Special session schedule: Lather, rinse, repeat.

Review and preview

While House members are home enjoying their interim, the Senate continues to meet, hold committee hearings, and debate and vote on bills—which then get delivered to a vacated House. Barring the Senate adjourning sine die early, this kabuki theater may continue until the 30-day first called session ends on Wednesday, June 28.

Veto period

We are now in the “veto period” after the regular session. This is the 20-day span after a session during which the governor can veto a bill without the legislature being able to override that decision. This current veto period for the regular session ends on Sunday, June 18. After that date, all bills not already signed or vetoed by the governor will become law without his signature.

With that impending deadline in mind, we wanted to share with you some information regarding two privacy bills that may deserve your attention: HB 4 by Capriglione/Hughes “relating to the regulation of the collection, use, processing, and treatment of consumers’ personal data by certain business entities” and HB 2545 by Capriglione/N. Johnson “relating to an individual’s genetic data, including the use of that data by certain genetic testing companies for commercial purposes and the individual’s property right in DNA.” The information provided to us is as follows:

“Numerous state and federal law enforcement entities utilize in-state and out-of-state companies for genealogical testing and analysis. If signed into law, HB 4 and HB 2545 would adversely impact how law enforcement agencies conduct investigations in Texas. Specifically, HB 2545 would restrict direct-to-consumer companies like Ancestry and 23AndMe from releasing genetic data to law enforcement without “express written consent” or a warrant. In many cases, the identified genetic data is a relative of the suspect DNA sample and, therefore, would be impossible for law enforcement to request consent or obtain a warrant for an individual unknown to the investigators. 

In recent years, numerous serial murderers, serial sex offenders, and missing unidentified persons have been identified through genetic DNA data by investigators, cold-case investigators, and criminal profilers who work with direct-to-consumer companies. Removing this valuable tool from law enforcement’s arsenal to identify, apprehend, and remove major violent criminals from communities poses a significant risk to public safety.”

If after reading those bills for yourself you share some of these concerns, contact Shannon for more information on possible next steps.

Impeachment news

The Austin businessman at the center of several of the impeachment allegations was arrested yesterday by the FBI. How that will impact his availability as a witness in those Senate proceedings remains to be seen.

The impeachment defense team for Attorney General Ken Paxton will be led by Houston lawyers Tony Buzbee and Dan Cogdell (Paxton’s lead criminal defense lawyer in his other pending charges); more on that announcement HERE for those who missed it.

Interestingly, one of Buzbee’s first comments was that the current date for the Senate trial of “not later than August 28, 2023” would need to be pushed back because the defense team needed time to prepare for the trial by conducting depositions and the like. However, the procedural and evidentiary rules for the trial are still unknown, and they may not include traditional discovery practices (or any right to a continuance). Those rules will be hashed out among the senators themselves on Tuesday, June 20, and everyone will know more then.

Rural prosecutor grants

Governor Abbott signed SB 22 by Springer/Guillen earlier this week. This landmark program will benefit many of you (in jurisdictions of less than 300,000 population) who have struggled to recruit and retain high-quality employees in our post-pandemic world. However, this is not going to happen anytime soon—perhaps not even during your next fiscal year of operation—so patience will be a virtue in the short term.

We’ve received numerous questions about the new rural law enforcement grant funding program to be created by SB 22, but many of the most important details of that new funding program are yet to be finalized. The bill gives the comptroller’s office until January 1, 2024, to adopt and implement the rules and procedures necessary to make this program work; only after that date will applications start to be accepted. Furthermore, the rules for sheriffs and constables’ funds may differ from the rules for prosecutors, and the timing of the disbursement of funds may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

We are in close contact with the appropriate agency staffers and the Sheriffs Association of Texas, and we will share with you any what/when/how details as we learn them. We will also cover this topic in our Legislative Update book and CLE course, and this will almost certainly be a popular topic of conversation at our Rural Prosecutor Forum before our Annual Conference. But until then, please be patient and understand that we can’t give you answers we don’t have.

New laws

While the legislature (kind of) works on new bills in special session, the governor is still signing bills from the regular session, such as these eight “public safety” bills ceremonially signed at one public event. (Note that ceremonial bill signings are not necessarily the actual, official bill signing, so always check the state website for the official date a bill is signed into law if that is important to you.)

Bills officially signed this past week include:

HB 17 by Cook/Huffman relating to the removal from office of certain prosecutors
HB 28 by Slawson/Birdwell increasing the penalty for certain aggravated assaults
HB 1442 by A. Johnson/Bettencourt relating to penalties, seizures, and forfeitures for street takeovers
HB 2899 by Plesa/Hall relating to vehicle impoundment for street takeovers (eff. June 2)
SB 22 by Springer/Guillen creating a rural law enforcement funding program
SB 840 by West/Anchia increasing the punishment for assaulting hospital personnel
SB 1004 by Huffman/Herrero creating a criminal offense for tampering with an electronic monitor

Remember, the governor has until Sunday, June 18 (Father’s Day), to sign or veto a bill passed by the legislature; after that, all un-vetoed bills become law whether signed or not.

Legislative Update CLEs

Based on the success of our pandemic-induced change from in-person Legislative Update CLEs to online presentations in 2021, TDCAA will once again be offering this popular course online. Keep checking our Training webpage for details on when that online course will become available in August 2023.

For those of you who prefer in-person training, we will offer a live Legislative Update presentation on Tuesday, September 19, in Round Rock in conjunction with our Annual Criminal & Civil Law Conference being held that week at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center. Again, check our Training webpage for the latest information.

Scattershooting

Here are some recent stories you might’ve missed:

• “Texas Legislature didn’t pass border bills during session. Will new session be different?” (Dallas Morning News)
• “Lina Hidalgo says her ‘F-word’ comment about DA Ogg wouldn’t have drawn attention if she were a man” (Houston Chronicle)
• “’Two steps forward, one step back’: McLennan County District Attorney works to resolve 10,000 backlogged cases” (KXXV News)
• “The Potentially Life-Saving Map That Most Can’t See” (Route Fifty)
• “From Paschal High to Texas interim attorney general: John Scott learned to ‘stick with it’” (Fort Worth Report)

Quotes of the Week

“We’re going to get [property tax reform] taken care of before we go into other issues to make sure we address everything. But we may be here a while …. We will have a special session [on school choice] coming up after—AFTER—we get property tax reform fixed.”
            —Governor Greg Abbott, pouring cold water on legislators’ summer vacation plans earlier this week.

“If a district attorney wants to be in law enforcement, they have to start by enforcing the laws. If they want to make state policy, they should run for the state legislature.”
            —Governor Greg Abbott, at this week’s public signing ceremony for HB 17 by Cook/Huffman relating to the removal of prosecutors from office.

“Number one, I was surprised it happened so quickly, and number two, I was surprised it took so long to happen quickly.”
            —Louie Gohmert, former Congressman and former GOP candidate for attorney general, in a TV interview about the impeachment charges lodged against the current holder of that office.

“Why does everything in Texas politics turn into a Houston mud wrestling show?”
            —Bud Kennedy, columnist at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in a quote tweet of a story about the Houston lawyers hired by both sides of the upcoming impeachment trial.

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