Here’s a recap of the third week of the current special session (which must end no later than Tuesday, November 7) as well as some other useful information for you.

Senate Bill 22 rules

The Comptroller has a webpage dedicated to SB 22 (available HERE) that includes basic information about these grants, the text of the proposed rules and applicable statutes, and an FAQ section. The public comment period for the Comptroller’s proposed rules for administering those grants ends on November 12, 2023. Comments about potential changes to those rules can be submitted to Russell Gallahan, Manager, Local Government & Transparency, at [email protected]. And to help us keep track of who is concerned about what, please consider cc’ing Shannon on any emailed SB 22 comments.

Special session action

The House finally set off its collection of special session fireworks last week in the course of tackling the governor’s priority legislation on COVID-19 vaccines and border security issues. Neither of those topics are the primary reason for legislators’ presence in Austin right now, but with it looking increasingly unlikely that the House will deliver the votes needed to pass the governor’s preferred school choice vehicle, he may have to console himself with new laws on these other topics for now.

Of particular note, the House passed legislation last week to:

• increase penalties for human smuggling or operation of a stash house (SB 4 by Flores); and
• create a Penal Code crime for illegal entry from a foreign nation (HB 4 by Spiller).

The illegal entry crime bill that was debated and passed by the House (HB 4) is narrower in scope than the version sent to them by the Senate (SB 11 by Birdwell). That didn’t stop the fireworks, though, as tempers flared, racism accusations flew, and House Democrats dragged out debate until around 4:00 a.m. one night (or rather, morning). The numbers are the numbers, though, and both bills eventually passed along party lines. Senate Bill 4 (smuggling) now heads to the governor for his signature, while HB 4 (illegal entry) must go to the Senate for further consideration.

On a related note, this week the Senate will also take up SB 6 by Huffman, a $1.5 billion supplemental border security funding bill. As filed, that bill currently includes an additional $17 million for the Border Prosecution Unit (BPU) to help handle the new illegal entry charges that will result from the enactment of that new crime; however, that language is likely to be stripped out in committee to avoid a potential challenge that such an appropriation is “outside the call” of the special session because it isn’t something specifically pre-approved by the governor. Other special session bills on border wall funding, COVID-19 vaccines, and school choice are also making their way through the system, but we’ll leave coverage of those bills to your local fish wraps.

SART reports

Consider this your reminder that Local Government Code §351.257 (“Report”) requires all county sexual assault response teams (SARTs) to submit a biennial report to their commissioners court no later than December 1 of this odd-numbered year. If you are involved in your local SART and need help with that project, the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA) has created a resource for guiding local official in that task. To access a PDF copy of TAASA’s “Framework for Writing the SART Biennial Report,” click HERE.

Elected Prosecutor Conference reminder

This year’s Elected Prosecutor Conference will be held at the Embassy Suites in Frisco and will include a Wednesday night reception on the field of the Dallas Cowboys’ indoor practice facility at The Star. The conference will be held November 29–December 1, 2023 (the week after Thanksgiving) and details about it are available HERE.

Note also that we will hold TDCAA’s Annual Business Meeting on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, at 5:00 p.m., at the Frisco Embassy Suites immediately upon adjournment of that day’s training session.

Scattershooting

Here are some recent stories you might’ve missed:

• “Profanities, Priorities, and Paxton: A Chaotic Day and Night in the Texas House” (The Texan [free link])
• “U.S. Supreme Court to consider Texas case that could allow abusers to have guns (Houston Chronicle [free])
• “Paxton’s Criminal Complaints on Impeachment Foes Face Long Odds” (Bloomberg Law [free])
• “Attorney General Ken Paxton’s securities fraud trial set for April 15” (Texas Tribune [free])

Quotes of the Week

“In a role where everyone must be treated equally under the law in every circumstance, political attacks on elected prosecutors are to be expected and are the new norm nationwide.”
            —Michael Kolenc, campaign spokesman for Harris County DA Kim Ogg, in response to news that some local Democratic precinct chairs are seeking to formally condemn her for investigating and/or prosecuting other local Democratic officials.

“We acknowledge that the Court of Criminal Appeals has concluded that ‘[t]he offices of county and district attorney … are in the judicial branch of government.’ State v. Stephens, 663 S.W.3d 45, 50 (Tex. Crim. App. 2022). This decision was and remains egregiously incorrect.”
            —Excerpt from footnote 2, AG Op. No. KP-0448 (October 23, 2023). The resolution of the question presented in that opinion has nothing to do with the Court of Criminal Appeals’s multiple Stephens opinions (which correctly struck down the Legislature’s unconstitutional attempts to grant OAG the statutory authority to independently prosecute certain crimes), but the current holder of that office is still clearly worked up about it. If this footnoted dicta/tantrum is any indication, you should expect to hear much more about it during the upcoming 2024 GOP primary campaign season.

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