By: Bell of Kaufman H.B. No. 678
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appointment by the attorney general of a special
prosecutor to prosecute certain election offenses that are
committed in an adjacent county.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 273.001(e), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) Not later than the 30th day after the date on which a
county or district attorney begins an investigation under this
section, the county or district attorney shall deliver notice of
the investigation to the Office of the Attorney General [secretary
of state]. The notice may [must] include a request that the
Attorney General appoint a county or district attorney in an
adjacent county as a special prosecutor for the case. [statement
that a criminal investigation is being conducted and the date on
which the election that is the subject of the investigation was
held. The secretary of state may disclose information relating to a
criminal investigation received under this subsection only if the
county or district attorney has disclosed the information or would
be required by law to disclose the information.]
SECTION 2. Section 273.002, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 273.002. LOCAL ASSISTANCE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL. For an
election in which the attorney general is conducting an
investigation, the attorney general may:
(1) request [direct] the county or district attorney
serving a county in the territory covered by the election to conduct
or assist the attorney general in conducting the investigation; or
(2) direct the Department of Public Safety to assist in
conducting the investigation.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 273.021, Election Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 273.021. PROSECUTION BY SPECIAL PROSECUTOR [ATTORNEY
GENERAL AUTHORIZED].
SECTION 4. Section 273.021, Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The attorney general may in the course of investigating
[prosecute] a criminal offense prescribed by the election laws of
this state request that the county or district attorney of the
county where the offense occurred or the county or district
attorney of an adjacent county be appointed as a special prosecutor
for the matter.
(b) The special prosecutor [attorney general] may appear
before a grand jury in connection with an offense the [attorney
general] special prosecutor is requested [authorized] to prosecute
under Subsection (a).
(c) The authority to prosecute prescribed by this
subchapter does not affect the authority derived from other law to
prosecute the same offenses.
SECTION 5. Section 273.022, Election Code, is repealed.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.