T’was the week before Christmas, when all through the People’s House, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. We hope you enjoyed the Elected Prosecutor Conference. It was great to see all the newly elected prosecutors and of course the not so newly elected prosecutors. Thank you for your service! Texas is in good hands.
89th Legislative Session
The Speaker of the Texas House has the power to stop bills from becoming law and the power to assign members to their committees and appoint chairs and vice chairs. Speaker Phelan (R-Beaumont) won a historically expensive reelection to his House seat over his opponent who had endorsements from AG Paxton, Lt. Governor Patrick, and President Trump. However, to win the Speaker role in the Texas House, it requires 76 votes of its 150 members. Phelan proclaimed he had the votes to retain the Speaker role, but State Rep. David Cook (R-Mansfield) and conservative groups forced Phelan to drop out of the speaker’s race by arguing that he was too aligned with Democrats. This set the stage for the House GOP Caucus to decide between Representatives Cook and Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock).
The GOP Caucus is made up of all 88 Republicans and its rules dictate that members must vote for the endorsed candidate. The Caucus meeting turned contentious with several members walking out and not returning for the final vote. Representative Cook eventually won the endorsement of the GOP caucus after several rounds of voting. However, Burrows made a statement to the media that the race for Speaker was over and that he had the necessary 76 votes which included Democrats and Republicans. Burrows then appeared to lose that majority when certain House members claimed they did not actually support Burrows.
Meanwhile, Governor Abbott proclaimed that the next Speaker should be chosen by a majority of Republicans and Caucus rules. (Cook fits that description.) The House Democratic Caucus stated that their members could vote for any candidate except Cook–perhaps in part because Cook’s central campaign theme is to ban Democrats from holding committee chairs.
At this point, no candidate has laid their cards on the table and shown they have the necessary 76 votes to become the next speaker. The House must elect a speaker as one of its first acts or risk slowing down the entire legislative session, so candidates will need to whip votes between now and January 14, 2025, when the 89th legislative session begins, if they are to avoid a contentious public vote on the floor of the House.
Be sure to have your popcorn popped that morning so that you are ready for the drama if things go down to the wire!
OAG Landowner Compensation Program
The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 1133 last session which appropriated $18 million in state money to compensate landowners of agricultural property along the Texas-Mexico border facing land and property damage from border-related crimes. Affected landowners can be reimbursed for repair costs not covered by other sources for up to $75,000 after filing a claim within 90 days of the incident. The damage must be documented in a written law enforcement agency report and meet other requirements to be eligible for compensation.
As of this writing, the Attorney General’s office has only issued $100,000 in disbursements, which means there are still plenty of funds for landowners. Please click this link to learn more about the process.
Reminder: TDCAA books are going fast!
TDCAA offers a wide range of code books, practice manuals and legislative updates that take you from investigation to appeal. We have new editions of some of our most popular books available for sale now. They make great stocking stuffers for everyone on the Nice List.
Family Violence: From investigation through trial, the second edition of Family Violence is intended to instruct prosecutors, officers, and others in the criminal justice system about investigating and prosecuting family violence cases. Written by Staley Heatly, the 46th Judicial District Attorney in Vernon, the book includes checklists, forms, and sample pleadings as well as a narrative that leads readers through every step of the process and offers common-sense tips. A CD that accompanies the book contains sample forms as well as other helpful resources. Click here to order. ($48)
Warrantless Search & Seizure: Searching people, places, and vehicles is the starting point for this comprehensive look at warrantless searches and seizures written for prosecutors and officers. Warrantless Search & Seizure sets out the basics of 4th Amendment law then moves to more specific situations, including searches in cars, homes, offices, and schools, and the exclusionary rule—complete with handy reference charts in each chapter. The 2025 edition includes the latest updates on searches of cell phones, curtilage, use of anonymous tips (especially in DWI stops), drones, hemp, and dog sniffs. Click here to order. ($45)
Child Sexual Abuse: In the high-stakes world of prosecuting child sexual abuse, a prosecutor typically must work with little or no medical evidence, medical experts with varying degrees of expertise, a jury panel in need of education about the crime, and victims who may (understandably) crumble on the stand. The 2025 edition of this helpful manual, updated by Anshu “Sunni” Mitchell (Fort Bend County Assistant DA) and Jamie Felicia (Williamson County Assistant DA), walks prosecutors of all experience levels through the case, from investigation to the punishment phase of trial. This book will ship in early 2025 and can be pre-ordered now. ($45)
Please see our website for other books that are essential to prosecutors!
Imminent Code of Criminal Procedure changes
The Texas Legislative Council’s ongoing code revision project made significant changes to five chapters of the Code of Criminal Procedure that become effective January 1, 2025. Chapters 2 (General Duties of Officers), 13 (Venue), 31 (Change of Venue), 45 (Justice and Municipal Courts), and 55 (Expunction of Criminal Records) have been updated with the goal of making them more logical and coherent without intending any substantive changes. Please click here for the only book that summarizes all the changes.
The Round-Up rides on
We have been cranking out weekly “Round-Up” emails all summer with links to interesting news stories on topics that may impact your work. If you aren’t already one of the 700+ subscribers benefitting from those emails, sign up here to start receiving those weekly updates in your inbox every Thursday morning.
Quotes of the month
“No concessions have been made. That would be illegal, and it’d be unethical, and I would never vote for a speaker who made concessions.”
—State Rep. Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), answering if he has offered Democrats anything specific regarding continuing to appoint them as committee chairs or on school choice in order to secure votes as the next House Speaker.
“A remarkable feature of Texas politics is that, as the state has gotten more conservative, the result has been for Republicans to really ramp up their efforts against each other in order to maintain control over the levers of power.”
—Joshua Blank, research director at UT-Austin’s Texas Politics Project, commenting upon the current intraparty fighting over who should be the next House Speaker.
“For far too long, city leaders have thumbed their nose at the Capitol and turned their backs on their own citizens. A District of Austin will keep residents and visitors safe.”
—State Rep. Briscoe Cain (R-Deer Park), tweeting about his bill to turn Austin into a Washington, D.C.-style form of government controlled by the state legislature.
“We don’t even know who the leadership is, so we can’t figure out what the leadership wants when we don’t know who the leader of the House will be.”
—James Henson, director of UT-Austin’s Texas Politics Project, commenting upon the surprisingly high number of bills that have been filed before many of the important players in the lower chamber have been confirmed.
“We’re also concerned people will take matters into their own hands and fire a weapon at an aircraft, not only is this act against the law, but it poses an incredible danger to the pilots and passengers on those aircraft.”
—FBI Newark (NJ) Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson Delgado warning the public to not shoot guns or point lasers at the mysterious drones in the sky.
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