The second extra inning at the legislature just ended. Many lawmakers started the Second Called Session thinking they had secured a home run ball, but it turned out they had to give that ball to an unhinged fan, otherwise known as the legislative process, as many of their own bills did not pass and bills they did not like did pass. It can be a cruel world in the outfield stands (and at the Texas Capitol). 

Home runs

HB 16 by Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) is the Second Called Session’s omnibus judicial courts bill. It was vetoed after the Regular Session but is now on the Governor’s desk. It creates new courts, new district attorney offices, new punishment enhancements, and various other changes. Importantly, the bill includes a new reporting requirement for local prosecutors regarding some bail provisions and resources for prosecutors to carry out their work.

HB 20, the Disaster Scam Response Act, by Darby (R-San Angelo) creates new criminal offenses and enhances existing theft punishments. It focuses on “missing relative fraud” and situations where criminals fraudulently “volunteer” during disasters to steal from victims. This bill is on the Governor’s desk.

SB 11 by Parker (R-Flower Mound) creates an affirmative defense to prosecution for certain victims of human trafficking and compelling prostitution. This bill was vetoed by the Governor in the Regular Session for being too broad; the new version is narrower but also more complicated. This bill is on the Governor’s desk.

SB 12 by Hughes (R-Mineola) gives the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) the authority to unilaterally prosecute Election Code crimes. The bill does not solve the constitutional issue highlighted by the Court of Criminal Appeals’ Stephens opinion, but proponents of the bill appear to be banking on a different court makeup to take care of that thorny problem. This bill is on the Governor’s desk.

SB 16 by West (D-Dallas) creates new criminal offenses for Real Property Theft and Real Property Fraud (also known as title theft or deed fraud). This bill is on the Governor’s desk

These bills will go into effect 91 days from the last day of the legislative session, which we calculate to be December 4, 2025 barring any Governor vetoes. We will send out a newsletter sharing that information and post a supplement to our Legislative Update book on the TDCAA website.

Strikeouts

HJR 1 by Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) proposed a constitutional amendment granting the OAG concurrent jurisdiction with each county or district attorney to prosecute election crimes. This proposed HJR demonstrated that lawmakers understood that the constitution must be amended to give the Texas Attorney General prosecutorial powers; it was an attempt to supersede the Stephens opinion regarding separation of powers. But HJR 1 fell short of the required two-thirds vote from the entire House and is dead for now. 

SB 2 by Perry (R-Lubbock) addressed issues that arose during this summer’s tragic floods in Central Texas. One of the many things the bill sought to do was authorize a justice of the peace (JP) to certify that an autopsy is not necessary during a natural disaster. The JP would have had to determine by clear and convincing evidence that the death was a result of injuries sustained from the natural disaster and not by an unlawful act. This bill is dead for now.

SB 13 by Mayes (R-Galveston) prohibited local governments from sending money to local associations that advocate on their behalf at the Texas Legislature, unlike any other private organizations or businesses in Texas. This bill could have directly affected TDCAA’s legislative efforts. The bill is dead for now, and the author is moving on from the Senate to run for AG.

HB 15 by Hefner (R-Mt. Pleasant) and SB 15 by King (R-Weatherford) required law enforcement agencies to create a “G-file” for their employees, which would consist of any unsubstantiated allegations and complaints that did not result in disciplinary actions. This file would have been subject to Code of Criminal Procedure Article 39.14 obligations but would not have been subject to open records laws. Substantiated misconduct complaints, commendations, awards, and periodic evaluations would have been part of the officers’ personnel files and would have still been subject to open records laws. This bill is dead for now but was a major priority for CLEAT; it will likely be back next legislative session. 

What’s up with weed?

SB 6 by Perry (R-Lubbock) proposed an all-out ban on consumable THC products; it passed the Senate but never made it through the House. We never found out if the Governor would have vetoed this bill, which is a clone of the one he vetoed in the Regular Session. This means that the law on THC and THC consumables is the same as it was before the legislative session began. So, there is no change to report on Texas laws concerning THC. Glad we have that settled. …

… except that the Governor issued an executive order yesterday to ban the sale of hemp products to customers under the age of 21. Or did he? Far from being a unilateral act, this order directs the Department of State Health Services and the Alcoholic Beverage Commission to begin the rulemaking process that would prohibit the sale of hemp-derived products to minors, along with other changes. This process could take months, and we will update you on any changes that would affect how you do your jobs, though it is difficult to see how an administrative rule could mandate prosecution changes. But as we have seen with the Texas Legislature, nothing is impossible. 

Legislative Update Courses

TDCAA developed the premier class that teaches new laws, new prosecutorial tools, and new issues that affect police, prosecutors, and anyone involved in criminal justice: our Legislative Update! You will come away from the 3-hour CLE class with a working knowledge of the new state of play in Texas. Registration for the class—whether online or in-person—includes a copy of our book, Legislative Update 2025–’27.  

Click here for the online course.
Click here to sign up for one of our in-person courses. 

Quotes

“Splendora PD: Always delivering results … just not the kind he ordered.”

—Splendora Police Department after arresting a man who tried to have Uber Eats deliver his methamphetamine. To complete the delivery, the suspect was told the Uber vehicle had broken down and directed him to pick up his delivery elsewhere. When he showed up, officers were waiting.

“Iryna Zarutska should still be alive. But Democrats, liberal judges, and weak prosecutors would rather push a woke, soft-on-crime agenda than lock up violent offenders.”

 —White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, discussing the murder of a woman on a North Carolina train by a career criminal.

“What we see today exists only because of a loophole that allows THC products to be sold openly—even next to schools—despite federal and state laws already on the books. Placing an age restriction does not fix this problem.”

—State Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) responding to the Governor’s executive order restricting the sale of hemp-related products for minors.

