The Texas House advanced a bill Thursday that creates a path for removing district attorneys from office for not prosecuting certain types of crimes.
“I support prosecutorial discretion and know it is a central element of our criminal justice system,” said Mansfield GOP Rep. David Cook, the bill’s author, on Thursday. The bill “makes it crystal clear the rule of law must be respected and enforced in Texas.”
The proposal passed on a mostly party-line vote, 97-51, and now heads to the Capitol’s upper chamber. The Senate version, by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston,House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, declared Cook’s bill one of his priority bills for the session. In opening day remarks in January, Phelan criticized prosecutors for not upholding state laws.
“If rogue district attorneys will not uphold the law, what progress are we really making?” Phelan said. “It is time to rein them in.” The bill parallels similar efforts in Missouri, Florida, Indiana and Georgia. Republican-led legislatures in those states allege that progressive-leaning prosecutors are not being tough on crime and have refused to prosecute certain types of offenses.Critics of the proposals say they overreach by encouraging attempts to remove officials who were democratically elected.
His policies drew pushback from 15 Dallas County police chiefs. Abbott called the policy “socialism.” Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to Creuzot calling on him to uphold his oath of office and enforce the law.
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