A legal fight in Texas over new reporting requirements imposed by Attorney General Ken Paxton on local prosecutors is back before a statewide appeals court, after a lower court ruled the rules are invalid.
A Travis County district judge struck down Paxton’s rules on May 7, finding they exceed the attorney general’s authority and cannot be enforced against the counties that challenged them, including Dallas, Harris, Travis, Bexar, El Paso, Fort Bend, and Williamson.
The rules would have required district and county attorneys in large counties to submit regular reports on criminal cases, including indictments, case outcomes, and internal decision-making communications. Failure to comply could have been treated as “official misconduct,” potentially putting elected prosecutors at risk of removal.
Paxton’s office argues the rules are needed to ensure accountability and improve crime prosecution in major urban counties. He has described some local prosecutors as failing to adequately enforce criminal law and has called the reporting system a tool for public oversight.
However, the judge and several legal challenges argue the attorney general does not have explicit rulemaking authority under Texas law, and that the requirements amount to an overreach into independently elected prosecutors’ offices.
The dispute is now before the 15th Court of Appeals, which has previously indicated skepticism about Paxton’s authority in this area.
Local district attorneys involved in the lawsuit argue the requirements would drain resources, expose sensitive case information, and interfere with their ability to focus on prosecutions and victim services.
The case also reflects a broader political conflict in Texas between Republican state leadership and Democratic-led urban counties over criminal justice policy