“It’s about punishment and it’s about making sure that there’s not a financial gain by members who break quorum and their campaign, against getting hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars of donations because they’re breaking quorum.”

 —State Representative Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) arguing for his HB 18, which statutorily prohibits fundraising or spending out of campaign accounts or an associated committee while a member is breaking quorum during a call on the House. The bill passed and is on the Governor’s desk. 

It is the end of August and Texas lawmakers, after claiming they were never getting back together, got over their bad blood and passed laws together. However, both sides saw red as they debated abortion pills, bathroom bills, and ivermectin—each side claiming the other side was the anti-hero. It was a debate that they all know too well. With 15 days left in the special session, will there be a proposal on the remaining bills that both sides can accept and live in wonderland like Taylor and Travis? 

Bills on the move

It appears that there will be new laws coming out of this second special session. Here is where things stand on bills we have been following for you.

HJR 1 by Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) proposes a constitutional amendment granting the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) concurrent jurisdiction with each county or district attorney to prosecute election crimes. This direct attempt to supersede the Stephensopinion regarding separation of powers failed to secure the required two-thirds vote from the entire House and is dead for now. 

HB 15 by Representative Cole Hefner (R-Mt. Pleasant) passed out of the House this week. It requires law enforcement agencies to create a “G-file” for its employees, which would consist of any unsubstantiated allegations and complaints that did not result in disciplinary actions. This file would still be subject to the Code of Criminal Procedure Article 39.14 obligations but would not be subject to open records laws. Substantiated misconduct complaints, commendations, awards, or periodic evaluations would be part of the officers’ personnel files and still be subject to open records law. This bill now heads to the Senate, which has already passed a companion version (SB 15, described below).

HB 16 by Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) is the Second Special Session’s omnibus judicial courts bill. It creates new courts, new district attorney offices, new punishment enhancements, and various other changes. Importantly, the bill includes a new reporting requirement for local prosecutors regarding some bail provisions and the resources prosecutors have on hand to carry out their work. The bill passed the House and the Senate and is awaiting action from the Governor.

SB 6 by Perry (R-Lubbock) bans most forms of THC. This is the same bill Governor Abbott vetoed. The bill has passed through the Senate but has not had a House hearing. 

SB 11 by Parker (R-Flower Mound) creates an affirmative defense to prosecution for certain victims of human trafficking and compelling prostitution. This bill was vetoed by the Governor in the regular session for being too broad. The new version is narrower but also more complicated. SB 11 passed the Senate and the House and is now on the Governor’s desk. 

SB 12 by Hughes (R-Mineola) gives OAG the authority to unilaterally prosecute Election Code crimes. SB 12 passed out of the Senate and the House and is headed to the Governor’s desk. The bill does not solve the constitutional issue highlighted by the Court of Criminal Appeals’ Stephens opinion, but proponents appear to be banking on a different court make-up taking care of that thorny problem.

SB 13 by Mayes (R-Galveston) prohibits local governments from sending money to local associations that advocate on their behalf at the Texas Legislature, unlike any other private organizations or businesses in Texas. This bill could directly affect TDCAA’s legislative efforts, although that depends entirely on the final version of any legislation. The bill has passed through the Senate but has not had a House hearing. 

SB 15 by King (R-Weatherford) is the companion to HB 15 relating to law enforcement personnel files. The bill was defeated by Representative Joe Moody (D-El Paso) when he raised a point of order, which is a parliamentary procedure that can kill bills on a technicality. Moody argued successfully that the bill’s subject matter is not included in Governor Abbott’s agenda for the second special session. Consequently, the bill was sent back to a committee, and the Governor revised the agenda. Therefore, SB 15 may come back to the House floor, or the Senate might pass the House version. There are still 15 days left for this bill to make it into law one way or another.

SB 16 by West (D-Dallas) creates new criminal offenses for Real Property Theft and Real Property Fraud (also known as title theft or deed fraud). This bill passed the Senate and the House and is now on the Governor’s desk. 

Legislative Update Courses

Are you wondering what the Texas Legislature did for you this past legislative session? Are you wondering how you can learn about all the new prosecutorial tools that will help you see justice done? Well, wonder no longer. We wrote the book, have posted the online CLE course on our website, and have scheduled several live CLE events for those who prefer that option.
Click here for the combo pack that includes the book and the online course.
Click here to sign up for one of our in-person courses. We’ll be coming to Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Round Rock, with one more bonus offering to be announced soon!

Quotes

“Two things can be true: We must protect law enforcement, and we must ensure families and complainants have access to the truth. That’s the balance my amendment to HB 15 delivers.”

—Representative Don McLaughlin (R-Uvalde) discussing the need for his amendment to HB 15, which allows victims of alleged police misconduct, or their immediate family if they are dead, to view G-files related to the case following its investigation but not be able to duplicate the records. HB 15 passed the House along with the amendment.

“So the AG’s office, in a power grab, in violation of the constitution, wrote their own legislation, in a way to maximize his [Paxton’s] authority.”

—Representative John Bucy (D-Austin) arguing that Senator Hughes represented that the Attorney General’s Office wrote SB 12 to give his office prosecution powers that violate the separation of powers provision of the state constitution.

“I am proud to endorse Chip Roy for Attorney General of Texas. As my very first chief of staff, Chip has been a close friend and ally of mine for over 12 years. We have been in more fights together than I can count, and I know Chip will always, always, always fight for conservative values.”

—United States Senator Ted Cruz endorsing Congressman Chip Roy for Texas Attorney General.

“One of the most frequent questions Texans ask me is: ‘Ken, who should succeed you as Attorney General?’ My answer is now definitive: Aaron Reitz.”

          —Attorney General Ken Paxton endorsing his former First Assistant, Aaron Reitz, for Texas Attorney General.

