Only 31 days left to this regular session. (Serenity now!)

The Senate is basically done until Monday, while the House is still debating bills on the floor as we send this out. It’s been a busy week due to the Easter break—for example, we were at the Capitol until 2am this morning finishing up yesterday’s hearings—so this update will be a tad skimpy, with more information to follow this weekend.

Judicial branch pay raises

House Bill 2384 by Leach (R-Plano), the tiered pay raise bill that includes district and county attorneys, has been set for debate on the House floor sometime on Monday, April 29 (although it could be pushed back a day or two). The fiscal note has been updated to include county attorneys, but we are still working with the author to resolve the 2.0-vs.-2.3 multiplier error we briefed you about last week. This bill may be your lone opportunity for a pay raise from this legislature, so now is the time to contact your state representative(s) and let them know you want one!

Grand jury hearing

On Wednesday, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee took testimony on SB 1492 by Whitmire (D-Houston), the Senate version of grand jury reform. Harris County DA Kim Ogg, Midland County DA Laura Nodolf, Coryell County DA Dusty Boyd, Galveston County CDA Jack Roady, 46^th (Vernon) DA Staley Heatly, and Kenedy & Kleberg County DA John Hubert all provided expert testimony in opposition to the bill. There was significant discussion among the committee members about the system in general and whether an interim study might be in order—one that would look at how Texas’ felony charging practices compare to other states and what might be more suitable for a modern, 21^st-century court system. That suggestion was well-taken by several prosecutors opposing the bill, but the advocates and public figures pushing the bill behind the scenes may not be convinced that they need to throw in the towel and go that route just yet. The bill was left pending due to lack of a voting quorum, but the chairman could call a vote on his bill at any time next week. Meanwhile, the Senate bill’s near-companion in the House, HB 2398 by S. Thompson (D-Houston), remains pending in that chamber’s Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. If you know members of those House or Senate committees, feel free to reach out and remind them of your position; we know certain current and former statewide officials are still lobbying hard for these bills, so you should too!

Updates on other major issues

Here’s a run-down of where some other issues that we’ve been following this session currently stand (listed alphabetically):

AG’s expanded authority: HB 3979 by Leach (R-Plano) is now in the House Calendars Committee, where we expect General Paxton and his staff to continue advocating for it to be put on the House calendar for full debate. The Senate companion, SB 1257 by Huffman (R-Houston), has been referred to the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and awaits consideration—although that may be a perfunctory one because the companion bill has already had a public hearing.

Asset Forfeiture: HB 1615 by Schaefer (R-Tyler) to require the State to disprove the innocent owner defense will head to the House Calendars Committee as soon as the paperwork is put in order.

Death penalty: HB 1139 by S. Thompson (D-Houston) to require pre-trial determination of intellectual disability in death penalty cases was on the House floor calendar for yesterday but was not reached on the calendar due to other business; it is likely to be considered Monday or Tuesday of next week. Note that we expect it to be amended on the floor to address some prosecutors’ concerns about the timing of this hearing and the State’s right to appeal; if you need more information about that, contact Shannon.

Deferred adjudication for certain DWIs: HB 3582 by Murr (R-Junction) is set for consideration on the House floor next week.

Restrictions on legislative input: HB 281 by Middleton (R-Wallisville) remains stuck in the House Calendars Committee but its proponents are trying hard to get it set for a floor debate. SB 29 by Hall (R-Edgewood) passed the Senate and has been received in the House, but it has not yet been referred to a House committee. It also does not have a House companion pending elsewhere (a good sign for those concerned about it).

Bills in House Calendars Committee

There are currently more than 600 bills in the House Calendars Committee, of which we are tracking more than 160. We are going to list here some of those tracked bills on which prosecutors testified for or against. If you support or oppose any of them and know members of that committee, consider letting them know.

