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Bill

HB 11

Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute criminal offenses prescribed by the election laws of this state.

89th Legislature, 1st Called Session (2025) Introduced by Trent Ashby and 21 co-sponsors

Texas bill requiring the state Attorney General to prosecute criminal election law violations, potentially centralizing enforcement authority over local district attorneys.

Referred to State Affairs
#attorneygeneral(v2811) #courts--district(i0120) #courts--prosecutingattorneys(i0165) #crimes--againstpersons--general(i0170) #criminalprocedure--general(i0208) #elections--general(i0310) #ethics(i0345)
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Bill Summary · HB 11

Legislative bill overview

HB 11 establishes or clarifies the Texas Attorney General's duty to prosecute criminal violations of the state's election laws. The bill appears designed to ensure systematic enforcement of election code violations rather than leaving prosecution decisions to local district attorneys.

Why is this important

Election law enforcement directly affects voting access, ballot integrity, and public confidence in electoral processes. Centralizing prosecution authority under the Attorney General could create more uniform enforcement statewide but may also concentrate prosecutorial power over election-related crimes.

Potential points of contention

  • Federalism and local control: Whether state-level prosecution should override or supplement local district attorneys' traditional prosecutorial discretion in their counties
  • Selective enforcement concerns: Centralizing election prosecutions could enable partisan targeting of violations, or conversely, ensure consistent application regardless of local politics
  • Resource allocation: Whether the Attorney General's office has adequate resources to prosecute all election law violations statewide, or if this creates backlog issues
  • Scope ambiguity: The bill's exact definition of which "criminal offenses prescribed by election laws" trigger mandatory prosecution versus discretionary prosecution remains unclear from the summary

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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