The House Democrats came back to Austin this week. They missed the Capitol so much that several of them had a slumber party on the House floor. The party was short-lived, though, as the returning lawmakers were hit with nearly a $10,000 fine for their absence. The House got back to work now in Special Session 2 and started passing bills. The question now lingers: Will they finish their work, or will there be a trilogy of special sessions?   

Full House

The House wasted no time and passed out its congressional redistricting maps and flood relief bills. The following bills have passed out of House committees and will be eligible to be heard by the full House. 

HB 12 by Shaheen gives the OAG authority to unilaterally prosecute Election Code crimes; it is the companion to SB 12. The bill passed favorably out of the House State Affairs Committee. 

HJR 1 proposes a constitutional amendment granting the OAG concurrent jurisdiction with each county or district attorney to prosecute election crimes. The constitutional amendment would be a more direct attempt to supersede the Stephens opinion regarding separation of powers. The bill passed favorably out of the House State Affairs Committee and would require a two-thirds vote from the entire House to pass to the Senate. 

HB 16 is the Second Special Session’s omnibus judicial courts bill. It creates new courts, new district attorney offices, new punishment enhancements, and various other changes. Importantly, the bill includes a new reporting requirement for local prosecutors regarding some bail provisions and the resources prosecutors have on hand to carry out their work. This was a standalone bill from the regular session that failed to pass, then it was amended into the omnibus bill (which was vetoed), and it’s back again in this new version.

Bills the Senate passed in Special Session 2

The following bills passed through the Texas Senate. These are mostly refiled copies of the bills the Senate passed in Special Session 1. 
SB 6 by Perry (R-Lubbock) bans most forms of THC. This is the same bill Governor Abbott vetoed. We have not heard any news that the Governor has changed his mind on this topic. 

SB 11 by Parker (R-Flower Mound) creates an affirmative defense to prosecution for certain victims of human trafficking and compelling prostitution. This bill was vetoed by the Governor in the regular session for being too broad. The new version is narrower but also more complicated. Read the text for yourself and see what you think. This bill passed out favorably from the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.

SB 12 by Hughes (R-Mineola) gives the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) authority to unilaterally prosecute Election Code crimes.

SB 13 by Mayes (R-Galveston) prohibits local governments from sending money to local associations that advocate on their behalf at the Texas Legislature, unlike any other private organizations or businesses in Texas. This bill could directly affect TDCAA’ s legislative efforts, although that depends entirely on the final version of any legislation.

SB 15 by King (R-Weatherford) is a priority bill for CLEAT (Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas) that would create a uniform confidentiality standard for law enforcement personnel files. This version protects the ability of unconfirmed disciplinary issues to be disclosed in the criminal discovery process under Article 39.14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. This bill passed out favorably from the House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans’ Affairs today.

SB 16 by West (D-Dallas) creates new criminal offenses for Real Property Theft and Real Property Fraud (also known as title theft or deed fraud). This bill passed out favorably from the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.

Legislative Update Courses

Are you wondering what the Texas Legislature did for you this past legislative session? Are you wondering how you can learn about all the new prosecutorial tools that will help you see justice done? Well, wonder no longer. We wrote the book and are polishing up the online CLE course about all the changes, and we’ve also scheduled several live CLE events for those who prefer that option.
Click here for the combo pack that includes the book and the online course, which will be available later this month.
Click here to sign up for one of our in-person courses. We’ll be coming to Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Round Rock, with one more bonus offering to be announced soon!

Quotes

“As Attorney General, I will fight every single day for our God-given rights, for our families, and for the future of Texas. No more [George] Soros-funded judges and DAs putting criminals on our streets. No more judge-made mandates that Texans pay for illegals in our public schools. No more communities built on Sharia law.”

—Congressman Chip Roy (R-21^st Congressional District) discussing why he decided to run for Texas Attorney General.

“The problem is, the pimps are really smart.”

          —Representative Ann Johnson (D-Houston) discussing the new version of SB 11, adding that pimps will try to force their victims to commit crimes that are excluded from the newest version of the bill.  

“Today I am expanding the agenda for the second Special Session to include important issues that will benefit Texas. First, we need to ensure that rogue lawmakers cannot hijack the important business of Texans during a legislative session by fleeing the state.”

—Governor Greg Abbott discussing the need for new legislation to impose penalties or punishments for legislators who willfully absent themselves during a session.

Another one. And another one. And another one. Governor Abbott is doing his best DJ Khaled impersonation as he outlines his strategy for dealing with the quorum breaking Democratic House members. The second performance of the Texas Legislature begins today with no intermission. Get your popcorn ready for the encore. 

Second Act

Now that the House and Senate adjourned Sine Die for Special Session No. 1, the Governor called for Special Session No. 2 to begin today at noon. The agenda is almost—but not quite—identical to the agenda for the first special session. It calls for legislation regarding the tragic flooding in the Hill Country, redistricting, and THC regulations, with an addition of legislation to ensure and enhance youth camp safety. The Senate is planning to rehear all the bills that it passed during the first special session and pass them again in one day. How can they do that under the rules? By suspending all rules, that is how! The Senate will then likely gavel out and join the audience as we all look to the House to take the stage and put on their performance.

The House Democrats said that they are willing to return because their plan was to tank the first session and start a domino effect of blue states starting their own mid-decade redistricting to neutralize any gains that Republicans make in Texas congressional districts. It is unclear if the House Democrats also cut a deal with Speaker Burrows to guarantee their return and the terms of that deal. Quiet on the set!  

Bills that passed the Senate in Special Session I

The Senate passed bills on all 18 of the governor’s requested issues the first time around. These will be refiled (maybe as the same bill numbers, maybe different) and rammed through the Senate on short notice—the less public input they take, the better (from their perspective). Here are some of those proposals that could affect your work.

