By: Bell of Kaufman H.B. No. 678
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the appointment by the attorney general of a special
  prosecutor to prosecute certain election offenses that are
  committed in an adjacent county.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 273.001(e), Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (e)  Not later than the 30th day after the date on which a
  county or district attorney begins an investigation under this
  section, the county or district attorney shall deliver notice of
  the investigation to the Office of the Attorney General [secretary
  of state]. The notice may [must] include a request that the
  Attorney General appoint a county or district attorney in an
  adjacent county as a special prosecutor for the case. [statement
  that a criminal investigation is being conducted and the date on
  which the election that is the subject of the investigation was
  held. The secretary of state may disclose information relating to a
  criminal investigation received under this subsection only if the
  county or district attorney has disclosed the information or would
  be required by law to disclose the information.]
         SECTION 2.  Section 273.002, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 273.002.  LOCAL ASSISTANCE TO ATTORNEY GENERAL. For an
  election in which the attorney general is conducting an
  investigation, the attorney general may:
         (1)  request [direct] the county or district attorney
  serving a county in the territory covered by the election to conduct
  or assist the attorney general in conducting the investigation; or
         (2)  direct the Department of Public Safety to assist in
  conducting the investigation.
         SECTION 3.  The heading to Section 273.021, Election Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 273.021.  PROSECUTION BY SPECIAL PROSECUTOR [ATTORNEY
  GENERAL AUTHORIZED].
         SECTION 4.  Section 273.021, Election Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (a)  The attorney general may in the course of investigating
  [prosecute] a criminal offense prescribed by the election laws of
  this state request that the county or district attorney of the
  county where the offense occurred or the county or district
  attorney of an adjacent county be appointed as a special prosecutor
  for the matter.
         (b)  The special prosecutor [attorney general] may appear
  before a grand jury in connection with an offense the [attorney
  general] special prosecutor is requested [authorized] to prosecute
  under Subsection (a).
         (c)  The authority to prosecute prescribed by this
  subchapter does not affect the authority derived from other law to
  prosecute the same offenses.
         SECTION 5.  Section 273.022, Election Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.