we’ll talk about it, I’m sure,”

—Representative Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) when asked if he was considering running for Attorney General.

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The Legislative Session is starting to heat up. Between committee meeting arguments, attempts to recall the Speaker of the House, bills being labeled as racist, and legislative subpoenas being issued, the gloves are starting to come off. Which bills will be left standing when the final round ends in June is still a mystery. Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s get ready to rumble!

Testifying in front of legislative committees

Expect the unexpected when testifying in front of committees. Gregg County Criminal DA John Moore; his assistant CDA, Stacey Brownlee; and Cass County Criminal DA Courtney Shelton testified in the House Human Services Committee this week in support of Representative Gary VanDeaver’s (R-New Boston) HB 2665. The bill would require CPS to turn over all investigative information regarding abuse or neglect to the county or district attorney upon request. Prosecutors have had to use subpoenas to obtain this information, which has caused issues complying with CCP Art. 39.14, the Michael Morton Act.
It seemed like a straightforward bill that would not stir controversy. However, that notion went out the door right after the layout (opening statement) of the bill. Representative Valerie Swanson (R-Spring) started explaining that “there are a lot of frivolous reports to CPS” and asked if CPS would still be required to turn over all that information. The prosecutors testified that they are required to turn over all evidence that is exculpatory, impeachment, or mitigating in the possession of the State. The committee started its line of questioning with, “Have you seen false reports being used by abusers in child custody issues?” The next question was about why all CPS case information would be given to the DA when the accused is innocent. Other comments from the committee included that they did not like the part of the bill that states CPS must turn over all reports of suspected abuse or neglect because “there are a lot of reports that are like, oh, gee, these kids were, you know, they were playing out in their front yard. Wow. Or gee, they had on some dirty playclothes.” The prosecutors explained that the reason the DA’s office would have a case is that an arrest has been made and a criminal case has been opened. The prosecutors also explained that it is crucial to know if any exculpatory evidence exists so that no one is falsely convicted. A CPS representative testified that CPS is already required to hand over those documents and speculated that it was due to lack of communication and training that CPS employees were not turning over the materials.
The prosecutors did an excellent job of explaining real-life examples of how the bill would help in administering justice. Representative VanDeaver defended the bill in his closing, and it was left pending in the committee. We don’t know the ultimate fate of the bill yet, but it was a good reminder to expect the unexpected when it comes to testifying in a legislative committee. 

The gang’s all here

We had quite a few other prosecutors in town to help bills move along in the process that had more “normal” hearings. Newly-appointed Austin County Criminal DA Brandy Robinson and Comal County Criminal DA Jennifer Tharp testified in support of Angelia Orr’s (R-Itasca) HB 1845, which would allow Senate Bill 22 grant funds to be used to give raises to paralegals. CDA Jennifer Tharp also testified in favor of Senator Flores’s (R-Pleasanton) SB 1809, which creates the offense of fraudulent use or possession of a gift card or gift card redemption information and also increases punishments based on the value of the gift card. Dallas County ACDA Jason Hermus testified in favor of Rafael Anchia’s (D-Dallas) HB 2697, which would require bondsmen to notify the district attorney if a client has forfeited bond. Chambers County ADA Eric Carcerano and Galveston County ADA Kayla Allen testified in favor of Representative David Cook’s (R-Mansfield) HB 1902, which creates the criminal offense of jugging.  106^th Judicial DA Philip Mack Roach and Galveston County Criminal DA Jack Roady joined forces with a representative of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association (TCDLA) and testified against Representative David Spiller’s (R-Jacksboro) HB 933, which would give the Texas Supreme Court the final say in any conflict with the Court of Criminal Appeals on a matter of state constitutional interpretation. (The bill, which was also filed last session, is a response to the Stephens opinion.)

Judicial branch pay update

On the judicial branch pay raise front, the budget proposed by the House Appropriations Committee (HAC) earlier this week matches the Senate’s version of Senate Bill 1 by Huffman (R-Houston). Specifically, it funds a 15-percent pay raise but only if SB 293 by Huffman passes. And guess who is unhappy with SB 293? That’s right—some members of the judiciary who oppose the bill’s accountability provisions and/or object to the raise not being large enough. Senator Huffman has repeatedly emphasized that her version of a judicial pay raise is a package deal with the accountability provisions, so with the battle lines drawn, we get to watch the time-honored legislative game of “irresistible force versus immovable object.” (Please, no wagering.) The next installment of that game will be next Wednesday when the House Judiciary Committee takes up HB 1761 by Leach (R-Plano). That bill is currently an identical House companion for SB 293, but the House can do as it wishes on this topic, of course.

Returning to the budget: The version of SB 1 approved by HAC now goes to the full House for approval. That is tentatively scheduled to happen on Thursday, April 10. Assuming the House GOP anti-Speaker insurgency doesn’t burn the building to the ground before or during that night, the bill will then go to a conference committee for the two chambers to hammer out their differences behind closed doors. Very little reliable information will be available until the finished product emerges from that conference process sometime during the last week of session. Yet another fun waiting game, brought to you by the legislative process!

Bills that are moving

SB 1210 was voted out of committee and referred to Local/Uncontested Calendar in the Senate. The bill by Senator Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola) grants SCOTX the power to overrule the CCA on certain constitutional matters, as in, deciding whether the OAG has the constitutional power to prosecute local crimes. The companion bill, HB 933, was heard in the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence and left pending. 

SB 16 passed through the Senate and was received by the House. This is another bill by Senator Hughes that creates several new voter registration procedures (and crimes!) relating to proof of citizenship and also allows the Attorney General to prosecute those election crimes if a district attorney fails to prosecute an election crime within 180 days. The bill has not yet been referred to a House committee.

Upcoming Committee meetings

Monday
Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice: 8:00 a.m., E2.010
HB 31 Thompson: Relating to juvenile justice proceedings and children in a juvenile facility.
HB 3360 Cook: Relating to a juvenile who engages in delinquent conduct or commits a felony offense while in TJJD.