SB 5 by Perry (R-Lubbock) bans most forms of THC. This is the same bill that the Governor vetoed. Is it going to suffer the same fate?   

SB 10 by Parker (R-Flower Mound) creates an affirmative defense to prosecution for certain victims of human trafficking and victims of compelling prostitution. This bill was vetoed by the Governor in the regular session for being too broad. The new version is narrower, but also more complicated. Read the text for yourself and see what you think.

SB 11 by Hughes (R-Mineola) gives the Attorney General the authority to unilaterally prosecute Election Code crimes. Note that, unlike the in the first special session, Gov. Abbott’s new proclamation for the second one does *not* ask for a constitutional amendment on this topic, just “legislation.” That is because the advocates pushing this issue think they can win Round 3 of an eventual Stephens bout on separation of powers merely through the change of personnel on the Court of Criminal Appeals. As the meme goes, “It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for [them].”

SB 12 by Mayes (R-Galveston) would prohibit local governments from sending money to local associations who advocate on their behalf at the Texas Legislature, unlike any other private organizations or businesses in Texas. This bill could directly affect TDCAA’ s legislative efforts, although that depends entirely on the final version of any legislation.

SB 16 by Hughes is the omnibus judicial courts bill. It creates new courts, new district attorney offices, new punishment enhancements, and various other changes. Importantly, the bill includes a new reporting requirement for local prosecutors regarding some bail provisions and the resources prosecutors have on hand to carry out their work. This was a stand-alone bill from the regular session that failed to pass but was in the vetoed omnibus bill, and it’s back again in this new version.

SB 14 by King (R-Weatherford) is a priority bill for CLEAT that would create a uniform confidentiality standard for law enforcement personnel files. The most recent version protects the ability of unconfirmed disciplinary issues to be disclosed in the criminal discovery process.

As we said, the Senate does not want to hear from you on these bills, they’ve already been there, done that during the first special session. The House may be a different story, though, so if you support or oppose any of these measures, you might want to set up bill alerts for them because the notice for House hearings could be slim or none starting this weekend. (And if you need help setting up such alerts on the free state legislative website, contact Hector for details.)

Not a Full House

The Texas House still went ahead with some business this week despite missing some of its members. On Wednesday, the House Committee on Public Health held a marathon hearing on House Bill 5 by Representative VanDeaver (R-New Boston), which mirrors the Senate’s THC ban bill. Kaufman County Criminal District Attorney Erleigh Wiley, Hill County Attorney David Holmes, and Collin County Criminal District Attorney Greg Willis testified remotely at the hearing in support of that legislation. Public testimony at the hearing was overwhelmingly against an all-out ban, but that does not help predict lawmakers’ votes.

Legislative Update Courses

Are you wondering what the Texas Legislature did for you this past legislative session?  Are you wondering how you can learn about all the new prosecutorial tools that will help you seek justice? Well, wonder no longer. We wrote the book and are polishing up the online CLE course about all the changes, and we’ve also scheduled several live CLE events for those who prefer that option.
Click here for the combo pack that includes the book and the on-line course, which will be available later this month.
Click here to sign up for one of our in-person courses. We’ll be coming to Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Round Rock, with one more bonus offering to be announced soon!

Quotes

“I’m authorized to call a special session every 30 days. As soon as this one is over, I’m gonna call another one, then another one, then another one, then another one.”
-Gov. Greg Abbott, speaking on Fox News Sunday last weekend.

“I’ve been pretty vocal that I’ve not made the investments to test hemp in Houston at the scale that we probably would need to, because I can’t keep up simply with the pills that have fentanyl. So yeah, I’m going to prioritize fentanyl before hemp, and every dollar I spend on testing drugs is a dollar I don’t have to spend on testing a sexual assault kit.”

          –Peter Stout, president and chief executive officer for the Houston Forensic Science Center, discussing why crime labs need more money and time during the House hearing on banning THC. 

“Even the most well-intentioned law enforcement officers and prosecutors can and do, unintentionally, criminalize the very people we’re trying to save. I have unfortunately done so myself. The problem’s clear that across Texas, survivors are routinely charged with crimes they were forced to commit under threats, manipulation, and coercion. Traffickers use this as a form of control, holding the crime over their victims to keep them silent.”         

          –Joseph Scaramucci, the head of a counter-sex trafficking non-profit and retired 20-year member of the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office, discussing the need for SB 10 at the Senate State Affairs Committee hearing on Monday

“Republicans have also created tiplines for bounty hunters, called in bomb threats on our location, and took cops off the beat for political purposes — yet Abbott has still refused to move even a single dollar to flood relief, something he has the unilateral power to do with a stroke of his pen.”      

          -Texas House Democratic Caucus Chairman Gene Wu (D-Houston) discussing the quorum break. 

“Right now, it’s the Wild West.”

          –Chief Steve Dye of the Texas Police Chiefs Association testifying in support of HB 5’s THC ban and explaining that it is difficult to monitor and enforce the current laws.

“It just takes guts to go get them, so let’s see if some people have some guts to go get them. At the same time, the news story will be — since we have the media — ‘somebody arrested grandmas.’ So, you can see the difficulty of getting that one done. Who’s gonna arrest grandma?”
–State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), explaining to the State Republican Executive Committee the dilemma facing Republican House leadership regarding elderly Democratic House members who are breaking quorum at home.

The special session just got more special as Republican House members try to get their Democratic colleagues to come home. They say if you love something then let it go—and if it loves you, it will come back. At the Capitol, they say if it does not come back, then issue warrants, ask the FBI to drag them home, and boot them from office.

Special Session on Pause

The Special Session at the Texas Capitol is on pause as there is no quorum in the Texas House. More than 50 Democrat House members left town, and now Republican House members along with state leadership are trying to figure out how to get them back to Austin. Governor Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, U.S. Senator John Cornyn, and Speaker Dustin Burrows are asking for the courts and law enforcement to help bring back the Democrat lawmakers.

