Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot and other Democratic DAs and county attorneys from across the state filed lawsuits Friday challenging the constitutionality of new oversight rules imposed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which they argue infringe upon prosecutorial independence and violate the state constitution.
The lawsuits were filed by a slew of Democratic DAs and county attorneys: Creuzot, Sean Teare of Harris County and Joe Gonzales of Bexar County, along with Delia Garza of Travis County and Christina Sanchez of El Paso County. They argue that Paxton's recently adopted regulations — requiring district and county attorneys in counties with over 400,000 people to submit detailed reports and grant the Attorney General's office access to certain case files — exceed his legal authority.
Under the new rules, district and county attorneys must report indictments against police officers and poll workers, communications with federal authorities and office policies to the Attorney General’s office. The reports also require a wide range of information – including how cases are resolved, how budgets are spent, internal emails and details about how prosecutors make decisions.
“These reporting requirements do not make communities safer,” said Gonzales, Bexar County’s district attorney. “They create barriers that divert limited resources away from what matters most, which is prosecuting violent offenders and protecting our community.”
At the time, Paxton said the policy was intended to “rein in rogue district attorneys.” According to the state’s administrative code, noncompliance could result in prosecutors being removed from office. In a statement on Friday, Paxton called the rule “a simple, straightforward, common-sense measure” and accused the DAs of attempting to sidestep accountability.
Paxton described the lawsuits as a “meritless and merely a sad, desperate attempt to conceal information from the public they were sworn to protect.”
The prosecutors, on the other hand, say their counties are being unfairly singled out and seek to block enforcement of the new rule; it only applies to about a dozen of the state’s more than 250 counties and most of them are Democratic leaning.
“Paxton should be working with all district and county attorneys in pursuit of justice, not picking fights with the Democrats in large cities,” Creuzot said.
Harris County DA Sean Teare didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Another lawsuit was filed Friday by county attorneys Delia Garza of Travis County and Christina Sanchez of El Paso County. At a press conference in Central Texas, Garza said the rules “invade the separation of powers" of the Texas government.
During the same briefing, Sanchez added that Paxton’s policy has placed an “extreme burden” on counties across the state by adding ”significant operational costs” for additional administrative tasks brought on by the rule.
“We stand ready to fight this particular rule,” Sanchez said. “We stand ready to respond.”
