Travis, El Paso counties sue Ken Paxton over new crime reporting rules

Travis & El Paso counties sue Ken Paxton

Travis and El Paso counties are suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over new reporting requirements that only affect 13 counties.

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - Travis and El Paso counties are suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over new reporting requirements that only affect 13 counties.

The AG's Office says the rules are designed to hold prosecutors who are not tough on crime accountable. 

The requirements went into effect on April 2.

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Texas prosecutors sue Ken Paxton over rules to reign in 'rogue' DAs

Last month, it became a requirement for district and county attorneys that represent an area with a population of more than 400,000 people to provide "performance reports" to Attorney General Ken Paxton's office and provide certain case files.

Lawsuit against Ken Paxton

The backstory:

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.

When the rules were announced, Paxton said they were to "rein in rogue district attorneys and ensure the prosecution of violent criminals."

It only applies to counties with a population of 400,000 or more.

"This really does seem like a political issue rather than anything else we are required to report already, we are required to respond to open records requests," Garza said.

Paxton rules Travis Co. must release records

Travis County has yet to release records to FOX 7 after the Texas Attorney General ruled they must.

The county attorneys say the first year's reports are estimated to cost $3 million to prepare.

"We are also concerned about the financial implications that those counties will have to bear," Sanchez said.

Plus, there could be confidential information about victims. 

"Making all information available to the AG office will bring into question the role of advocates and how we can ensure the safety of victims if their information is disseminated," Stephanie Richardson, victim services director with the Travis County Attorney's Office, said.

"Ken Paxton was not elected to be the prosecutor of Travis County. Delia Garza was elected to prosecute misdemeanor crimes and Jose Garza was elected prosecute felonies," Garza said when asked about Paxton's "rouge DA" comments. "If local voters do not agree with the performance of one of their electeds, they have and they will choose somebody else. "

"There's a timeframe here in order in which the first reports will be due, which is pretty soon, at the end of June, July. The need for action and the timing for action was now," Sanchez said.

What they're saying:

In response to the lawsuit, Paxton says in a 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."