Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows have taken legal action to enforce arrest warrants issued by the Texas House of Representatives on Democrat members who fled the State in order to break quorum.
“Speaker Burrows immediately issued warrants for the arrest of runaway Democrats who fled Texas, abandoned their constituents, and abdicated their legislative duties,” said Attorney General Paxton. “We are pursuing every legal remedy at our disposal to hold these rogue legislators accountable. Texas deserves representatives who do their jobs instead of running away at the behest of their billionaire handlers. If there’s one thing Texans can’t stand more than losers, it’s cowards.”
Speaker Burrows added: “From day one, I have said that all options are on the table when it comes to making sure my colleagues who have fled the House return to fulfill their constitutional obligations. The members who fled have been given ample time and opportunity to return on their own accord, and because they have continued to refuse their responsibilities to their constituents and return to Texas, the State has no choice but to pursue additional legal remedies to compel their return from other states. Our full focus is on stopping this dereliction of duty and restoring quorum in the Texas House as soon as possible so we may return our time, attention and resources where they most matter—on the critical issues of the special session call.”
On August 4, when Democrat members abandoned the State and broke quorum, Texas House Speaker Burrows issued arrest warrants pursuant to his authority under Article III, Section 10 of the Texas Constitution and Rule 5, Section 8, of the Rules of the Texas House of Representatives, which stipulates that upon a call of the house, “[a]ll absentees for whom no sufficient excuse is made may, by order of a majority of those present, be sent for and arrested, wherever they may be found.”
The following day, the Texas House formally requested the Office of the Attorney General’s assistance to enforce the warrants. Now, Attorney General Paxton and Speaker Burrows have taken legal action to domesticate the warrants in Illinois, which would allow the Democrats hiding there to be arrested and brought back to Texas.
To read the House letter requesting assistance from the OAG, click here.
To read the filing, click here.