Republican lawmakers revive effort to give attorney general more power to prosecute election crimes

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Some Texas Republican lawmakers are reviving a previously stalled effort to expand the Texas attorney general’s power to prosecute election crimes.

The long-running push is a response to a 2022 ruling from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which found that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office does not have unilateral authority to independently prosecute criminal cases in trial courts without the request of a local prosecutor.

Senate Bill 1026, filed by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a powerful Republican from Central Texas, would amend the law to require the Texas attorney general’s office to prosecute election crimes if no local proceedings have begun after six months. The bill was approved by the GOP-led Senate Committee on State Affairs Thursday. Similar bills have also been filed in the House.

Some election and voting rights advocates said they’re concerned that the bill, as written, would require Paxton’s office to prosecute even if local district attorneys had chosen not to, or didn’t find enough evidence to do so.

The bill specifically changes the wording of a section of the law that now says the office “may” prosecute a criminal offense to “shall.” They warned that the bill seemed aimed at increasing election prosecutions, potentially intimidating voters and local election officials.

“On its own, that is a problem,” said Ashley Harris, staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas. “It’s all part of an attempt to control not only local prosecutors, but also election offices.”

Geoff Barr, chief of the election integrity division at the Texas Attorney General’s Office, said he interpreted the bill as giving his office discretion.

“If I don't feel that I can prove the case, if the evidence is insufficient, I would argue that that ‘shall’ does not mandate me to prosecute against my ethical duties,” Barr said during a Senate Committee on State Affairs public hearing last week on the bill.

At the hearing, Hughes said lawmakers have been aware of instances where local district attorneys, who are elected, may have conflicts when asked to prosecute alleged election crimes.

“Who knows whether politics or other matters in any given county could affect prosecution?” Hughes said. “So election law is a matter of paramount statewide importance. This bill is intended to restore the authority the attorney general has had for decades to handle those matters.”

Paxton has actively pursued election-related crimes since he took office in 2015. After his office set up the election integrity unit, it has opened more than 300 investigations of suspected crimes by voters — in a state which has more than 18 million voters registered — but has successfully convicted only a handful.

Republican lawmakers filed similar bills in 2023, which failed to pass. Those bills came during a legislative session that ended with the House impeaching Paxton over other matters. The Senate later acquitted Paxton of several impeachment articles.

The debate over whether the attorney general’s office should have such authority was put to the test following the 2018 election of a local sheriff in Jefferson County, where the elected district attorney declined to prosecute alleged campaign-finance violations against Sheriff Zena Stephens.

Paxton then obtained an indictment from neighboring Chambers County. In 2021, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the indictment. After Paxton asked the court to rehear the case, it upheld its previous ruling, saying the attorney general does not have the independent authority to pursue criminal cases in trial courts unless the local prosecutor asks the office to do so.

Paxton later targeted three of the judges who reached that decision when they were up for reelection, successfully leading a campaign to oust them during the 2024 Republican primary.

Hughes’ bill would explicitly give Paxton’s office the authority he sought from the appeals court.

Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. She is based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@votebeat.org.

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