AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has introduced new rules that allow his office unprecedented access to certain records maintained by district attorneys in Texas’ most populous counties.
The new rules say prosecutors in counties with over 400,000 residents must regularly submit specific case files and internal communications to the attorney general’s office.
The newly adopted rules require district attorneys to report indictments against police officers and poll workers, as well as their communications with federal authorities and office policies. In a news release, the attorney general’s office stated that these measures aim to assess whether local officials are “inadequately prosecuting certain categories of crime, releasing dangerous criminals back into the community, engaging in selective prosecution, or otherwise failing to uphold their obligations.”
“District and County Attorneys have a duty to protect the communities they serve by upholding the law and vigorously prosecuting dangerous criminals,” said Paxton in the release. “In many major counties, the people responsible for safeguarding millions of Texans have instead endangered lives by refusing to prosecute criminals and allowing violent offenders to terrorize law-abiding Texans. This rule will enable citizens to hold rogue DA’s accountable.”
Paxton says non-compliance with these regulations could lead to penalties such as lawsuits, misconduct allegations and potential removal from office. Paxton has a history of criticizing some district attorneys, particularly in Texas’s largest counties, for policies he views as privileging criminals over innocent victims. He claims that these reporting standards will enhance transparency and enable citizens to hold “rogue DAs” accountable.
The implementation of these rules marks a significant expansion of the attorney general’s oversight into local prosecutorial practices, raising questions about the balance of power between state and county jurisdictions in Texas.
