![\"Texas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778790789_64_.webp\")
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to the media at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Aug. 22, 2025. (Eric Gay | AP)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tTexas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks to the media at the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, Aug. 22, 2025. (Eric Gay | AP)<\/p>\n
Gov. Greg Abbott unveiled four criminal justice policies as part of his priorities for next year\u2019s state legislative session during a press conference Thursday, including making county district attorneys eligible for impeachment and creating a new statewide prosecutor role.<\/p>\n
Abbott, along with incoming state Sen. Brett Ligon and Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock, advocated for legislation they said would ensure offenders remain behind bars with adequate charges and protect public safety.<\/p>\n
They also took jabs at Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza. The three criticized Garza for missing<\/a> the 90-day indictment deadline in more than 200 criminal cases in 2024, leading to people\u2019s release, and accused the DA of not prosecuting felony offenders harshly enough.<\/p>\n Creating a statewide prosecutor to pursue charges not brought by local district attorneys would fix that, Abbott said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur obligation as legislators, as district attorneys, as law enforcement officers, is to ensure that justice is done,\u201d the governor said. \u201cFailing to bring indictments, allowing for the release of dangerous criminals back out on the street, is the opposite of ensuring that justice done.\u201d<\/p>\n Under Abbott\u2019s plan, the governor would appoint the position and it would be subject to state Senate confirmation, operating separately from the governor\u2019s office. The person would be a \u201cprofessional prosecutor,\u201d not an elected official, he said.<\/p>\n In Garza\u2019s case, Abbott said a state prosecutor would be tracking cases awaiting indictment and could step in on the 90th day to indict.<\/p>\n News outlets reported<\/a> in September Garza\u2019s office had begun meeting state indictment deadlines.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s the first time Abbott has identified the statewide prosecutor as a legislative priority, the proposal isn\u2019t new. In a post on X<\/a> in December, Abbott called for similar legislation in response to a post about an Austin man with a purported history of criminal cases, several of which were misdemeanors the Travis County DA dismissed or felonies the DA declined to charge. Court records do show the man identified in that post was sentenced<\/a> in some cases.<\/p>\n \u201cProgressive DAs are literally leading to the murder of Texans,\u201d Abbott wrote at the time. \u201cThose DAs must be held accountable and prosecutorial power must be shifted to actual prosecutors.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s one of two proposals targeting Democratic district attorneys like Garza that Republicans have accused of being soft on crime. The governor also wants to make district attorneys eligible for impeachment. While other state elected officials can be impeached, DAs currently can not.<\/p>\n The governor denied what he called \u201cfalse\u201d arguments that impeachment could be wielded in political attacks against district attorneys. If that were true, he said, Texas would see impeachments every year \u2014 but there have only been three<\/a> in the state\u2019s history, including of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n In a statement responding to Abbott\u2019s comments, Garza said crime rates have steadily declined in Travis County because the DA\u2019s office has prioritized accountability for those who cause harm and protected victims.<\/p>\n The district attorney called Abbott\u2019s proposal a distraction from the governor\u2019s \u201clitany of failures.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnder his leadership, Texans are paying more for groceries, public schools are losing funding, and too many Texans lack access to healthcare and mental healthcare,\u201d Garza said. \u201cThese failures make us less safe. The Governor and his allies would rather play politics with our safety than work to deliver on solutions that actually keep Texans safe.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor announced Wednesday<\/a> he was expanding the Texas Department of Public Safety\u2019s repeat offender task force \u2014 first launched in the Houston area last year \u2014 to the Dallas, Austin and San Antonio metropolitan areas. Abbott said Thursday local, state and federal law enforcement have arrested more than 700 repeat offenders and seized hundreds of thousands of fentanyl doses.<\/p>\n The Dallas County District Attorney\u2019s Office and the Bexar County District Attorney\u2019s Office declined to comment.<\/p>\n Abbott also wants lawmakers to pass legislation that failed during last year\u2019s session \u2014 denying bail for immigrants in the country without legal status who are arrested for felonies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason for this is very simple,\u201d he said. \u201cSomebody who\u2019s here illegally is a greater flight risk than somebody else. And by being arrested for a felony, they\u2019ve already proven that they are an endangerment to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n The measure passed in the Senate and a House committee but died on the House floor. A slew of other bail-related laws \u2014 including a constitutional amendment voters approved<\/a> in November \u2014 passed last year after Abbott made bail a legislative priority.<\/p>\n Ligon, a Republican who resigned as the Montgomery County district attorney to run for the Texas Legislature, said he\u2019d heard victims in Travis, Dallas and Bexar counties \u201ccrying out\u201d daily because of district attorneys not adequately charging defendants.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have good men and women of the Austin Police Department. You have good men women in Dallas and Bexar County and the Department of Public Safety,\u201d Ligon said. \u201cAll the work that they do comes to naught if the district attorney chooses not to file charges.\u201d<\/p>\n Toluwani Osibamowo is KERA\u2019s law and justice reporter. Got a tip? Email Toluwani at tosibamowo@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n