Governor Abbott has requested that the Texas Rangers investigate the missing Democrats for bribery and other possible criminal violations because “reports indicate that many absentee Texas House Democrats have solicited or received funds to evade conducting legislative business and casting votes.” Under revisions passed by the legislature last decade, legislators get the privilege of being prosecuted in their home county for any public integrity-related crimes, and that includes allegations of bribery. Therefore, the special unit within the Rangers that investigates those types of crimes will send the results of their investigation (if any) to the absconding House Democrats’ hometown prosecutors for further action. The legislature has also written our bribery laws very narrowly when it comes to their own acts, with broad exceptions for almost anything that is reported as a campaign contribution, so whether the Rangers can find any fire beneath all this smoke remains to be seen.

Governor Abbott also filed a motion with the Texas Supreme Court to vacate the seat of Representative Gene Wu (D-Houston), who is the leader of the House Democratic Caucus. For his authority, Abbott cited Article 5, Section 3 of the Texas Constitution that gives that high court the power to issue writs of quo warranto, a rarely used tool to determine whether an elected official has the right to hold office. However, Attorney General Paxton quickly filed his own letter with that court asking it to ignore the governor’s petition as being something outside of his authority to request. “While the Attorney General appreciates the Governor’s passion for ensuring that the Texas House re-establishes the quorum that is necessary to discharge the important business of the Legislature, this Court’s precedent is clear that a ‘quo warranto’ proceeding ‘can only be brought by the attorney general, a county attorney, or a district attorney,’” Paxton wrote in his letter to the Supreme Court’s clerk. Instead of letting the governor jump ahead of him in line, Paxton’s stated plan is to take that kind of legal action after the expiration of the Speaker’s 1:00 p.m. deadline today for wayward members to return to their duties in Austin.

Meanwhile, Senator Cornyn—who is being challenged for his seat by Attorney General Paxton in next year’s primary—wanted to be included in the fun. From Washington, he requested that the FBI assist in bringing back Democrat lawmakers currently located in other states. The FBI acknowledged that it would assist Texas in returning the Democratic lawmakers, but there doesn’t seem to be any authority for the FBI to unilaterally enforce the administrative state warrants that Speaker Burrows issued under the Rules of the Texas House when those lawmakers did not show up this week. Those House Rules state that the House Sergeant-at-Arms can arrest absent members during a quorum break to compel their attendance, but those enforcement powers apply only within the boundaries of the State of Texas.

What’s next? Who knows! That’s what makes the Texas Legislature such a hoot to watch—you can never guess the next plot twist. Can Democratic House members stay on the lam for another 10 days to run out the clock on this special session? Will the state judiciary intervene in legislative business at the request of the executive branch? What new precedents will be set? All we can say is, if you think bad facts make bad law, wait until you see what kind of law is made by crazy facts.

Quotes of the Week

“Our state troopers protect anybody in Illinois, and anybody who’s here in Illinois. And so, whether it’s federal agents coming to Illinois or state Rangers from Texas, if you haven’t broken federal law, you’re basically unwelcome. And there’s no way that our state legislators here, Texas state legislators, can be arrested.”

—Illinois Governor JB Pritzker discussing the possibility of anyone arresting Texas Democrat House members who are residing in his state during the quorum break.

“We’re not walking out on our responsibilities; we’re walking out on a rigged system that refuses to listen to the people we represent. As of today, this corrupt special session is over.”

—Representative Gene Wu (D-Houston) explaining his reasoning for the quorum break.

“Finally. soliciting and accepting funds as consideration for the ongoing violation of legislative duties constitutes bribery under both the Texas Constitution and the Texas Penal Code.”

—Governor Abbott in his filing for an Emergency Petition For Writ of Quo Warranto asking the Supreme Court to remove Representative Gene Wu (D-Houston) from office.

The Special Session kicked off an ominous week where the world lost Ozzy, Theo, and the Hulkster. Let’s hope the rest of the special session will be less tragic. However, after the Lt. Governor’s total ban on THC was vetoed by the Governor, the Lt. Governor did what anyone would do, and he teed up another total ban on THC, but with more lipstick. It looks like their weekly breakfast meetings will be serving eggs and tension.

Putting the “special” in special session

The House convened Monday for 10 minutes and promptly adjourned until Thursday. Ditto for Thursday, adjourning until 10:00 a.m. on Monday. Meanwhile, hearings on redistricting and flood relief were scheduled. The Senate took longer to get themselves sorted out on Monday but then just like Vin Diesel it hit the nitrous oxide button and rocketed ahead, as it usually does. In a nutshell:

• The Senate convened around 1 p.m. Monday.
• While they debated redistricting issues, Senate bills were filed on various topics, including regulating THC, authorizing the AG to prosecute election crimes, and banning so-called “taxpayer funded lobbying.” (More on those below.)
• At 5 p.m. Monday, the Senate postponed all applicable rules to hear those three bills on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. in the Senate State Affairs Committee.
• Those bills were heard Tuesday morning and voted out of committee unanimously. They are scheduled to be heard on Monday, July 28, by the entire Senate where they will likely be voted out and sent to the House. 

SB 5: THC

The bill to ban most forms of THC was refiled in this special session as SB 5 by Perry (R-Lubbock). This sequel to SB 3 from the regular session is very similar to that vetoed bill but includes new carve-outs for various agricultural products and certain interstate commerce practices. Whether those changes are enough to appease the governor’s concerns remains to be seen. Kaufman County Criminal DA Erleigh Wiley testified in support of the bill, along with other law enforcement representatives. After several hours of testimony, the bill was approved by the Senate State Affairs Committee. It now awaits a floor vote (July 28), then it’s off to the House.

