May 15, 2019      5:57 PM
Chair Leach backs down in fight over transferring more authority to AG in human trafficking cases
It appears Speaker Bonnen may have talked Leach out of a record vote on Moody amendment that Leach had argued would “gut” his legislation
After
an extended debate, Texas House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jeff Leach, R-Allen, retreated in a battle over a key change to
legislation dealing with how human trafficking cases are prosecuted in this state.
Rep.
Joe Moody, D-El Paso, called the bill
as proposed by Chair Leach as a “sea change” in the way human trafficking cases
are dealt with, shifting more power to the Office of the Attorney General, who
under the bill would have been able to prosecute those cases even when local district
attorneys decline to do so.
By Scott Braddock
|