A dispute over criminal case reporting rules that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton imposed on a group of mostly Democratic district and county attorneys is back in front of the statewide appeals court that previously signaled it disagrees with the requirement.
Travis County District Judge Catherine Mauzy ruled May 7 that new rules issued by Paxton’s office requiring the attorneys to file periodic reports on cases are invalid and exceed the attorney general’s authority. The decision bars Paxton from enforcing the requirements against the counties that sued, which include Dallas, Harris, Travis, El Paso, Bexar, Fort Bend and Williamson counties.
Paxton appealed the ruling to the statewide 15th Court of Appeals a week later. That court previously upheld the same judge’s order granting a temporary injunction against Paxton in the case. Justice Scott K. Field found that based on state law, the Texas Legislature “did not expressly grant rulemaking authority to the Attorney General, nor can rulemaking power be implied where no such authority is expressly granted.”…