April 20 (UPI) — A citizens’ petition seeking the removal a progressive district attorney in Austin under Texas’ recently enacted “rogue prosecutor” statute is proceeding after a ruling by a local judge this week.
Dib Waldrip, presiding judge of Texas’ 3rd Administrative Judicial District, on Friday allowed a petition seeking the removal of Travis County District Attorney José Garza for “official misconduct” to proceed.
He assigned Bell County Attorney Jim Nichols as the prosecuting attorney in the case.
Travis County resident Mary Dupuis filed the petition on April 8. In the document, she cites Garza’s handling of police use-of-force cases, arguing the DA has “indiscriminately” pressed charges against law enforcement officials and presented those charges to grand juries.
She also cited Garza’s refusal to prosecute certain crimes. The prosecutor has been public about his refusal to prosecute charges related to abortion or certain drug offenses.
The petition was filed under House Bill 17, which took effect in September and allows courts to remove district and county attorneys for “official misconduct,” which under the bill covers refusal to prosecute certain criminal offenses.
When Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill last year, he said the intention was to “hold rogue district attorneys accountable” after progressive DAs, including Garza, said they would not prosecute people seeking an abortion, which is banned under Texas law.
Elected district attorneys, however, still have significant discretion over what cases they pursue.
Garza also faced a petition calling for his removal in December filed by Jason Salazar. But a felony drug charge against Salazar disqualified him from seeking the DA’s removal under the law.
The Salazar petition was written by Martin Harry, a former Republican candidate for district attorney who lost the election to Garza in 2020.