Those bills include: HB 24 (FV enhancement if child is present), HB 64 (expunging deferred adjudications), HB 176 (no waiver of expunction/OND rights), HB 281 (limits on local gov’t lobbying), HB 309 (indecent assault), HB 1223 (custody interference), HB 1609 (protecting grand jurors’ names), HB 1635 (CSCD pretrial diversion funding), HB 1753 (early release from parole), HB 1771 (decriminalizing prostitution if < 18), HB 1936 (no death penalty if serious mental illness), HB 2003 (contingent fee agreements), HB 2134 (limits on medical experts in CPS cases), HB 2260 (non-lawyer JP blood draws), HB 2826 (contingent fee agreements), HB 3331 (CPS investigations), HB 3402 (walking quorums), HB 3512 (probation reforms), and HB 3800 (human trafficking case reporting).

Floor calendars

Yesterday was the first time this session that the House did not complete its daily calendar of bills to be considered on the floor. (That’s what happens when the TABC sunset bill turns into a Christmas tree on which members try to hang all their dead booze bills as amendments!) The House will now “roll the calendar,” which means bills that should’ve been heard this week will be heard early next week, with subsequently-calendared bills also being pushed back, and so on and so on. Bills scheduled to be debated early next week include (in order of appearance on the calendar): HB 629 by Landgraf (protective order registry), HB 3106 by Goldman (sex assault investigation information-sharing), HB 4009 by Toth (victim-offender mediation), HB 63 by Moody (civil infraction for POM [to be amended on floor into a Class C criminal penalty]), HB 1139 by S. Thompson (intellectual disability in death penalty cases), HB 2730 by Leach (anti-SLAPP civil actions), HB 1528 by Rose (reporting of family violence findings in Class Cs), HB 2384 by Leach (judicial branch pay raises), HB 354 by Herrero (providing police officers and firefighters an exemption from jury duty), HB 2303 by Moody (legalizing certain fantasy sports betting), HB 2048 by Zerwas (DRP repeal), HB 3582 by Murr (DWI deferred adjudication), and HB 2321 by Morrison (enhancing penalties for illegal oyster harvesting).

In the Senate, bills eligible to be considered as of Monday include: SB 11 by Taylor (omnibus school safety bill), SB 562 by Zaffirini (incompetency commitments), SB 653 by Hall (ban on red light cameras), SB 691 by Johnson (ending automatic DL suspension for drug convictions), SB 970 by Creighton (contingent fee agreements), and SB 1125 by Hinojosa (video teleconferencing for forensic analyst testimony).

Committee hearings

Here are summaries of relevant committee notices posted for Monday. Senate bills being heard in House committees (and vice-versa) have a high likelihood of passage if they are being heard this early. We may supplement this list in a subsequent update if more committees post relevant notices.

Monday, April 29

House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence – 8:00 a.m., Room E2.026

• SB 346 by Zaffirini consolidating state and local court costs
• HB 2936 by Hinojosa revising notice and filing requirements in certain mental health proceedings

Senate State Affairs – 9:00 a.m., Senate Chamber

• HB 121 by Swanson increasing notice requirements for certain handgun trespass cases
• HB 1996 by Leman requiring immigration admonitions to be given orally and in writing

House Criminal Jurisprudence – 2:00 p.m. or upon adjournment, E2.012

• HB 949 by Minjarez increasing punishments for certain aggravated assaults
• HB 977 by Thierry relating to financial abuse of the elderly
• HB 1073 by Meyer increasing the statutes of limitations for certain crimes against children
• HB 1317 by Moody altering the compensation of certain court-appointed attorneys
• HB 1513 by Coleman adding gender identity or expression to the hate crimes statute
• HB 1719 by S. Thompson reducing penalties for certain Penalty Group 1 offenses
• HB 2258 by Smith requiring ignition interlock as a condition of bond in certain DWI cases
• HB 2388 by Landgraf increasing the penalty for DOC-Peeping Tom
• HB 2749 by Neave creating grants for pretrial diversion of pregnant defendants
• HB 3027 by Ramos relating to orders of non-disclosure for certain trafficking/prostitution cases
• HB 3031 by Calanni requiring sex offender registration for certain prostitution and online solicitation cases involving child victims
• HB 3426 by S. Thompson creating a new subsequent writ based on non-scientific evidence
• HB 3920 by Dutton creating the Inmate Legal Services Office
• HB 3956 by Hefner facilitating the testimony of a witness with a disability
• HB 3982 by Leach creating an offense for providing material support to foreign terrorists
• HB 4341 by Collier increasing penalties for making a firearm accessible to a child
• HB 4375 by Stephenson relating to anti-theft electronic monitoring devices
• HB 4602 by J. Gonzalez changing the culpable mental state for organized retail theft

Scattershots

Here are some stories and articles we don’t have time to summarize, but they might be of interest to some of you:

How Dallas County’s DA shook—and confused—police and politicians with plan for “ending mass incarceration” (Dallas Morning News)

Travis DA making new rules for small-amount drug cases (Austin American-Statesman)

Jacqui Saburido, the face of campaigns against drunken driving, dies at 40 (Austin American-Statesman)

Gun rights activist wants House Speaker to apologize (Texas Tribune)

Quotes of the Week

“I’m always struggling to recruit and retain staff. Why would you want to go work behind bars and get spit on or sworn at?”

Dr. Joseph Penn, director of mental health services for TDCJ. 

“It is reckless and irresponsible for a district attorney, or any public official, to say theft for less than $750 is not going to be prosecuted. That is legalizing stealing for property less than $750. What kind of message does that send, for one? But for another—listen, if your district attorney wants to change the law, he’s in the wrong job. He needs to run for the legislature and come here to try to change the law. His job, his oath, is to enforce the law that exists, and he should prosecute anybody for stealing anything!”

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-Houston), criticizing a new policy announced by Dallas County Criminal DA John Creuzot (D), on KXAS-TV’s Lone Star Politics last weekend (video here starting at 16:00 mark).

“We’re pretty liberal when it comes to pretrial diversion. He took his punishment and it was done.”

El Paso DA Jaime Esparza, referring to the resolution of presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s 1998 DWI charge.

Happy Passover, Good Friday, and Easter, y’all! Sorry to interrupt your holiday festivities, but even when the legislature is on a break there is still work to be done.

Grand jury bill set for Wednesday

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee has posted a hearing for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. to consider various bills in a public hearing, including SB 1492 by Whitmire (D-Houston). That bill is similar to HB 2398 by S. Thompson (D-Houston) in that it puts counsel in the grand jury room during questioning, imposes delays to allow witnesses to hire and consult with counsel, requires recording of all proceedings, requires presentation of exculpatory evidence, and limits re-presentments. Unlike the House bill, though, the Senate bill does not include pre-presentment discovery to the witness or allow prosecutors to be sued.

If you want to participate in the consideration of SB 1492 at Wednesday’s hearing, contact Rob. To date, prosecutors have done a good job in the House making clear why these bills may be mis-directed, have unintended consequences, or simply be bad policy. However, we know that advocates for the bills are working hard behind the scenes lobbying committee members to vote for them anyway. Politics can trump policy at the legislature, so those of you who know senators on the committee (membership available here) should consider doing the same.

Committee hearings

Here are summaries of relevant committee notices posted for the upcoming week. You’ll notice that some Senate bills are now being heard in House committees and vice-versa; those bills have a high likelihood of passage if they are being heard this early. Also, all of these hearing are likely to have bills added to them at the last minute.

Monday, April 22

Closed

Tuesday, April 23

House Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence – 8:00 a.m., Room JHR 120 (Reagan Bldg.)

