Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot and two other Democratic district attorneys filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the constitutionality of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton\u2019s newly adopted rules targeting urban prosecutors.<\/p>\n
As of last month, district attorneys who represent counties of more than 400,000 residents \u2014 13 counties, including Dallas, Collin, Denton and Tarrant \u2014 must submit reports to the attorney general\u2019s office and turn over select case files to state officials regularly.<\/p>\n
The slate of reporting requirements gives Paxton far-reaching access to office policies, communications and internal information. They also offer unprecedented insight into prosecutorial decisions \u2014 like whether to indict police officers and poll watchers \u2014 and cases where criminal charges were not pursued.<\/p>\n
Paxton, a Republican, says the rules rein in what he calls \u201crogue\u201d DAs: Democratic prosecutors who previously said they would decline cases involving certain crimes. If district attorneys don\u2019t comply, they could face penalties, from lawsuits to being ousted from their offices.<\/p>\n
But the trio of DAs \u2014 Creuzot, Sean Teare of Harris County and Joe Gonzales of Bexar County \u2014 say the reporting requirement overextends Paxton\u2019s power, encroaches on the judiciary and burdens local prosecutors.<\/p>\n
In a news release, Creuzot called the rules \u201cexpansive, improper and unconstitutional administrative,\u201d as well as an \u201conerous unfunded mandate.\u201d He said the reporting requirements violate the separation of power between the executive and judicial branches and waste taxpayer money and resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cPaxton should be working with all district and county attorneys in pursuit of justice, not picking fights with the Democrats in large cities,\u201d the statement says.<\/p>\n
Paxton said in an emailed statement that the rules are \u201ca simple, straightforward, common-sense measure.\u201d He described the lawsuit as \u201cmeritless\u201d and an attempt by prosecutors to hide information.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is no surprise that rogue DAs who would rather turn violent criminals loose on the streets than do their jobs are afraid of transparency and accountability,\u201d Paxton said.<\/p>\n
Gonzales said in a news release that the reporting requirements \u201cdo not make communities safer,\u201d nor do they \u201cidentify trends, improve transparency, or enhance public trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead, they create barriers that divert limited resources away from what matters most, which is prosecuting violent offenders and protecting our community,\u201d Gonzales\u2019 statement said.<\/p>\n
The rules will \u201csubstantially disrupt Texas\u2019s criminal justice system in the state\u2019s largest jurisdictions, overwhelming prosecutors with excessive reporting obligations, creating legal uncertainty regarding compliance with confidentiality laws,\u201d the more than 50-page filing obtained by The Dallas Morning News says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf left in place, the (rule) will erode prosecutorial independence, delay justice for victims, and impose severe financial costs on counties,\u201d reads the lawsuit filed in Travis County.<\/p>\n
The suit alleges Paxton does not have rulemaking authority; the attorney general\u2019s office cites a 1985 statute requiring county and district attorneys to report information \u201cthat the attorney general desires relating to criminal matters and the interests of the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DAs seek an injunction to thwart the enforcement of Paxton\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n
Creuzot has repeatedly been criticized by Paxton for not taking first-time, low-level marijuana cases and refusing to prosecute misdemeanor thefts of essential items.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Creuzot and Gonzales were among five DAs who said they would not prosecute families whose children receive gender-affirming medical care, bucking rules promoted by Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott. The same group signed a pledge with prosecutors nationwide not to prosecute people who \u201cseek, provide, or support abortions.\u201d<\/p>\n
That law also allows Texas residents to file a petition against locally elected prosecutors for blanket policies not to pursue certain charges or politically-charged offenses.<\/p>\n
Two people have sought to remove Travis County District Attorney Jos\u00e9 Garza from office under the law. Both petitions were dismissed, according to media reports.<\/p>\n
No petitions have been filed against Creuzot.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton\u2019s new rules for urban prosecutors highlights the ongoing debate about the role of prosecutors in the criminal justice system. The rules, which require district attorneys to submit reports and turn over case files to the attorney general\u2019s office, have been criticized by some as an overreach of power and an attempt to undermine prosecutorial independence.<\/p>\n
A: The new rules require district attorneys who represent counties of more than 400,000 residents to submit reports to the attorney general\u2019s office and turn over select case files to state officials regularly.<\/p>\n
A: The rules are being challenged because they are seen as an overreach of power by the attorney general and an attempt to undermine prosecutorial independence.<\/p>\n
A: The rules could divert limited resources away from prosecuting violent offenders and protecting communities, and instead create barriers that delay justice for victims and impose severe financial costs on counties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lawsuit Challenges Texas Attorney General’s New Rules for Urban Prosecutors Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot and two other Democratic district attorneys filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the constitutionality of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton\u2019s newly adopted rules targeting urban prosecutors. As of last month, district attorneys who represent counties of more than 400,000 residents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/RKG3BXVF55ELZJRD3U5NSE6FH4.jpg?auth=024e8afc41b2dfcb000adde3bc2bd309f378434bd1ec7d416c9cfee27f7f36e6&height=630&width=1200&smart=true&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5982"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5984,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5982\/revisions\/5984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}