House State Affairs: 8:00 a.m., JHR 120
HB 28 King: Relating to the regulation of consumable hemp products and providing for the transfer of regulatory functions.
SB 3 Perry: Relating to the regulation of consumable hemp products and the hemp-derived cannabinoids contained in those products.

Tuesday
Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00 a.m., E1.016
SB 552 Huffman: Relating to changing the eligibility of illegal aliens to receive community supervision, including deferred adjudication community supervision.
SB 1099 Flores: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain offenses committed by an alien.
SB 1124 Huffman: Relating to discovery in a criminal case (Heath bill)
SB 1208 King: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of interference with public duties.
SB 1372 Hinojosa: Relating to access to the crime laboratory portal.
SB 1506 Parker: Relating to the frequency with which the Board of Pardons and Paroles reconsiders inmates for release on parole.
SB 1667 Zaffirini: Relating to the procedures for the expunction of arrest records and files; authorizing a fee.
SB 1804 Alvarado: Relating to restitution and compensation paid to victims of certain offenses for tattoo removal related to the offense.
SB 1806 Sparks: Relating to the inspection, purchase, sale, possession, storage, transportation, and disposal of petroleum products, oil and gas equipment, and oil and gas waste; creating criminal offenses and increasing the punishment for an existing criminal offense.
SB 1870 Perry: Relating to municipal and county enforcement of drug laws; providing civil penalties.
SB 1936 Hinojosa: Relating to the definition of an abuse unit for certain controlled substances under the Texas Controlled Substances Act.
SB 1937 Hinojosa: Relating to the testing of evidence containing biological materials in capital cases.
SB 2180 Hagenbuch: Relating to requiring a certification for peace officers to conduct certain polygraph examinations.
SB 2405 Parker: Relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, etc. (sunset bill).
SB 2569 Flores: Relating to the reporting requirement for certain law enforcement agencies regarding the agencies’ use or operation of an unmanned aircraft.
SB 2570 Flores: Relating to a defense to prosecution for certain offenses involving the use of a less-lethal projectile by a peace officer.
SB 1646 King: Relating to the theft or unauthorized possession of copper or brass.

House Criminal Jurisprudence: 10:30 a.m., E2.014
HB 1194 Manuel: Relating to the period during which an order for emergency protection remains in effect.                                  
HB 1221 Lozano: Relating to increasing the reimbursement fee for certain expenses related to pretrial intervention programs.                              
HB 1738 Jones: Relating to the repeal of the offense of homosexual conduct.       
HB 1913 Schatzline: Relating to prohibiting a registered sex offender from going within a certain distance of the residence of a victim.                           
HB 2177 Harless: Relating to authorizing the disclosure of certain electronic customer data by a provider of an electronic communications service or a remote computing service in certain immediate life-threatening situations.                                  
HB 2178 Harless: Relating to the emergency installation and use of a mobile tracking device on a vehicle by an authorized peace officer.                                  
HB 2180 Cunningham: Relating to a waiver of the preservation of evidence and the return of a seized weapon in a criminal case.
HB 2229 Hernandez: Relating to the expunction of arrest records and files by a statutory county court.                              
HB 2282 Lopez: Relating to the amount of the reimbursement fee paid by a defendant for a peace officer’s services in executing or processing an arrest warrant, capias, or capias pro fine.
HB 2448 Moody: Relating to the waiver of a defendant’s arraignment.                                
HB 2492 Bowers: Relating to the period for which a person arrested for certain crimes involving family violence may be held after bond is posted. 
HB 2777 Rose: Relating to the applicability of the death penalty to a capital offense committed by a person with severe mental illness.                                    
HB 2984 Curry: Relating to a rebuttable presumption that a person is intoxicated based on an alcohol concentration level analysis.                                    
HB 3357 Oliverson: Relating to cremation authorization procedures in counties with medical examiners.                                
HB 3553 Spiller: Relating to the use of deadly force in defense of property.                    
HB 3602 Louderback: Relating to the execution of a search warrant for taking a blood specimen from certain persons in certain intoxication offenses.  

Wednesday
House Corrections: 8:00 a.m., E1.014
HB 1515 Canales: Relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, etc. (sunset bill).
HB 2306 Villalobos: Relating to changing the eligibility for release on parole of certain inmates serving sentences for trafficking offenses involving child victims and disabled individuals.
HB 3636 Metcalf: Relating to the payment of restitution by a person released on parole or to mandatory supervision.
HB 4937 Harless: Relating to the frequency with which the Board of Pardons and Paroles reconsiders inmates for release on parole.

House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence
HB 1761 Leach: Relating to the discipline of judges and a 15 percent pay raise for district judges
HB 1707 Brooks: Relating to the duties of the district attorney for the 70th Judicial District.
HB 2322 Schofield: Relating to the annual base salary from the state of a district judge.
HB 3647 Oliverson: Relating to appeals from orders granting or denying a plea to the jurisdiction by a governmental unit in certain circumstances.
HB 4139 Zwiener: Relating to the use of videography in relation to certain court proceedings.

Scholarship Opportunity

TDCAA’s Advanced Writing & Appellate Advocacy Course is now eligible for the State Bar of Texas Criminal Justice Section’s scholarship. Application requirements:

• You must be a current member of the Criminal Justice Section to apply. Preference will be given to lawyers licensed for 5 years or less.
• Applications must be complete at the time of submission. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
• Scholarships can be used for course registration and travel expenses.

The scholarship application is due April 12, 2025, and can be found here: https://www.txbarcjs.org/?page_id=35

Quotes of the week

“We’ve seen some very strange changes in our culture, and people are getting reported, parents, because they don’t want their child to be transitioned to the opposite sex. And I can think of so many things that people call in about that are just wrong. And I don’t want a situation where here’s this innocent, really great family, great parents, and like I say, law enforcement shows up.”