• SB 362 by Huffman to release incompetent non-violent arrestees to outpatient treatment
• HB 1383 by Lozano exempting firefighters and police officers from jury service
• HB 1637 by Miller requiring trauma-informed training for judges and attorneys in CPS cases
• HB 3136 by Cain relating to judicial permission for carrying a handgun in a courthouse
• HB 3409 by Reynolds requiring trauma-informed training for judges, prosecutors, and officers
• HB 3918 by Dutton authorizing lawsuits against government employees for certain torts
• HB 4021 by Dominguez prohibiting carrying of a weapon within 100’ of courthouse premises
• HB 4551 by Dutton authorizing costs and fees in lawsuits against local officials who fail to perform a lawful duty

Wednesday, April 24

Senate Criminal Justice – 8:30 a.m., 2E.20 (Betty King Committee Room)

• SB 207 by Kolkhorst expanding money laundering laws to include digital currency
• SB 696 by Huffman mandating peace officer training on human trafficking
• SB 803 by Rodriguez requiring certain mental health reports be shared with a sheriff and personal bond office
• SB 1147 by Buckingham authorizing “medication-assisted treatment” for DWI probationers
• SB 1331 by Hinojosa expanding the authority of the Texas Forensic Science Commission
• SB 1377 by Buckingham expanding Medicaid fraud statutes to apply to all health care fraud
• SB 1492 by Whitmire mandating new grand jury procedures and remedies

House Juvenile Justice & Family Issues – 10:30 a.m. or upon adjournment, E2.012

• HB 4103 by White allowing discretionary sealing of certain juvenile records
• HB 4267 by Wu requiring a juvenile to be allowed to wear normal clothing during proceedings

Thursday, April 25

House Corrections – 8:00 a.m., E2.030

• HB 3563 by Farrar creating an offense for tampering with an electronic monitor while on probation or parole
• HB 4460 by Allen barring revocation for technical violations while on probation for state jail and third-degree felonies

House Criminal Jurisprudence – 2:00 p.m. or upon adjournment, E2.016

• SB 201 by Huffman increasing looting penalties during a disaster or evacuation
• SB 341 by Huffman barring appointment of defense lawyers as prosecutors pro tem
• SB 961 by Bettencourt authorizing cite-and-release for certain criminal trespasses
• SB 1259 by Huffman criminalizing fertility fraud
• SB 2191 by Whitmire prohibiting pretrial detention in out-of-state facilities
• HB 1261 by K. Bell expanding the presumption of child endangerment
• HB 1955 by Dutton requiring personal bond for misdemeanors absent good cause
• HB 2049 by Collier expanding the lack of consent list for sexual assault crimes
• HB 2499 by Springer making intrusive touching by TSA/security officers a crime
• HB 2524 by Anderson relating to notices in certain theft of service offenses
• HB 3135 by Cain removing certain defenses to showing children obscene/harmful material
• HB 3424 by S. Thompson expanding certain definitions for post-conviction DNA testing
• HB 3555 by Farrar adding massage therapy to the sexual assault lack-of-consent law
• HB 3594 by S. Thompson applying certain elements of the Michael Morton Act retroactively
• HB 3849 by C. Bell clarifying the powers of personal bond/pretrial services offices
• HB 3926 by Tinderholt creating an offense for Munchausen-by-proxy conduct
• HB 4143 by Dutton increasing the jail layout rate from $100 to $200
• HB 4169 by Moody changing state jail felonies to fourth-degree felonies; reducing certain punishment ranges for drug and property offenses
• HJR 62 by Murr authorizing the denial of bail for certain offenders

By the way, if you are watching a House bill that has not yet been heard in a House committee and is not listed above, you better get it added to one of these lists or it is dead. (Senate bills still have another week or two of wiggle room in the Senate, though.)

Other bills on the move

Here are updates on a fraction of the bills making progress this past week:

Passed the House, headed to the Senate: HB 8 by Neave (testing evidence in sex crimes), HB 11 by E. Thompson (transferring DL program from DPS to DMV), HB 667 by K. King (sexual assault enhancement involving incest), HB 892 by Kuempel (county regulation of game rooms), HB 902 by Landgraf (assault of pregnant woman), HB 979 by Hernandez (DNA sample upon arrest for Class A assault), HB 1177 by Phelan (carrying handgun during disaster declaration), HB 1355 by Button (extra-jurisdictional execution of DWI blood warrants), HB 1364 by Wu (limiting juvenile jurisdiction over children aged 10–11), HB 1452 by S. Thompson (accelerating eligibility for certain nondisclosures), and HB 1661 by Herrero (continuous family violence).

