Members of the Texas House have rejected a call from Attorney General Ken Paxton to swiftly concur with changes made by senators to a critical election integrity proposal.
On Wednesday, Paxton’s office issued a release calling on House lawmakers to concur with changes made to House Bill 5138, which would restore the attorney general’s unilateral authority to target election crimes in certain cases.
That power was first stripped from his authority in a 2021 decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which found that the nearly 70-year precedent violated the state’s constitutional separation of powers.
“If the Attorney General can’t prosecute voter fraud, and local DAs won’t, then the system is broken,” stated Paxton. “We’re talking about one of the most fundamental rights we have as Americans—the right to vote.”
Under HB 5138, law enforcement must inform both the local district attorney and the state attorney general upon determining there is probable cause to believe that an individual has committed an election crime following an investigation.
In addition, law enforcement agencies and local prosecutors’ offices are required to comply with the attorney general’s request for information regarding investigations into the alleged crime.
While lawmakers in the Texas House and Senate have already passed versions of HB 5138, the differences between the two are substantial.
The version previously passed by House lawmakers would require the attorney general to prosecute alleged election crimes only after a local district attorney fails to initiate criminal proceedings within six months of receiving a case.
The one passed by senators in a 19-12 vote on Wednesday, however, would give the attorney general concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute the cases from the outset.
Following Wednesday’s vote, House lawmakers refused to concur with the Senate version and requested a conference committee to flesh out the differences. Conference committees contain five members from each chamber, and the House chose the following:
- Matt Shaheen (R–Plano), who authored HB 5138.
- Charlie Geren (R–Fort Worth)
- Drew Darby (R–San Angelo)
- Chris Turner (D–Grand Prairie)
- John Bucy III (D–Austin)
If the conference committee cannot come to a resolution before June 2, the measure will die this session.
While House leadership still has the option at any point to reverse course, dissolve the conference committee, and accept the Senate’s changes, its selection of HB 5138’s original author along with more moderate members suggests it will put up a fight.
Paxton’s office maintains an election integrity subdivision to pursue civil damages stemming from violations of election law, despite currently lacking the authority to prosecute criminal election violations.
The attorney general can also get involved in criminal election cases if cooperating district attorneys request his office’s help. However, Paxton’s office has continued to argue, including in its press release on Wednesday, that potential conflicts of interest exist with district attorneys.