—Representative Valerie Swanson discussing the dangers of CPS turning over its reports to district attorneys.

“Of the more than 8,000 peace officers in Texas, the governor chooses Officer [Justin] Berry not in spite of the fact that he shot into protesters but because he shot protesters.’”

—Senator Sarah Eckhardt discussing her opposition to Austin Police Officer Justin Berry’s nomination to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

“You know, I think the world of you and I know you’re not a racist. I think these bills, these types of bills are racist. I want you to understand that. I don’t think you’re a racist. I think you have your motivations, and I understand that.”

—Senator Roland Gutierrez debating with Senator Brian Hughes concerning Hughes’s SB 689, an anti-DEI bill.

“Mr. President, you may know that famous alum of Texas Southern University, Megan Thee Stallion. I think you know about Megan Thee Stallion, Mr. President. That’s a favorite of yours. [She] was a graduate Texas Southern University.”

 —Senator Royce West, referring to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (as the presiding officer of the Senate) while on the Senate floor discussing the impact of HBCUs.

“We live in the most beautiful city in the state of Texas, and I need to make it possible for them to make this their forever home.”

—Nueces County DA Jimmy Granberry discussing the shortage of prosecutors in his county.  

“District and county attorneys have a duty to protect the communities they serve by upholding the law and vigorously prosecuting dangerous criminals. In many major counties, the people responsible for safeguarding millions of Texans have instead endangered lives by refusing to prosecute criminals and allowing violent offenders to terrorize law-abiding Texans. This rule will enable citizens to hold rogue DA’s [sic] accountable.”

—Attorney General Ken Paxton discussing the new rule that creates reporting requirements for district attorneys and county attorneys.

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The 89^th Legislative Session passed its halfway point and just like a roller coaster ride, the way down is the scariest. Put your hands up in the air and scream as lawmakers attempt to pass a budget and all the new laws! Buckle up, it is going to get bumpy!

NEW COMMITTEE MEETINGS ALERT! See below!

The Calendar Committee

The Texas House of Representatives uses a system of calendars to organize bills that have passed the committee stage. The House Calendars Committee and Local & Consent Calendars Committee are responsible for determining which bills make it to the House floor and on which calendar they are placed. The placement and timing of a bill on a calendar is a strategic consideration that can mean the difference between a bill living or dying.

The Local & Consent Calendars Committee prepares the local, consent, and resolutions calendar, which consists of local and usually uncontested legislation such as funding local parks or water districts. The Calendars Committee prepares the daily calendar from bills that have passed their first committee hearing and been referred to the Calendars Committee for that purpose. It also oversees preparation of the daily supplemental calendar, which combines pending business from the previous day that did not make it to a final reading, and adds bills that are ready for a second reading. The Calendars Committee also determines the importance of a bill or resolution. For instance, bills on final reading and pending items get top priority. But what might be most important to know about the Calendars Committee is that it does not deliberate in public—everything happens behind closed doors, including the decisions on which bills will and will not reach the floor for a vote. That makes the members of this committee particularly important at this point in a session.

Bills are passing out of committee and headed to the Calendars Committee. It is time to contact the members you know if your bill has made it out of committee to help its chances of survival. (Or to slow down one you don’t want to survive!) The Calendars Committee consists of Chair Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi), Vice Chair Toni Rose (D-Dallas), Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), Stan Gerdes (R-Smithville), Cody Harris (R-Palestine), Ana Hernandez (D-Houston), Ann Johnson (D-Houston), Jeff Leach (R-Plano), Janie Lopez (R-San Benito), Ramon Romero (D-Fort Worth) and Carl Tepper (R-Lubbock).

The Calendar Committee had its first formal meeting yesterday and announced that the first bills to be heard on the House Floor will be on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. That is not an April Fool’s joke. 

Mid-Session Progress Report

We are tracking over 1,700 bills out of the over 9,000 that were filed. So many good ideas. Such little time. Due to the volume, here is the status report of a few of the bigger bills that have made it from the Senate to the House. No bills have made it from the House to the Senate yet, but the House is always less organized and efficient after a change in leadership.

Referred to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee:
SJR 1 Huffman (R-Houston): The bill creates a constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail for an illegal alien charged with an offense punishable as a felony.
SJR 5 Huffman (R-Houston) The bill creates a constitutional amendment authorizing the denial of bail (under limited circumstances) to a person accused of certain violent or sexual offenses or of continuous trafficking of people.

Referred to the House State Affairs Committee:
SB 3 Perry (R-Lubbock) The bill bans consumable hemp products.  
SB 19 Middleton (R-Galveston) The bill bans cities and other local governments from using public funds to hire lobbyists.

Received by the House but not referred to committee yet:
SB 987 Bettencourt (R-Houston) The bill allows criminal trial courts to have authority over criminal actions regardless of the exhaustion of civil and administrative remedies.
SB 990 Bettencourt (R-Houston) The bill increases the punishment for murder if the victim is under 15 years old, as opposed to the previous age of 10.
SB 761 Hinojosa (D-Edinburg) The bill relates to rights of crime victims, including the enforcement of certain rights of sexual assault victims, authorizing a civil penalty.
SB 293 Huffman (R-Houston) The bill relates to the discipline of judges by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct as well as a 15-percent pay raise.

Senate budget is done and dusted; House budget, not so much

The only thing a legislature must do every two years is pass a budget. That is proceeding on schedule, with one hiccup in the House that we will unpack below.

This week, Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman (R-Houston) passed Senate Bill 1. Highlights of the Senate’s 989-page bill that are relevant to your offices include:

• full funding of SB 22 grants and all other current prosecutor office appropriations for another two years;
• increased funding for DFPS (Child Protective Services) functions, some Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) and Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) and Department of Public Safety (DPS) functions, and state employee salaries (a 6-percent raise for most, with larger increases for some specific positions at TDCJ and TJJD, among others);
• a new $2 million grant to help prosecutors and law enforcement agencies pay for certain forensic science testing costs;
• $1.7 million more for judicial branch training grants (including prosecutors); and
• a rider to fund 15-percent raises for elected judges and prosecutors contingent upon the passage of SB 293 by Huffman.