Approved by a House committee (heading to the Calendars Committee): HB 1359 by Wu (statewide courthouse security access pass for lawyers), HB 1631 by Stickland (banning red light cameras), HB 1753 by Allen (early release from parole supervision), HB 2003 by Leach (limits on counties’ contingent legal fee arrangements), HB 2826 by G. Bonnen (more limits on counties’ contingent legal fee arrangements), HB 3016 by Schaefer (handguns in cars), HB 3976 by Leach (civil collection of criminal restitution), and HB 3979 by Leach (AG trafficking authority).

Passed the Senate, headed to the House: SB 29 by Hall (ban on local funds for influencing legislation), SB 370 by Watson (employment protections for jurors), SB 719 by Fallon (death penalty for murder of child under 15), SB 891 by Huffman (new courts/prosecutors), SB 903 by Hughes (election integrity, including allowing OAG to prosecute “any offense that involves any part of the election process”), SB 1257 by Huffman (AG trafficking authority), SB 1259 by Huffman (fertility fraud), and SCR 18 by Campbell (designating Kyle as the Official Pie Capital of Texas).

Approved by a Senate committee: SB 405 by Birdwell (false report to jailer), SB 562 by Zaffirini (diversion of incompetent offenders from maximum security beds), SB 693 by West (family violence findings), SB 1268 by Watson (multiple victim allocutions), SB 1698 by Whitmire (limiting certification and transfer for juvenile state jail felonies), SB 1803 by Huffman (limiting probation for certain trafficking and prostitution crimes), SB 2114 by West (law enforcement discovery certification), and SB 2381 by Hughes (limiting places where long knives are prohibited).

More Quotes of the Week

“You can put lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig.”

State Rep. Jarvis Johnson (D-Houston), explaining why his HB 1183 would remove Confederate Heroes Day from the state calendar rather than renaming it “Civil War Remembrance Day” as some others have proposed in the past.

“The die was cast and the bill was gonna pass anyway. My vote wasn’t for the measure. My vote was for the Senate itself.”

State Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo), explaining why he voted to allow the Senate to consider SB 2 by Bettencourt (R-Houston), the property tax cap bill, even though he later voted against it.

“You just watch. There is going to be more hemp grown [in Texas] than we could ever process.” 

Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (R-Stephenville), advocating for passage of HB 1325 by T. King (D-Uvalde), which would legalize hemp and hemp products in Texas.

Looking ahead

Upon completion of today’s duties, the House and Senate are taking a much-needed break for the Easter holiday before returning on Tuesday for the final five-week push towards the sine die finish line. With no hearings on Monday, our usual schedule will be compacted; we will update you with a list of bills to be heard next week when we get them.

Budget conferees are set

The Lt. Governor named the Senate’s conferees on HB 1, the state budget bill: Nelson (R-Flower Mound), chair; Huffman (R-Houston), Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), Nichols (R-Jacksonville), and Taylor (R-Friendswood). Starting next week, they will work with the House conferees to craft a final version of HB 1 for both chambers to approve. Those House conferees are: Zerwas, (R-Richmond), chair; G. Bonnen (R-Galveston), S. Davis (R-West University Place), Longoria (D-Mission) and Walle (D-Houston).

Random observations: Six of the ten conferees are from the Greater Houston area. Only two conferees are from north of the I-10 corridor (but one of those two is the Senate chairwoman from the Metroplex). No conferees are from west of the I-35 corridor. (Sorry, West Texas!). Only two conferees are Democrats (both from the House). The Senate conferees are all Republicans, a partisan move not seen since at least 1987. And there are only two minority members despite Texas being a majority-minority state.

