A district judge has temporarily blocked new reporting requirements issued by the Texas Attorney General鈥檚 Office that prosecutors argued were unconstitutional and burdensome.
According to the Dallas County District Attorney鈥檚 Office, a judge on Monday orally granted a temporary injunction in a lawsuit brought by Democratic DAs and county attorneys from across Texas, including Dallas County DA John Creuzot, Bexar County DA Joe Gonzales and Harris County DA Sean Teare.
The prosecutors challenged new rules recently requiring district and county attorneys in counties with over 400,000 residents to submit detailed reports and grant the AG鈥檚 office access to certain case files. The rules target about a dozen mostly Democratic-leaning counties and, according to the prosecutors, are unconstitutional and costly.
But now, the temporary injunction will pause these rules while the lawsuit moves forward.
On Thursday, Dallas County DA John Creuzot said 鈥渃omplying with the Attorney General鈥檚 new rules would have been a logistical and operational nightmare,鈥� adding that the injunction 鈥減reserves the separation of powers.鈥� Bexar County DA Joe Gonzales said the rules were 鈥渁 clear overreach of authority鈥� and that the ruling 鈥渉elps preserve prosecutorial discretion.鈥�
鈥淭his ruling ensures that our collective offices will continue to focus on public safety instead of wasting valuable time preparing unnecessary reports,鈥� Gonzales added.
Harris County DA Sean Teare didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
At the time, the policy aimed to 鈥渞ein in rogue district attorneys.鈥� Under , noncompliance could result in prosecutors being removed from office. While the AG鈥檚 office didn鈥檛 immediately comment on Thursday, Paxton called the lawsuit 鈥渕eritless鈥� when it was filed last month.
