Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday called for the creation of a chief state prosecutor to rein in local district attorneys who he asserted "refuse to prosecute."


Not sure what really can happen though, locals can prosecute and the let them go? it seems to me. Double jeopardy?


Pretty mixed on Abbott, but this is great if not just an election gimmick.


Past time to get the criminals locked up.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday called for the creation of a chief state prosecutor to rein in local district attorneys who he asserted "refuse to prosecute." https://t.co/V8L8X9uyia

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) December 23, 2025

That is the state of Texas' prerogative and duty.

If someone was prosecuted locally and found not guilty, then the state cannot prosecute them again. The feds could under the dual sovereignty doctrine.

This sounds like a solution when the DA simply refuses to bring charges at all, or grossly undercharges. It would allow the state to prosecute the person, or take over and go after the person for the crime they actually committed.

Can also be used to protect people from malicious prosecution such as the case of Daniel Perry.

Florida already has something similar. If a DA refuses to do his or her job, the governor can remove him from the case and assign a DA from another country to handle the case.

Rapier108 said:

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If someone was prosecuted locally and found not guilty, then the state cannot prosecute them again. The feds could under the dual sovereignty doctrine.

This sounds like a solution when the DA simply refuses to bring charges at all, or grossly undercharges. It would allow the state to prosecute the person, or take over and go after the person for the crime they actually committed.

Florida already has something similar. If a DA refuses to do his or her job, the governor can remove him from the case and assign a DA from another country to handle the case.

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Thanks, much better if they can take over before the case is prosecuted. I wouldn't mind a lot more of my tax money going to this state office.

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Not sure what really can happen though, locals can prosecute and the let them go? it seems to me. Double jeopardy?

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Counties are not going to waste their time taking a case to trial to get jeopardy to attach.

This is about when they simply ignore crime!

10 years ago, I would have been against this. Weak central government is part of what makes Texas so strong and great.

But now? Libs are so out of control, I don't think we have a choice!

Rapier108 said:

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This sounds like a solution when the DA simply refuses to bring charges at all, or grossly undercharges. It would allow the state to prosecute the person, or take over and go after the person for the crime they actually committed.

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Exactly right.

It's preventing here, what we see elsewhere: In some cities, the jail has become a turnstile. The violent offenders are simply processed, released and thrown back onto the streets to commit more crimes.

doubledog said:

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That is the state of Texas' prerogative and duty.

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Well, it is the "state" that prosecutes state offenses, but the Texas constitution delegates 100% of that power to locally elected district attorneys, who one might argue are the most powerful elected officials in the state.

As it stands now, DA's have unfettered charging discretion with no checks or balances beyond the grand jury indictment requirement (which, in reality, is no hurdle at all when it comes to a DA's decision not to prosecute). In order to change this, we'd have to amend the constitution.

I think it's something we should look at, but deciding exactly how to do this will be really tricky. I don't think anyone wants Austin running local prosecutions wholesale, so how, exactly, do you draw the line where the state can take over certain matters while leaving the rest to the local DA? It's not as simple as it sounds.

I can get behind this. Like most things Abbott, they're years and years late, but whatever.

Now, if he could also throw in more money to the cities to hire more police officers and the local and state levels, that would be great as well.

The smaller towns are losing people to the bigger cities, which leaves them shorthanded than they need to be.

Seeing as how Abbott has boasted about all the money Texas has, maybe he can put it to use like this on top of what he wants to do.