The House Appropriations Committee—aka HAC (pronounced “hack”)—will take up SB 1 on Monday, swap in its preferred language, and pass that on to the full House for consideration in a few weeks. Then the House version will go back to the Senate and both sides will agree to disagree, after which they form a conference committee of reps and senators to hammer out the differences behind closed doors.

And speaking of disagreements, we had some drama in HAC earlier this week involving State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian), a member of that committee who revels in being the fly in the House leadership ointment. (Google his name and “Beyoncé” for just one of many examples of that.) When the full HAC reviewed subcommittee recommendations this week, Rep. Harrison kept trying to call points of order—aka POOs (pronounced … well, yeah, you can figure that one out), which are the legislative equivalent of a court objection—for not following House rules. The upshot of that kerfuffle was that some House committee chairs are now taking a more formal, rules-heavy approach to their hearings, which slows down the overall process and puts additional mileage on everyone’s odometer of patience!. Rep. Harrison then doubled-down on his rule scrupulosity earlier today by insisting on a roll call vote for some ceremonial functions, resulting in the House lacking a quorum to conduct business and causing an immediate adjournment. That means that House members must return to the floor Saturday morning and establish a quorum so they can officially adjourn until Monday. Consider all of this to be more tinder for the eventual spark that many observers think will burn down this session’s work at some point.

How the sausage gets made

There is still time to advocate for the bills that will help you see justice done. TDCAA serves as your eyes and ears at the Texas Capitol, but legislators need to hear your voice. We have a rotating schedule of volunteer slots for elected prosecutors or their designees to come to Austin to be a part of the legislative process. The last day of the session is June 2. Please contact Hector for more details.

Upcoming Committee Meetings

Monday, March 31, 2025
Senate State Affairs: 9:00 a.m., Senate Chamber
SB 517 Middleton: Relating to criminal offenses applicable to and authorized uses of gambling devices, including eight-liners.

House Subcommittee on County Government: 10:00 a.m., E2.028
HB 1845 Orr: Relating to the use of funds from the rural prosecutor’s office salary assistance grant program.
HB 2529 Dean: Relating to the annual state salary supplement for certain county judges.

House Pensions/Investments/Financial Services: 10:00 a.m., E2.012
HB 3014 Lambert: Relating to the creation of the offense of fraudulent use or possession of a gift card or gift card redemption information.
HB 3109 Perez: Relating to the operations of the Financial Crimes Intelligence Center.

Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00 a.m., E1.016
SB 476 Middleton: Relating to enhancing the criminal penalty for the offense of intoxication manslaughter in certain circumstances.
SB 664 Huffman: Relating to qualifications, training, removal, and supervision of certain masters, magistrates, referees, associate judges, and hearing officers.
SB 745 Kolkhorst: Relating to enhancing the criminal penalty for the offense of intoxication manslaughter in certain circumstances.         
SB 826 Parker: Relating to the operation of a motor vehicle in a school crossing zone while intoxicated; increasing a criminal penalty.                
SB 989 Bettencourt: Relating to criminal history record information for certain master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or other court official applicants appointed or employed to serve in a state court.             
SB 1080 West: Relating to the issuance of a provisional occupational license to certain applicants with criminal convictions.
SB 1171 Perry: Relating to compensation, leave, and physical fitness programs and standards for certain employees of the office of inspector general of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.                 
SB 1320 Sparks: Relating to the establishment of the Organized Oilfield Theft Prevention Unit within the Texas Department of Public Safety.                
SB 1437 Bettencourt: Relating to the eligibility of certain individuals for certification as certain juvenile officers or employees of a juvenile facility.           
SB 1727 Perry: Relating to the protection and detention of a juvenile who engages in delinquent conduct or commits a felony offense while committed to the custody of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department; changing the eligibility for community supervision; redefining habitual felony conduct.          
SB 1809 Flores: Relating to the creation of the offense of fraudulent use or possession of a gift card or gift card redemption information.            
SB 2289 Miles: Relating to reports regarding county jail prisoners confined in out-of-state jails.                 
SB 2320 King: Relating to increasing the criminal punishment for certain driving while intoxicated offenses.                 

House Higher Education: 8:00 a.m., E2.036
HB 184 Guillen: Relating to student loan repayment assistance for certain prosecuting attorneys who are employed as part of the border prosecution unit.

House Human Services: 8:00 a.m., E2.030
HB 2665 VanDeaver: Relating to notification and disclosure of records and information concerning an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect to county or district attorneys.

House Criminal Jurisprudence: 10:30 a.m., E2.014
HB 47 Howard: Relating to sexual assault and other sex offenses.
HB 1552 Paul: Relating to changing the name of the offense of child pornography to child sexual abuse material and to updating references to conform to that terminology.                             
HB 1686 Hull: Relating to victims of sex offenses, sex-based human trafficking offenses, or acts of a sexual nature and to the confidentiality of or restrictions on the availability of certain property, material, or information regarding those victims, offenses, or acts.                                   
HB 1953 Thompson: Relating to rights of crime victims and the enforcement of those rights; authorizing a civil penalty.                               
HB 2151 Capriglione: Relating to the applicability of sex offender registration requirements to the offense of indecent assault.
HB 2355 Fairly: Relating to requests for law enforcement agency reports from the Attorney General related to crime victims’ compensation applications.                                                          
HB 2582 Hull: Relating to the rights of a victim, guardian of a victim, or close relative of a deceased victim to information regarding a defendant’s parole.                                       
HB 2697Anchía: Relating to certain procedures in connection with a bond forfeiture.                                
HB 2895 Patterson: Relating to the legal justification for using force or deadly force in response to the commission or attempted commission of a violent felony.                             
HB 3073 Howard: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of sexual assault.                                     
HB 3418 Morales: Relating to prohibitions on certain employment for sex offenders.

