Liberal Texas District Attorney Likely Safe From Removal Bid

A Democratic Texas district attorney likely has thwarted a Republican bid to oust him from office under a new removal law pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R).

Jose Garza, the district attorney in Travis County, doesn’t have a policy of refusing to prosecute crimes related to drugs or abortion, a prosecutor appointed to investigate wrote, in a motion to dismiss June 7. The special prosecutor, Jim Nichols (R) of Bell County, asked that the case be dismissed with prejudice.

The judge who tapped Nichols to investigate hasn’t said if he’ll grant the motion.

Garza, a liberal in Austin, is the first blue city prosecutor in Texas to face a removal action under a law that went into effect in September. The law, known as H.B. 17, targets prosecutors who have an office policy of not prosecuting a certain type or class of crimes.

Garza, who entered office in 2021, is accused by a woman of not prosecuting abortion crimes or certain drug cases. But the investigation showed Garza has prosecuted drug cases before and after the law took effect and obtained convictions.

The woman’s petition also references Garza’s policy to refer all excessive force cases against law enforcement to a grand jury. But that’s not grounds for removal under the law, Nichols said.

The petition mirrors a previous effort that was dismissed on the basis that a different plaintiff had a criminal case being prosecuted in Garza’s office.

Garza was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday in the matter. That hearing is no longer scheduled.

Garza is represented by Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody and Miller & Chevalier.

The case is Dupuis v. Garza, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. D-1-GN-24-002191, 6/7/24.