We don’t know what any of that means for the final product, but these are the ten legislators who will meet to determine issues like judicial branch pay raises, assistant prosecutor longevity pay, crime lab funding, and more. We’ll let you know if we see white smoke coming from the conference committee chimney on any of those issues.

Judicial branch pay raise

The updated fiscal note for HB 2384 by Leach (R-Plano), the tiered pay raise bill that now includes district and county attorneys, was recently posted online. There are four items in that fiscal note we wanted to mention to you. First, the total cost to the state weighs in at a whopping $59,515,828 for the 2020-2021 biennium. Second, the fiscal note forgot to include an additional $1 million or so needed for county attorney supplement increases. That omission makes the bill even more expensive, but it does not prevent it from passing or being funded. Third, in the opinion of the lawyers at the Employee Retirement System (ERS), this bill resets the multiplier for any DA retiring in the future from the current 2.3 percent to 2 percent. According to ERS, this means that any DA retiring with 8 years of service will actually retire at a lesser annuity than those who retired before the bill takes effect. We are talking with the author about fixing that through an amendment on the House floor to set the multiplier in statute at 2.3 percent. Fourth and finally, this may not be the last version of this bill that you see. House and Senate budget writers have only set aside $34–$42 million for a judicial and DA pay raise, so the benefits under the bill must shrink considerably if it has a chance of passing. To fit under the budgeted amounts, the legislature could choose one or more of the following options: reduce the various percentage of raises (say, from 10 percent down to 5); cut the $10 million bump in judicial retirement benefits; delay the effective date until September 1, 2020 (aka, kicking the can down the road to a future legislature); or cut out prosecutors—which, as you might recall, has always been a possibility in the Senate. Any of these options (and others) are now on the table in the HB 1 conference committee negotiations; we expect Rep. Oscar Longoria (D-Mission) and Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) to take the lead on this issue.

We will continue to monitor this situation closely. If you have questions, contact Rob.

Help *not* wanted

This week the Senate passed SB 29 by Hall (R-Edgewood), the bill that purports to “ban taxpayer-funded lobbying” by barring the expenditure of public funds by local governments:

• To influence legislation; or
• For membership dues “or for any other purpose” related to an association that works on legislation or that doesn’t exist “for the betterment of … all local officials.”

According to proponents, the main goal of the bill is to prohibit local cities, counties, and school districts from hiring outside lobbyists to represent them at the capitol—both hired-gun lobbyists and association employees who interact with legislators. But the language of the bill goes much farther than that. If SB 29 passes in its current form, elected and assistant prosecutors must pay their own way if they want to come to Austin to work on legislation, and y’all will have to reach into your other pocket to pay for any TDCAA conferences, publications, or other services we provide to our members, whether it is related to legislation or not. Thus, while this bill is not primarily directed at you (as a prosecutor) or us (as your professional association), you and we *are* purposely included—make no mistake about that.

The next step for SB 29 is referral to the House State Affairs Committee, which has an 8R–5D partisan split but which is also more independent than its Senate counterpart. If you object to this bill and know a member of that committee, now is the time to make that connection.

Updates on priority issues

Here’s another run-down of where some issues that we’ve been following this session currently stand. Here’s the latest (listed alphabetically):

AG’s expanded authority: SB 1257 by Huffman (R-Houston) passed the Senate by a 28-3 vote yesterday. It will now head to the House, where a substitute version of HB 3989 by Leach (R-Plano) was voted from the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Tuesday by a 6-3 vote (all Rs and Chairwoman Collier [D-Fort Worth] voting aye, remaining Ds voting no). Once the paperwork is completed, the bill will go to the House Calendars Committee, where we expect General Paxton and his staff to continue advocating for it.