Wednesday, April 2, 2025
House Corrections: 8:00 a.m., E1.014
HB 153 Raymond: Relating to the eligibility of service members and veterans to participate in a veteran’s treatment court program.                                                                                           
HB 1461 Frank: Relating to the confinement or detention of certain individuals in a county jail or other facility operated by or for the county and to the compensation to the county for the costs of that confinement or detention.                                               
HB 1760 Leach: Relating to increasing the minimum term of imprisonment and changing the eligibility for community supervision, mandatory supervision, and parole for persons convicted of intoxication manslaughter.
HB 1762 Leach: Relating to changing the eligibility of certain persons to receive community supervision, including deferred adjudication community supervision.                                                
HB 3261 Johnson: Relating to the eligibility of certain criminal defendants for an order of nondisclosure of criminal history record information.

House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence: 8:00 a.m., E2.030 NEW!
HB 1181 Raymond: Relating to the assignment of certain retired and former justices and judges.                                              
HB 3704 Anchía: Relating to notaries public; creating a criminal offense.                                              
HB 1363 Hernandez: Relating to implicit bias training for justices and judges of state courts, judicial officers, certain court personnel, and attorneys licensed to practice law in this state.                                            
HB 1610 Leach: Relating to the nonsubstantive revision of certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, including conforming amendments.                                                
HB 1317 Schoolcraft: Relating to authorizing the attorney general to petition the chief justice of the supreme court to convene a special three-judge district court in certain circumstances.                                        
HB 2176 Harless: Relating to the composition and duties of a court security committee.                                              
HB 4027 Zwiener: Relating to the taking of certain depositions and the dismissal of certain civil actions in connection with allegations of family violence and abusive conduct.                                              
HB 1664 Morales: Relating to the eligibility of certain retired or former district court judges for assignment as a visiting judge.                                        
HB 933 Spiller: Relating to the jurisdiction of the Texas Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals.                                                
HB 2086 Plesa: Relating to a motion for determining a plaintiff is a vexatious litigant.                                                  

Thursday, April 3, 2025
House Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice: 8:00a.m., E2.014 NEW!
HB 2947 McLaughlin: Relating to truancy; increasing a criminal penalty.                            
HB 3276 Noble: Relating to the eligibility of certain individuals for certification as certain juvenile officers or employees of a juvenile facility.                                       
                             
Senate Border Security: 9:00 a.m., E1.016
SB 36 Parker: Relating to homeland security activities of certain entities, including the establishment and operations of the Homeland Security Division in DPS.
SB 2202 Birdwell: Relating to the trafficking of a firearm to a foreign terrorist organization and to the unlawful transfer of firearms between this state and the United Mexican States.

House Subcommittee on New Offenses and Changed Penalties: 10:30a.m., E2.014 NEW!
HB 316 Perez: Relating to creating a criminal offense for interfering with a motor fuel metering device or motor fuel unattended payment terminal and the prosecution of certain organized criminal activity.                          
HB 353 Patterson: Relating to creating the criminal offense of trespass on or near school or day-care center property.                                  
HB 1160 Hull: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of assault committed against certain employees or agents of a utility and to the prosecution of the criminal offense of interference with public duties of those employees or agents.                                    
HB 1414 Allen: Relating to the punishment for the offense of driving while license invalid.                                      
HB 1422 Hull: Relating to the rights of victims of sexual assault and other sex offenses, the offense of continuous sexual abuse, and the prosecution and punishment of certain sex offenses; creating a criminal offense; increasing criminal penalties.                            
HB 1443 Schatzline: Relating to creating the criminal offense of promotion of a child-like sex doll.                              
HB 1713 Plesa: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for the offense of criminal mischief involving impairment of electric vehicle supply equipment.                                    
HB 1789 Gerdes: Relating to enhancing the criminal penalty for the offense of intoxication manslaughter in certain circumstances.                                  
HB 1902 Cook: Relating to creating the criminal offense of jugging.                            
HB 2073 Hull: Relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain violations of certain court orders or conditions of bond in cases involving family violence, child abuse or neglect, sexual assault or abuse, indecent assault, stalking, or trafficking.
HB 2666 Virdell: Relating to the punishment for the offense of arson involving a government building.                        
HB 2695 Anchía: Relating to the use of a social media platform in furtherance of an offense involving the delivery of a controlled substance; increasing criminal penalties.                                   

All the bills listed above can be read by clicking on the committee hyperlink. More committee hearings will be announced later today. Please check back for updates. 

Quotes of the week

“It’s somewhat insulting that folks ask who wrote a bill I am carrying. Did it ever occur to you idiots that the bill was written by me.”

            —State Rep. Harold Dutton (R-Houston), giving everyone a classic example of a subtweet on X.

“I dare you to investigate me. Do it and then bring it. I dare you to do that to me. That’s disgusting that you would do an investigation and you would pay for investigators to look something up in someone’s background to try to leverage it. It’s actually very potentially, it could be illegal. I don’t know. I would ask the Attorney General to potentially investigate your actions on whether they were legal and whether you tried to use what you found out during those investigations against these people in order to gain billion-dollar contracts.”

            —Representative Tony Tinderholt (R-Arlington) talking during a DOGE Committee hearing to insurance companies that admitted to hiring private investigators to investigate lawmakers.

“The allegations concerning Superior [Insurance]’s actions, such as actions that were characterized as potentially blackmailing lawmakers to secure state contracts and surveilling private citizens to avoid paying legitimate claims, are deeply troubling. I will get to the bottom of this, uncover any illegal activity, and hold bad actors responsible. Justice will be served.”

            —Attorney General Ken Paxton in response to insurance companies admitting they hired private investigators to spy on members of the Texas Legislature as well as and private citizens seeking payment of medical bills.

