## Facts

- Federal investigators uncovered information suggesting Zena Collins Stephens, a county sheriff candidate, received cash campaign contributions exceeding statutory limits.
- Texas Rangers investigated and concluded Stephens accepted individual cash contributions over $100.
- The local district attorney declined to prosecute and directed the Rangers to the Texas Attorney General (AG).
- Relying on Texas Election Code § 273.021, the AG presented the matter to a grand jury in a neighboring county, which returned a three-count indictment.
- Count I alleged tampering with a government record (Penal Code) based on reporting a $5,000 cash contribution in a category for small contributions.
- Counts II and III alleged unlawful acceptance of cash contributions over $100 (Election Code).
- Stephens moved to quash Count I, arguing the AG lacked authority to prosecute a Penal Code offense, and sought pretrial habeas relief asserting § 273.021 violated separation of powers.
- The trial court quashed Count I and denied habeas relief; the intermediate court reversed the quash ruling and affirmed denial of habeas relief.

## Issues

1. Whether the Legislature may authorize the Texas Attorney General, an executive-branch officer, to independently initiate and conduct trial-level prosecutions for election-law offenses in district and inferior courts.
2. Whether Texas Election Code § 273.021 violates the Texas Constitution’s separation-of-powers provision by delegating to the AG prosecutorial authority assigned to local prosecutors.
3. Whether, if § 273.021 is unconstitutional, an indictment obtained and pursued solely under that authority must be dismissed.

## Decision

- The Court of Criminal Appeals held Texas Election Code § 273.021 unconstitutional under the Texas Constitution’s separation-of-powers clause.
- The court ruled the AG may prosecute criminal cases in district and inferior courts only with the permission or participation of the local prosecutor, and may not initiate such prosecutions unilaterally.
- The court reversed the court of appeals and remanded to the trial court with instructions to dismiss the indictment.

## Legal Principles

- Under the Texas Constitution, the core power to prosecute criminal cases in district and inferior courts is assigned to local prosecutors (district and county attorneys) as part of the judicial department’s functions for separation-of-powers purposes.
- The Legislature cannot transfer that core prosecutorial authority to an executive-branch officer by statute.
- A statute granting the Attorney General independent authority to initiate and conduct trial-level criminal prosecutions violates separation of powers unless the Constitution expressly permits it.
- When an indictment is obtained and maintained solely under an unconstitutional grant of prosecutorial authority, dismissal is an available remedy.

## Conclusion

The court invalidated Election Code § 273.021 as an unconstitutional delegation of trial-level prosecutorial power to the Attorney General and ordered dismissal of the indictment because the prosecution was initiated under that void statutory authority.


State v. Stephens, Nos. PD-1032-20 & PD-1033-20, 2021 WL 5917198 (Tex. Crim. App. Dec. 15, 2021)