HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES — NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
COMMITTEE: Criminal Jurisprudence
TIME & DATE: 10:00 AM, Tuesday, May 19, 2026
PLACE: E2.014
CHAIR: Rep. John Smithee
The committee will meet to hear invited and public testimony on the following interim charges:
Rural Criminal Justice Workforce Development: Study the feasibility of developing partnerships with Texas-based law schools to strengthen the pipeline of criminal prosecutors and defense attorneys serving rural and underserved areas of the state. Evaluate potential training pathways, clinical opportunities, or incentive-based partnerships with law schools that could support rural and underserved communities in maintaining a strong and reliable criminal justice workforce.
Fraud and Financial Exploitation of Elderly and Vulnerable Texans: Examine trends related to the crimes of fraud, financial exploitation, and abuse targeting elderly and vulnerable Texans, including crimes involving telecommunications and emerging technologies. Review the effectiveness of current criminal statutes, penalties, restitution tools, and coordination among law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Identify gaps in detection, investigation, prosecution, and victim recovery, and provide recommendations to strengthen prevention and accountability.
Electronic public comments may be submitted for:
Rural Criminal Justice Workforce Development
Fraud and Financial Exploitation of Elderly and Vulnerable Texans
Texas residents who wish to electronically submit comments related to
agenda items on this notice without testifying in person can do so until
the hearing is adjourned by visiting:
https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c220
For those persons who will be testifying, information for in-person witness registration, can be found here: https://mytxlegis.capitol.texas.gov/HWRSPublic/About.aspx
A live video broadcast of this hearing will be available here: https://house.texas.gov/video-audio/
Instructions related to public access to the meeting location are available here: https://house.texas.gov/committees/public-access-house-committee-meetings/
NOTICE OF ASSISTANCE AT PUBLIC MEETINGS
Persons with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who may need assistance, such as a sign language interpreter, are requested to contact Stacey Nicchio at (512) 463-0850, 72 hours prior to the meeting so that appropriate arrangements can be made.