“There is a swing back toward pragmatism on how we approach the criminal justice problem. The politics have changed.”

            —Lee Kindlon, Albany County (NY) District Attorney and former defense lawyer, telling The New York Times why he and other Democratic DAs support changing that state’s draconian discovery laws that have resulted in dismissals of thousands of criminal cases.

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March Madness tips off at the Texas Legislature! Instead of 64 teams trying to get to the championship game in a few weeks, there are about 9,000 bills trying to become law in 72 days. Bill filing deadline has come and gone so the real madness can get going as the biggest enemy of a bill’s survival is time. Which bills will get to enjoy that one shining moment?

Legislative Session Stats

It is a record-breaking year for the members of the 89^th Texas Legislative Session. The total number including bills, concurrent resolutions, and joint resolutions maxes out at 9,062, 849 of which were filed on the very last day that a bill could be filed. The grand total is the most ever filed in the history of Texas. It seems that Texas needs quite a bit of maintenance from two years ago when that legislative session broke the record of most bills filed. The legislature is only under one obligation, and that is to pass the budget that allows the government to operate for the next two years.

The House must pass its bills out of committee by May 12. Committees are bill graveyards as this is the first stage a bill must pass, and most bills do not get out of committee. Any House bill that wants a chance of becoming law must pass through the entire House by May 15 and then get over to the Senate where they begin their journey through the Senate committee process. Senate bills that make it to the House must pass out of the House committee by May 24 and must pass the entire House by May 27. The Senate must pass all House legislation by May 28. 

The process is set up to kill bills. There are thousands of ways for bills to die through the legislative process and only one way to get to the Governor’s desk for signing. Interest groups that fail to pass their bills will have to wait two more years until the next session and hope that their champion lawmakers win their elections. The legislative session has passed the 60-day mark, which means all bills, not just the emergency items marked by the Governor, can now be debated on the House and Senate floors. This is where the legislature picks up the pace as lawmakers know that the final buzzer is set to go off on the last day of session, Sine Die, on June 2, 2025.

Bail Reform

The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee held an 11-hour marathon session to hear eight different bills. Representative John Smithee (R-Amarillo) laid out his bail reform bills that mirror the Senate’s bail reform bills that passed that upper chamber earlier this month. HB 75 is the clean-up bill that mandates written findings for “no probable cause” determinations by magistrates and shifts bond-setting authority from appointed magistrates to elected judges for certain types of charges. HB 76 prohibits political subdivisions from using public funds to pay bail bonds. HJR 15 would amend the Constitution to give judges and magistrates the discretion to deny bail to certain felony suspects. HJR 16 seeks to amend the Texas Constitution to require detention without bail for any illegal alien charged with a felony. All four bills were left pending in the committee. Comal County Criminal District Attorney Jennifer Tharp testified in favor of the constitutional amendments and sat through the entire 11-hour committee hearing.

THC ban

The Senate passed Senate Bill 3, which criminalizes consumable hemp products with any amount of THC including gummies, beverages, vapes, and other edible products. Lt. Governor Patrick ranked SB 3 as one of his top five bills and even went undercover to a hemp shop to expose the products in a video he posted on his X account. Lt. Governor Patrick and Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), the bill’s author, held a press conference with different law enforcement agencies including Collin County Criminal District Attorney Greg Willis. Patrick touted that the hemp industry exploded with over 8,000 new stores and profits in the billions as it took advantage of a loophole in the law. Senator Perry accused the hemp industry of targeting children and warned lobbyists working on behalf of the hemp industry that he did not need to speak with them. Now the bill heads to the House, which has historically been more hemp-friendly.

Taxpayer-funded lobbying ban

The Texas Senate worked late into the night as Senator Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) attempted to pass Senate Bill 19, which bans what some call “taxpayer-funded lobbying.” The original bill prohibited nonprofit organizations that represent cities, counties, and school districts from hiring or employing lobbyists. The bill was aimed at the Texas Association of School Boards, but it would also have affected the sheriffs’ and police chiefs’ organizations, the Texas Municipal League, the Texas Association of Counties, and TDCAA.

The Senate normally operates like a well-oiled machine, moving legislation quickly. However, Senator Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) interrupted the normally scripted proceedings by offering an amendment to the bill.  Nichols’s amendment removed that prohibition and allows those groups to employ full-time lobbyists (but not hire outside lobbyists). Nichols argued, “We’re not used to people visiting us very often, and so our representation is pretty slow down there. When the mayor of one of my towns pulls the city checkbook out without help in some fashion and having some type of association to go and talk to, he would have no idea what we’re doing down here or how to come down and even testify on a bill.”  Middleton urged his colleagues to vote against the amendment claiming that the amendment would “allow registered lobbyists to continue using taxpayer dollars to lobby against us.” However, seven other Republican senators joined with the Democrats to help Nichols add the amendment to the bill. The final bill passed 20–11 along party lines. If the bill passes into law without any changes from the House, then it will continue to be business-as-usual for TDCAA and our members in future sessions. However, the House has not been kind to bills that ban taxpayer lobbying. The Senate has passed similar bills in past legislative sessions where they meet their demise in the House. Now we will soon find out if that has changed for 2025.

Prosecutor reporting duties

Two items to bring to your attention here—one for the 13 largest counties, the other for everyone.

OAG reporting rules

First, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has adopted the reporting rules applicable only to prosecutors in the largest counties that we previously discussed here and here. Those rules will not be officially published in the Texas Register until Friday, March 28, but they will take effect the following Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Wait, what? Yes, that’s how this works.) We have a copy of them that we have shared with impacted offices. For the rest of you, here are some details:

• The reporting rules apply to prosecutors in the 13 counties with a population of 400,000 or more.
• The agency’s basis for the rules is a broad reading of Gov’t Code §41.006, a roughly 150-year-old law not read or used in the manner now being employed by OAG in the lifetime of anyone now breathing (if not longer).
• OAG is claiming for itself the power to demand those prosecutors produce for the agency’s review entire case files related to a laundry list of crimes that range from murder to simple theft (which the rules somehow deem a “violent crime”).
• Failure to comply with any of the voluminous immediate, quarterly, or annual reporting duties required by the new rules will serve as a basis for potentially removing the prosecutor from office.