SB 11: Election crime prosecutions

The bill to authorize the AG to unilaterally prosecute Election Code crimes after six months of inaction by a local prosecutor was refiled as SB 11 by Hughes. This idea died twice in the House during the regular session as SB 1026 by Hughes and HB 5138 by Shaheen. It was laid out by the chairman, the committee heard minimal testimony (and none that was new), and then the bill was approved. It will be brought to the Senate floor on July 28.

SB 12: Taxpayer funded lobbying

The bill to take yet another crack at stopping certain groups from participating in the legislative process was refiled as SB 12 by Middleton. This bill is similar to SB 19 from the regular session, which ultimately died in the House after being amended in the Senate in a manner that made clear that it did not apply to a group of organizations that included TDCAA; however, that was contrary to its author’s wishes. The language in SB 12 starts anew without that amendment, but it does have one change: It specifically does not apply to organizations that solely serve sheriffs or law enforcement officers. (Lucky them.) Like the bills above, the committee heard very little new in the way of testimony and then passed it on to the full Senate for consideration on July 28.

The irony of a bill designed to limit the input of local officials being fast-tracked in this manner to … well, limit the input of local officials … is the kind of thing we love about the Texas legislature. You really can’t make it up.

Next week

Because this is a special session, advanced notice on many happenings will be rare. That is not a bug in the system, it is a feature—and one that legislators will take full advantage of when they want to avoid or short-circuit dissent. Prepare accordingly as both chambers meet on Monday. 

Quotes of the Week

​​“I’m proud to be from the [Rio Grande Valley], and I’m proud to say that in the RGV, people vote for the person, not the party.”

—Tejano superstar Bobby Pulido discussing his possible congressional bid in South Texas to challenge Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg

“Your periodic reminder that, in claiming his innocence, Roberson said *in writing* that the woman he was sleeping with spiked Nikki off the floor and then they went back to sleep. She didn’t die of pneumonia.”

—Representative Mitch Little (R-Lewisville) commenting on the new execution date set for Robert Robertson.  

“That means a person could be immune not only for acts of prostitution that are linked to their own prior victimization, but also for raping a child, murdering a law enforcement officer, or engaging in acts of terrorism.”

—Governor Greg Abbott discussing his veto of SB 1278 that will be brought back for discussion during the special session. SB 1278 provided legal protections for human trafficking victims coerced into crimes during their captivity.

“This is turning Texas into a nanny state. This is about the alcohol lobby and the pharmaceutical lobby. You want to talk about poison. Pharmaceuticals are the poison.”

—Mitch Fuller, a representative for Texas VFW, testifying against Senate Bill 5, the newest proposed ban on THC.

“We will regulate it by banning it because we have tried regulation.”

—State Sen. Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), author of SB 5, during Tuesday’s Senate committee hearing on the bill.

Special Session

Governor Abbott controls the overtime legislative sessions and has set the focus on the tragic Hill Country floods. Lawmakers are tasked with passing laws concerning flood warning systems, emergency communications, natural disaster preparation, and relief funding for impacted areas.

However, the agenda does not stop there. There are 18 agenda items for the upcoming special session that begins at noon on Monday, July 21. A special session can last no longer than 30 days, and lawmakers are supposed to focus on the governor’s agenda. Undeterred by the rules, though, lawmakers have already promised to file bills important to them and their districts or refile bills from the regular session that never made it across the finish line. Everything has to start anew, meaning the bill numbers will change, but the battle lines will not.

The agenda items that we will most closely monitor are:

Regulate hemp-derived products / Protect children from THC: The most controversial bill to be reconsidered may be Senate Bill 3. That all-out ban on consumable hemp and THC products, which we outlined here, was vetoed by Governor Abbott. The Legislature must now create a law that will appease the Lt. Governor, who has promised to outlaw THC products, and at the same time appease the Governor, who wants THC regulated more like alcohol. Lt. Gov. Patrick readily acknowledged this Catch-22, stating, “He (Governor Abbott) has now put us in a box.” Can lawmakers thread that needle with the perfect bill? Ask us again in mid-August. 

State Judicial Department: Senate Bill 2878 was vetoed by Governor Abbott but it is on the agenda. It was an omnibus bill that creates new courts, new district attorney offices, new punishment enhancements, and various other changes. Lawmakers are tasked with removing the policy in the bill that allowed automatic expunctions for completing pretrial intervention programs. A bill this large is like a cruise ship that lawmakers like to put their own bills on as stowaways. We will keep you posted to what gets added or taken away from this bill as it starts its voyage anew. 

Protect human trafficking victims: Senate Bill 1278 would have created an affirmative defense to prosecution for victims of trafficking or compelling prostitution. Governor Abbott stated the bill went too far and that he preferred a more narrowly tailored piece of legislation. It will be up the author, Senator Tan Parker, to carve out specifics for victim status to be used as a defense to criminal charges. 

Police personnel records: SB 781 and HB 2486 were priority bills for CLEAT that will have another chance at passing during the special session. The bills would create a uniform confidentiality standard for law enforcement personnel files. The bills aim to prohibit public disclosure of unsubstantiated complaints in personnel files. It is unclear how these bills would align with Brady and Giglio requirements, but amendments to address that issue were tacked onto SB 781 near the end of the regular session, so let’s hope those survive re-filing.   

Attorney General election powers: A handful of joint resolutions filed during the regular session to give the Attorney General the ability to prosecute voter fraud were never debated in the regular session but will now get another chance at passing. A constitutional amendment would require support from two-thirds of both chambers and then voter approval in a statewide election. Attorney General Paxton campaigned and was successful in removing three of the justices that ruled against his ability to prosecute election crimes, but the odds of finding 100 votes in the House for such a joint resolution are still slim. That may be possible in a special session only due to horse trading, threats, or both; we’ll see which the governor chooses. But perhaps the key takeaway from this topic being added to the call of the special session is that it confirms this as something personally important to the governor, not just the current attorney general.

