Abbott said the new position would “deliver public safety” to Texans while ensuring “enhanced accountability” for district attorneys.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday said he wants to create a new state prosecutor position to “ensure that justice is done.”
Abbott made the announcement Thursday morning at the Austin Police Association headquarters, just one day after directing the expansion of the repeat offender task force to cities including Austin and San Antonio. He was joined by state leaders including Republican representatives Caroline Harris Davila, Stan Gerdes and Carrie Isaac, along with Austin Police Association president Michael Bullock.
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During the briefing, Abbott said he’s proposing a new law to create the state prosecutor position, noting the importance of public safety in Texas.
“I am going to my office every single day to fight for victims to deliver on public safety for our communities, and what this plan does is to focus on them,” he said.
Typically in Texas, district attorneys decide which cases they prosecute and bring to trial. Abbott has previously argued that some DAs don’t do enough to pursue charges against some offenders.
The governor said Texas’ DAs are not subject to impeachment, and that there needs to be a sense of checks and balances for the people in this role.
“This is something where it’s just gonna be a new tool to ensure that there will be a level of enhanced accountability for district attorneys across the state of Texas,” he said.
Abbott also said he wants to pass a law during the next legislative session to ensure immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally get arrested without bail if they commit a crime.
Former Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon is helping craft the state prosecutor proposal, Abbott said during Thursday’s briefing.
“A way that you protect your people is you demand accountability of your elected group of district attorneys,” Ligon said during the briefing.
Ligon also noted that the purpose of the new state prosecutor position is “specifically to address the lack of district attorneys…filing charges within 90 days.”
“What the state prosecutor is, is a force multiplier. We want to provide more resources, more capabilities, more personnel to ensure that finite resources will never be a limitation on ensuring justice for victims across the state of Texas,” Abbott said.
The state legislature meets in January, which is the earliest it could take up the possibility of creating this new position.