The stated purpose of the rules is to “help ensure that county and district attorneys are consistently

complying with statutory duties, appropriately administering funds, appropriately prosecuting crimes,

and seeking justice for citizens who have been harmed by a criminal act.” However, the remedy of removal gives away the game, doesn’t it? We’ll give a prize to any of you who can find another rule in the entirety of state administrative law that un-elects an elected official for failure to turn in paperwork on time. But such are the times in which we live. And speaking of these times, the rules currently apply only to a hand-picked group of local prosecutors in urbanized areas, but there is nothing preventing OAG from applying it to all prosecutors at a future date.

Legislation on reporting

Independently of this administrative rule, legislation has also been filed to require prosecutors to report different data to a different agency and for a different reason. Specifically, SB 2146 by Huffman (R-Houston) and its identical companion, HB 5354 by Leach (R-Plano), would require all prosecutors to report basic performance data to the Texas Judicial Council, including:

• types and numbers of offenses prosecuted
• personnel employed, and whether that is sufficient for current caseloads
• number of times a defendant was released per CCP Art. 17.151 (90-day release law)
• number of electronic notices submitted per CCP Art. 17.027(a)(2) (notice to out-of-county court of a defendant on felony bond committing a new felony)

The bail-centric nature of this proposed reporting should perhaps be no surprise in light of the primary author’s interest in bail reform this session. We will report on this potential new mandate as it moves through the system, but you can also follow it on our “Bills to Watch” track on our Legislative webpage.

The old end-around

Yesterday the Senate State Affairs Committee took up several bills we mentioned in our “OAG-as-prosecutor bills” segment from last week’s update, including SB 16 by Hughes (prosecution of illegal voter registration crimes) and SB 1210 by Hughes (authorizing SCOTX to overrule certain CCA decisions). The latter bill is an interesting attempt to get around the separation of powers problem faced by anyone hoping to empower OAG to be a trial prosecutor. We did a deep dive on this idea for you last session, when it was filed as SB 1196 by Hughes and HB 2930 by Spiller. You can read that online here (scroll down to the segment called “Separation of Powers under attack”).

In 2023, the House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee considered HB 2930 but did not approve it after prosecutors and defense attorneys joined together to oppose the bill. This week, the band got back together for an encore, as Galveston Co. CDA Jack Roady and 106^th Judicial DA Philip Mack Furlow joined with TCDLA legislative counsel Allen Place to testify against new SB 1210. The only other testimony on the bill was from a former OAG attorney now in private practice who testified that the bill would help resolve confusion in cases such as the Robert Roberson death penalty saga, which arose after the idea for this bill was hatched back in 2023. Chalk that up as proof of the old capitol adage that “just because there may be a good reason for filing a bill doesn’t mean it’s the real reason for filing the bill.” After all that, SB 1210 was left pending. We will update you if it moves further.

In related news, Senate Bill 1026 by Hughes did move out of the State Affairs Committee and is headed to the full Senate for a vote. As we noted in last week’s update, SB 1026 authorizes the Attorney General to prosecute election crimes if the local district attorney has not brought charges within six months of law enforcement filing a case. 

Upcoming Committee Hearings

Monday, March 24

House Subcommittee on County Government: 10:00am, E2.028
HB 2115 Ashby: Requiring county auditors to report SB 22 grant disbursement and compliance to the comptroller.

House Subcommittee on Family Relationships: 2:00pm, E2.016 <added>
HB 2399 Leo Wilson: Relating to procedures and required findings in certain suits affecting the parent-child relationship.
HB 330 Meza: Relating to reporting and investigating certain cases of child abuse or neglect involving a pregnant person’s use of a controlled substance.
HB 2496 Dutton: Relating to required findings for the issuance of a protective order based on the commission of family violence.

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

House Human Services: 8:00am, E2.030
HB 2071 Hull: Relating to certain policies and procedures for health care specialty consultations in certain child abuse or neglect investigations and assessments.
HB 2216 Hull: Relating to procedures and grounds related to the removal and placement of children, including for terminating the parent-child relationship, for taking possession of a child, and for certain hearings.

Senate Criminal Justice: 8:00am, E1.016
SB 693 West: Relating to creating a criminal offense for the use of a notary seal or counterfeit seal on a fraudulent document or instrument.             
SB 781 King: Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency.
SB 836 Paxton: Relating to victims of sex offenses, sex-based human trafficking offenses, or acts of a sexual nature and to the confidentiality of or restrictions on the availability of certain property, material, or information regarding those victims, offenses, or acts.            
SB 860 Flores: Relating to abolishing the Criminal Justice Legislative Oversight Committee.                
SB 906 Blanco: Relating to the authority of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo to commission peace officers.                
SB 993 Nichols: Relating to the authority of a peace officer commissioned by the comptroller to apply for an order authorizing the installation and use of a mobile tracking device.            
SB 1101Flores: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of smuggling of persons.              
SB 1321: Hagenbuch: Relating to compensation and leave for certain peace officers.
SB 1370 Parker: Relating to the establishment of the office of medical examiner in certain counties.
SB 1537 Zaffirini: Relating to the appointment of an interpreter in a criminal proceeding.             
SB 1563 Menéndez: Relating to county jailer training on interacting with veterans in the criminal justice system.              
SB 1610 Perry: Relating to sexually violent predators, to the Texas Civil Commitment Office, and to the prosecution of the offense of harassment by sexually violent predators and other persons confined in certain facilities, etc.
SB 1637 King: Relating to an exception to the application of the offense of deadly conduct for certain peace officers discharging official duties.

House Criminal Jurisprudence: 10:30am, E2.014
HB 207 Guillen: Relating to the prosecution of certain criminal offenses prohibiting sexually explicit visual material involving an anatomically correct doll, mannequin, or robot that has the features of a child.
HB 235 Guillen: Relating to civil and criminal liability for the unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material.
HB 324 Johnson: Relating to the prosecution of the offense of sexual assault.
HB 449 González: Relating to the unlawful production or distribution of sexually explicit images using deep fake technology.
HB 463 Jones: Relating to the automatic expunction of arrest records and files after certain controlled substance offense charges are dismissed.
HB 502 Flores: Relating to the confidentiality of identifying information of victims of certain offenses.                  
HB 1121Gámez: Relating to civil and criminal liability for the unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material.                                    
HB 1445 Hernandez: Relating to the compensation of counsel appointed to provide representation and services to indigent individuals in criminal and juvenile proceedings.                                  
HB 1465 Hickland: Relating to the prosecution of the criminal offense of invasive visual recording and the applicability of sex offender registration requirements to that offense.                                 
HB 1778 Thompson: Relating to human trafficking, prostitution, and child pornography and to the prosecution of sexual or assaultive offenses or the prosecution of a failure to stop or report those offenses; amending and harmonizing certain statute of limitations provisions; creating a criminal offense; increasing a criminal penalty.                                
HB 1977 Cook: Relating to the admissibility of evidence of certain extraneous offenses or acts in the prosecution of sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault or an attempt or conspiracy to commit sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault.                                    
HB 2000 Ashby: Relating to the applicability of sex offender registration requirements to the offense of child grooming.                    
HB 2066 Virdell: Relating to the expunction of arrest records and files for certain defendants placed on deferred adjudication community supervision for the unlawful carrying of a handgun.                   
HB 2596 Metcalf: Relating to the issuance of certain protective orders for certain burglary offenses.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

House Corrections: 8:00am, E1.014
HB 1482 Wilson: Relating to changing the eligibility for community supervision and parole for certain repeat intoxication offenders.             
HB 2017 Gerdes: Relating to increasing the minimum term of imprisonment and changing the eligibility for community supervision, mandatory supervision, and parole for certain persons convicted of intoxication manslaughter.                                 
HB 2341 Allen: Relating to the award of diligent participation credit to defendants confined in a state jail felony facility.

House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence: 8:00am, E2.030
HB 113 Vasut: Relating to statutory construction.
HB 2637 DeAyala: Relating to the practice and procedures for summoning prospective grand jurors and petit jurors and the exemption of certain persons from grand jury and petit jury service; authorizing a fee.
HB 2733 Canales: Relating to the prosecution of the criminal offenses of prohibited barratry and solicitation of professional employment. 
HB 2986 Moody: Relating to the authority of an appellate court to lift a stay in connection with an interlocutory appeal.

House Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice: 8:00am, E1.026 <added>
HB 1511 Hickland: Relating to the authority of a political subdivision to adopt or enforce a juvenile curfew; creating criminal offenses.
HB 1831 Johnson: Relating to the eligibility to participate in certain drug court programs.
HB 1988 Lujan: Relating to the disclosure of certain information by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
HB 2147 VanDeaver: Relating to remotely conducting depositions, hearings, and other proceedings in juvenile cases.
HB 2234 Dutton: Relating to raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18.

House Homeland Security & Public Safety: 10:30am, E2.016 <added>
HB 1583 Hull: Relating to the peace officer’s notification of emergency detention form for persons evidencing mental illness and retention of that form.
HB 1775 Howard: Relating to reporting information regarding certain evidence collection kits.
HB 1832 Gerdes: Relating to the punishment for certain criminal offenses involving illegal entry into or illegal presence in this state by a person who is an alien; increasing criminal penalties.
HB 1836 Guillen: Relating to a study and report by the General Land Office on private landowner participation in border security.
HB 1837 Guillen: Relating to the enforcement and prevention of offenses involving the manufacture or delivery of controlled substances listed in Penalty Group 1-B, law enforcement officer safety in handling those substances, and the manufacture and proper use of opioid antagonists.
HB 1866 Lujan: Relating to the state law enforcement authority of federal National Park Service law enforcement officers.
HB 1983 Hickland: Relating to creating the criminal offense of child endangerment involving smuggling across an international border.
HB 2318 Thompson: Relating to the establishment of a statewide human trafficking data repository within the office of the attorney general and to reporting of human trafficking data to the office of the attorney general and by the attorney general.
HB 2363 Patterson: Relating to the authority of certain peace officers to arrest a person without a warrant while outside the officer’s jurisdiction.
HB 2486 Hefner: Relating to certain files maintained by a law enforcement agency regarding certain employees of the agency.

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Quotes of the week

“You might want to voluntarily close your doors, because the investigations are going to continue, and I’m sure the lawsuits are about to come. You know what you’re doing.”

            —Lt. Governor Patrick at a press conference warning hemp stores selling products containing THC.

“To the lobbyists that are supporting this, I’ve told them they have every right to make a living, and I don’t care who they represent. I will tell you, legislators have all the prerogative on who they talk to every session when they come back. That’s not a warning. That’s not a threat. It’s a two-way street.  People that are advocating that this [is] okay are literally creating a situation where kids, families, and lives will be changed impermanently for generations. So let your conscience be your guide. But I, as a legislator, do not have to associate myself with anybody I choose not to, other than constituents always have an open door. But I’m serious about shutting this down.”

            —Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) warning the hemp lobby against working against his Senate Bill 3 that bans all THC products.

“I’m going to start calling him ‘Senator Ukraine,’ because he’s funding Ukraine more than he’s funding our border, and that’s a problem in Texas. I think I can win if I have $20 million. I’ve run these primaries in Texas before. I honestly don’t see how [Cornyn] overcomes his numbers.”

—Attorney General Ken Paxton discussing his possible challenge to US Senator John Cornyn with Punchbowl News.

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