Ban taxpayer-funded lobbying: Senate Bill 19, which prohibited political subdivisions from using public funds to hire registered lobbyists or contribute to organizations that engage in lobbying activities, will also get another chance at life. Senator and Attorney General candidate Mayes Middleton authored this bill that never made it out of the House. The bill was a Lt. Governor priority that left the Senate with an amendment by Senator Robert Nichols, who has since announced his retirement, that carved out an exception for nonprofit organizations similar to TDCAA. Whether the governor’s preferred version will include that carve-out is unknown.

As if this is not enough, the Legislature is also tasked with redrawing Congressional maps to comply with President Trump’s directive to increase the Republican majority in Congress. This process usually attracts congressional members to the Texas Capitol building as they campaign to protect their districts and future political careers. There is already a lawsuit concerning the Texas Congressional maps, and all testimony and actions concerning redistricting is fair game for evidence in the eventual lawsuits. 

Again, all this must be completed within 30 days. We will keep you posted with weekly updates as events unfold and try to make it all make sense, but do not be surprised when the next special session gets announced. 

Suzanne McDaniel Award

We are currently accepting nominations for this award to recognize a staff member who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to deliver victim services. More information is available here. Please email Jalayne Robinson with your nominations or questions. Nominations must be received by Friday, July 25, 2025.

DPS Crime Lab notice on “total THC”

All of you should have received a customer notification from the director of the DPS Crime Laboratories about their new protocol for reporting THC quantities in vape cartridges. To make a long story short: Their testing process may turn THCA into THC, so the resulting quantity will be “total THC” even though THCA may not be illegal under Texas’s current laws. This problem could have been resolved had SB 3 become law, but the veto of that THC ban has put the issue back in play (as mentioned above). Whether or how the legislature will address it (again) during the special session is unclear. For now, be aware that this presents yet another evidentiary impediment to prosecution of small-quantity vape cartridge cases in your jurisdictions, as well as concerns about past cases already resolved using this testing method.

DPS Crime Lab portal rules

Also from our friends at the DPS Crime Lab are new administrative rules governing the still-under-construction Crime Laboratory Records (CLR) Portal. Those rules can be found in this PDF excerpt from the June 27, 2025, issue of the Texas Register, pages 55–58. One key change made by the agency in response to public input was to narrow a prosecutor’s duty under the rules to “identify at least one contact in the [prosecuting] attorney’s office to designate and keep up to date the person(s) authorized to access the portal under Government Code §411.162.” The proposed version of that rule would have required prosecutors to “maintain up-to-date portal access to defense counsel and others,” a much broader potential duty. Thank you to 106^th Judicial DA Philip Mack Furlow and his staff for providing that input on behalf of all of you, and thanks to the agency staff for taking constructive feedback and adopting it.

Conference registrations now open!

Registrations are now open for our Annual Criminal & Civil Law Conference, our online Legislative Update, and several in-person Legislative Updates. Visit our training webpage for additional information.

Vetoes

Governor Abbott signed 1,155 bills into law. The list included SB 293, which means pay raises go into effect on September 1, 2025. (For more details about what that means in practice, read our prior summary.) Congratulations! It is well deserved. 

Governor Abbott also vetoed 28 bills including 13 different bills that we were tracking for you. (More on a couple of those below.) The most notable veto for the public was Senate Bill 3, an all-out ban on all consumable hemp and THC products, which we outlined here. It was a Lt. Governor priority and was backed by law enforcement. Abbott waited until late last night to veto the all-out ban. He stated that he preferred to see THC regulated similar to alcohol and laid out what that might look like in a four page veto proclamation.

Lt. Governor Patrick held a press conference today in response to the veto and stated that he was “puzzled” by the veto, especially because he claims the governor told him the bill would not be vetoed. He also took issue with the last-minute unilateral action and with varying aspects of the governor’s reasoning. In conclusion, Lt. Governor Patrick claimed that the governor’s regulation plan would result in legalizing recreational marijuana for adults in Texas, and he will not allow such a law to pass the Senate. Only time will tell if the rhetorical temperature on this topic cools down or stays heated this summer.

Special session

What happens next? The vetoed bills are dead, but Governor Abbott called for a special session to begin on July 21, 2025, to address various issues from some of those vetoed bills (such as SB 3) and to give the legislature another chance to pass them in a more agreeable form.

What is a special session? Only the Governor may call a special session, which can last no longer than 30 days and is supposed to be limited to the topics designated by the Governor. Do not worry though. Lawmakers still file hundreds of bills that are not on topic to that special session agenda. Those off-topic bills have their own built-in kill switch that any single lawmaker can push with a point of order, but bills not “on the call” of a special session can still pass if no legislator objects.

Governor Abbott put six topics on the initial agenda for the special session. In addition to regulating consumable hemp products, other bills (which the Governor vetoed) that we will be closely tracking include:
Senate Bill 1278: Relating to an affirmative defense to prosecution for victims of trafficking of persons or compelling prostitution.
Senate Bill 2878: Relating to the operation and administration of and practices and procedures related to proceedings in the judicial branch of state government.

Senate Bill 2878 was this session’s 139-page omnibus courts bill. Governor Abbott stated that most of the bill should become law but there are policy decisions in the bill that need to be excluded, including automatic expunctions for completing any pretrial intervention program. For now, the result is that the new courts, new district attorney offices, new punishment enhancements, and various other changes in that huge bill are all dead.

Governor Abbott released his initial list of issues for the special session, but he can add any topic to the special session agenda at any time. Other rumored topics include redistricting (to help create more Republican seats in Congress), an abortion pill ban, a taxpayer lobbying ban, and anything else that might be helpful in an election year that will have all statewide positions up for grabs. We will keep you posted as this is a fluid situation.

