Williamson County and Fort Bend County sues Texas AG Ken Paxton over new reporting rules
Williamson County sues Ken Paxton over reporting rules
Williamson and Fort Bend counties' District Attorneys have sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, challenging his new rules that demand extensive performance reports and access to case files, which they argue are unconstitutional and a costly overreach of power.
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas - Williamson County and Fort Bend's District Attorney partnered to file another lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over new rules imposed last month.
Paxton's new rules
Paxton's rules require performance reports multiple times a year from counties with a population of 400,000 or more.
That's thirteen counties in the state, including Williamson County.
It would give the attorney general access to certain case files and virtually all correspondence in district attorney's offices relating to those cases.
Paxton said the new requirements are to "rein in rogue district attorneys and ensure the prosecution of violent criminals."
What they're saying:
Williamson County's District Attorney, Shawn Dick, said this new rule could be expensive.
"This would cost the county a lot of money," said Dick. "I don't mind if it costs money to do our job and do it right, but these rules aren't going to help us do our job."
Dick emphasized the political overreach of this new rule.
"It's really the overreach. The attorney general is in a separate branch of government than your locally elected prosecutors."
After three terms serving Williamson County, DA Shawn Dick worries these reports could do irreversible harm.
"We are a limited resource office," said Dick. "We only have so many prosecutors, investigators, staff members, and what we want to be doing is prosecuting crimes. We want to be putting violent criminals behind bars, but instead, I'm going to have to take people that do that job to try to comply with these rules."
Dig deeper:
Williamson and Fort Bend County join El Paso and Travis County as the newest counties to sue Attorney General Ken Paxton over new crime reporting rules.
Featured
Travis, El Paso counties sue Ken Paxton over new crime reporting rules
Travis and El Paso counties are suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over new reporting requirements that only affect 13 counties.
Delia Garza, a Travis County attorney, and Christina Sanchez, an El Paso County attorney, argued the new rules are unconstitutional and violate separation of powers.
"This lawsuit is about protecting confidential information of our most vulnerable population and an unconstitutional overreach. It's about keeping our promise to the residents of our jurisdictions and respecting the rule of law," Garza said.
Paxton's response to Travis and El Paso County Lawsuit
In response to the Travis and El Paso County lawsuit, Paxton sent the following statement.
"It is no surprise that rogue DAs who would rather turn violent criminals loose on the streets than do their jobs are afraid of transparency and accountability. My DA reporting rule is a simple, straightforward, common-sense measure that will shed light on local officials who are abdicating their responsibility to public safety. This lawsuit is meritless and merely a sad, desperate attempt to conceal information from the public they were sworn to protect."
The Source: Information in this article was provided by FOX 7's Lauren Rangel. Additional information is from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen.