Texas appeals court unanimously upholds ruling against AG Paxton’s ‘rogue DA’ rules

AUSTIN – An all-Republican appeals court in Texas has upheld a ruling against AG Ken Paxton’s attempt to oversee “rogue” prosecutors in the state. 

The preliminary ruling is an affirmation of an injunction that kept Paxton from being able to force district attorneys in the counties of Dallas, Harris and Bexar to submit specific performance reports and provide specific case files to the attorney general’s office.

Appeals court sides against Paxton

The latest:

The Texas 15th Court of Appeals, a three-judge court appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, issued their opinion Tuesday. The opinion upholds an injunction made by a Travis County district court in June, which Paxton promptly appealed. 

With the decision, yet another Texas court has determined that Paxton does not have the power to issue sweeping mandates to local prosecutors. 

What they’re saying:

“While this ruling is only preliminary, it shows progress in the right direction. Yet another court has ruled that Attorney General Paxton overstepped his authority by proposing to enforce these rules with the likelihood of costing taxpayers millions of dollars,” Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot said in a statement.

Paxton has not yet released a statement on the ruling. 

What’s next:

The June injunction will now stay effective until the case returns to the Travis County court. 

Texas DAs sue Paxton

The backstory:

Creuzot, along with the DAs in Bexar County and Harris County, called the new rules unconstitutional and a violation of the separation of powers in their June lawsuit.

Creuzot said in a prior statement that implementing the new rules would have been a “logistical and operational nightmare” that cost the county significant time and money. Wednesday, Creuzot noted that simply fighting the rules will cost Dallas County at least $349,000 to date. 

New reporting requirements

Dig deeper:

The new reporting requirements have prosecutors sending information on internal policies, how funds obtained through civil forfeiture are spent and internal communications about indictment decisions. Those decisions would include the number of times a police officer was indicted and how many times the office indicted someone for election code violations.

With the rules’ implementation, it became a requirement for district and county attorneys that represent an area with a population of more than 400,000 people to provide “performance reports” to Paxton’s office and provide certain case files. 

District attorneys that do not comply with the reporting rules could find themselves charged with official misconduct and removed from office.

The other side:

Paxton said the rules help Texans determine if elected officials are failing to uphold their obligations by not prosecuting certain crimes and allowing “dangerous criminals” to be released.