Never a dull moment under the Big Pink Dome! 

Terminado, fini, fertig, finito or just Sine Die. The 89^th Legislative Session is over and now we wait to see which bills made the long treacherous journey to the governor’s desk just to feel the cold stamp of a veto. It is a cruel world for all those bills dreaming of becoming law. Lawmaking is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.

Raises

Let’s not bury the lead. Raises could be on their way to elected prosecutors! If you have not been paying attention, then you missed out on the lawmakers’ last-second heroics to pass a judicial pay raise. SB 293 increases the judicial benchmark salary from $140,000 to $175,000. That’s a $35,000 raise (25 percent). If that significant increase avoids a gubernatorial veto, it will take effect on September 1, 2025. We broke down the math earlier this week. Please reach out to Shannon if you have further questions on how this raise affects your salary. 

Session for the ages

The legislative session began with over 9,000 bills trying to become law. After 140 days, the lawmakers sent just over 1300 bills to the governor’s desk. Governor Abbott has until June 22 to veto any bills that he does not want passed into law. Any bill that the governor does not sign or veto will pass into law on June 22, and most will go into effect on September 1. Governor Abbott vetoed 76 bills last session. The passage rate for bills this session was just under 14% compared to the historical 20% passage rate of bills. It goes to show that this session was an extra difficult gauntlet to overcome to pass bills. The legislators also passed 17 constitutional amendments that will be on the November ballot, the highest number of amendments since 2003.

Bail reform passes

SJR 5 by Huffman will be one of the constitutional amendments on the November ballot. SJR 5 would allow judges to deny bail to people accused of certain violent crimes. The House added amendments to include the right to an attorney at those no-bail hearings and to require that the State offers proof that a defendant is a public safety or flight risk. Those amendments helped gain the elusive Democratic votes needed to pass a constitutional amendment (which requires 100 votes in the 150-member House). The governor praised the work of the legislature in passing SJR 5 at a signing ceremony in Houston this past week. SJR 5, if passed by the voters, will take effect after that vote is officially canvassed and accepted by the Secretary of State (usually sometime in late November or early December).  However, there will be other bail reform measures that will be law in September 2025. SB 9 by Huffman is the omnibus bail reform-enabling legislation for that joint resolution 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 revises the public safety report (PSR) system, limits appointed magistrates’ authority to set or reduce bail, limits personal bonds for more types of crimes, clarifies the process for prosecutors to appeal allegedly insufficient bail, and makes lots of other changes. SB 40 by Huffman prohibits the use of public funds by political subdivisions to pay a nonprofit organization for depositing bail money on behalf of defendants. It also allows residents the right to seek injunctive relief if these restrictions are violated. And HB 75 will require any finding of no probable cause at magistration to be made in writing and include the reasons for that finding in the court record.

ABCD bills summary

The legislators thought of many ways to task other officials with prosecutors’ constitutional duties this session, but only one passed on to the Governor’s desk.
HB 45 by Hull (OAG prosecution of human trafficking after 180 days of inaction by local district attorney).
Below is the non-exhaustive list of “ABCD” bills that died in the gauntlet of the legislative process (thanks in part to local prosecutors educating the legislators on the real world effects of these bills!). 
SB 2384 by Hughes (creation of regional district attorneys)
HB 933 by Spiller and its Senate companion is SB 1210 (SCOTX > CCA)
HB 2309 by Villalobos (OAG forfeitures in human trafficking and other crimes)
HB 5138 by Shaheen (OAG prosecution of election crimes)
HB 5318 by Louderback (OAG prosecution of certain public order crimes)
SB 16 by Hughes (OAG prosecution of new crime of illegal voter registration)
SB 1367 by Hughes (SPA as statewide trial prosecutor)
SB 1861 by Hughes (CCA appointment of special prosecutor)
SB 2743 by Hagenbuch (OAG prosecution of election crimes upon removal of local prosecutor)
And let’s not forget HB 3664, the grand jury reform bill that took multiple different forms during the session as its main proponent repeatedly sought to push something, anything over the finish line despite uniform opposition from prosecutors. Ultimately, that problematic bill died along with the others mentioned above. However, don’t be surprised if one or more of these ideas come up again as legislative study topics during the interim or as future bills next session.

Veto period

We are now in the 20-day veto period that ends on Sunday, June 22, 2025, as mentioned earlier. If you want more information on how to contact the governor’s office to request that he sign or veto a bill, contact Hector for those details. Our next newsletter from Austin will update you on what got axed by the governor’s pen and what new laws take immediate effect (before September 1, 2025).

Quotes of the week

“I told you I was coming for the pimps! I’m going to take their money, and I’m going to give it to the people they’ve been running over.”
—Representative Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston) while introducing an amendment to SB 2167 that would take funds recovered during human trafficking investigations at massage establishments and place them into an account used to combat future human trafficking.

“Are you aware that my dad worked for Oscar Meyer Weiner for 25 years and drove the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile?”
—Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano) responding to questions on the House floor from Representative Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood).

“I have never gone back and forth as much between the House and the Senate in one day as I have today.”
—Senator Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) discussing the debate between both chambers regarding the link between judges’ pay and lawmaker pensions hours before the end of the legislative session.

“And now that we’ve all fought, each other and together, we all know that we’re one House. And if we remember that, we close the historic 89^th session today with an eye towards an incredible 90th session ahead. And on behalf of the members of the 89^th Legislative Session, Mr. Speaker, we thank you. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House of Representatives of the 89^th Legislature Regular Session stand adjourned, Sine Die.”
—Representative Joe Moody (D-El Paso) making the motion to adjourn the 89^th Texas Legislature in the Texas House of Representatives, Sine Die.

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