89R19451 TYPED
By: Hagenbuch S.B. No. 2743
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prosecution of certain election offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 2A.105, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A judge of a court in which a district or county attorney
represents the state, or a judge of a court in an adjacent county,
upon petition for removal by any resident of this state who, at the
time of the alleged cause of disqualification, lives and has lived
for at least six months in the county or adjacent county, shall
declare the attorney disqualified and must appoint the attorney
general to represent the state in accordance with Article
2A.104(b)(2) with respect to a criminal case or proceeding
involving the election laws of this state, on a showing that the
attorney has adopted a policy or practice, or is following or
enforcing a policy or practice, under which the attorney
consistently refuses or declines to prosecute a violation of the
election laws of this state.
SECTION 2. Section 273.021, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) In accordance with an appointment made under Article
2A.104(b)(2), the attorney general may prosecute a criminal offense
prescribed by the election laws of this state on the
disqualification of a district or county attorney under Article
2A.105(d), Code of Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
the prosecution of an offense committed on or after the effective
date of this Act. The prosecution of an offense committed before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an
offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any
element of the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.