Asset Forfeiture: Three civil asset forfeiture reform bills were heard in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and left pending: HB 404 by S. Thompson (D-Houston), HB 472 by Dutton (D-Houston), and HB 1615 by Schaefer (R-Tyler). (Two other bills by Rep. Canales [D-Edinburg] were not heard.) Prosecutors and law enforcement officers opposed the bills as they have in the past, but in case you haven’t noticed, “past results are no guarantee of future success” this session. Those bills are eligible to be voted upon in a formal committee meeting to be held Tuesday morning, so if you are concerned about any of them, reach out to those members. We have reason to believe as of today that HB 1615 (requiring the State to disprove the innocent owner defense) has the greatest likelihood of being approved.

Bail bonds: The House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee did not vote on any of the bail bond reform bills pending before it but may consider one or more of them Tuesday morning.

Death penalty: HB 472 by Dutton (D-Houston) (law of parties) and HB 3938 by Moody (considering victims’ wishes) were heard in committee on Monday and left pending.

Grand jury: HB 2427 by Reynolds (D-Missouri City) and HB 2398 by S. Thompson (D-Houston) are still pending in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee; neither has the votes to get out as of today despite intense lobbying by a former governor, among others. It is up to Chairwoman Collier (D-Fort Worth) to decide whether to bring it up for a vote. If you are curious where things stand as of our last vote check, contact Shannon. Across the rotunda, we have been hearing for several weeks that the Senate version—SB 1492 by Whitmire (D-Houston)—may be set for a hearing in the author’s Criminal Justice Committee at any time. If you want to be notified when those details are confirmed, contact Rob.

Floor calendars and committee notices

Tuesday’s House calendar includes scheduled debate on HB 574 by Dutton (ban on using deferred adjudications to enhance non-sex crimes), HB 1325 by King (legalizing hemp products), HB 1399 by Smith (taking DNA from certain arrestees), HB 1711 by Paddie (digital license plates), HB 2502 by Moody (jail time during probation for hit-and-run fatalities), and HB 2758 by Hernandez (eliminating probation for various trafficking and prostitution crimes). Wednesday’s calendar includes HB 98 by Gonzalez (re-writing the revenge porn law even though the issue is still pending before the CCA) and HB 2789 by Meyer (criminalizing unsolicited “sexting” between adults).

In the Senate, bills on the Intent Calendar for Tuesday include SB 901 by Hughes (election integrity).

Few committees have posted notices for after the holiday break, so we will send a supplemental update when we have more information about those hearings (plus information about other bills moving through the system).

Scattershots

Here are some stories and articles we don’t have time to summarize, but they might be of interest to some of you:

• He committed a $300 million fraud, but left prison under Trump’s justice overhaul (NY Times)
• New census estimates show Texas suburbs dominating national growth (Texas Tribune)
• South Dakota case reflects national debate on banning executions for the mentally ill (The Marshall Project)

Legislative rotation sign-up

Thanks to Callahan County CA Shane Deel, 106^th DA Philip Mack Furlow, Smith County Asst. CDA Chris Gatewood, and Midland County ADA Suzy Prucka for coming to Austin this past week and helping to put out some fires. We still have several volunteer slots open for the next few weeks of the session, so if you want to come to Austin to interact with legislators while you still can, contact Shannon for details.

Quotes of the Week

“If it ain’t dead on arrival, it’s awful close.”

State Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin), when asked about the prospects for raising the state sales tax by 1 cent in order to buy down property taxes.

“I knew he had schizophrenia. I knew he would need to get in trouble to get help, but I never thought he would do something violent.”

Aleesha DeKnikker, sister of Heath Otto, a South Dakota man who killed his mother and nephew and now faces a possible death sentence.

“Reform is one thing. Actions that abandon the rule of law and that could promote lawlessness are altogether different. Texas law gives criminal district attorneys the duty to enforce the laws the Legislature writes. It grants no power to criminal district attorneys to categorically rewrite the law. Constitutionally, ‘reforming’ state law is the province of the Legislature.”

Text from a public letter released today by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and AG Ken Paxton (R) and addressed to Dallas CDA John Creuzot (D) in response to recently announced policies adopted by Creuzot.