SB 2743: bill letting judges swap out prosecutors on election cases

Caption

relating to the prosecution of certain election offenses.

Summary

Consistently refuse to prosecute? An assistant attorney general steps in.

The bill lets a judge remove a local district or county attorney from election-law cases if that prosecutor has a policy or practice of consistently refusing to prosecute election-law violations, and then requires the judge to appoint an assistant attorney general in their place. It touches local prosecutors, the attorney general's office, and any Texan who has lived in a county for at least six months, because that resident can file a petition asking for the disqualification or asking that a suspected election violation be referred to the attorney general before charges are filed. Starting September 1, 2025, the attorney general can prosecute election offenses in those counties, and the office gets no extra pay for the added work.

Labels

Labels: GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on Apr 24, 2025. Died in the House: never got out of the State Affairs committee.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB2743 · 2025-03-13

SOLD BY

Sen. Brent HagenbuchRSenate 30

+ 2 coauthors

ITEM

relating to the prosecution of certain election offenses.

WHAT IT DOES

Consistently refuse to prosecute? An assistant attorney general steps in.

The bill lets a judge remove a local district or county attorney from election-law cases if that prosecutor has a policy or practice of consistently refusing to prosecute election-law violations, and then requires the judge to appoint an assistant attorney general in their place. It touches local prosecutors, the attorney general's office, and any Texan who has lived in a county for at least six months, because that resident can file a petition asking for the disqualification or asking that a suspected election violation be referred to the attorney general before charges are filed. Starting September 1, 2025, the attorney general can prosecute election offenses in those counties, and the office gets no extra pay for the added work.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version S · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version S · April 15, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

Mar 13, 2025Received by the Secretary of the Senate
Mar 13, 2025Filed
Apr 3, 2025Read first time
Apr 3, 2025Referred to State Affairs
Apr 10, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Apr 10, 2025Considered in public hearing
Apr 10, 2025Testimony taken in committee
Apr 10, 2025Left pending in committee
Apr 14, 2025Considered in public hearing
Apr 14, 2025Vote taken in committee
Apr 15, 2025Reported favorably as substituted
Apr 15, 2025Committee report printed and distributed
Apr 22, 2025Placed on intent calendar
Apr 23, 2025Not again placed on intent calendar
Apr 24, 2025Co-author authorized
Apr 24, 2025Placed on intent calendar
Apr 24, 2025Rules suspended-Regular order of business
Apr 24, 2025Record vote
Apr 24, 2025Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
Apr 24, 2025Record vote
Apr 24, 2025Rules suspended-Regular order of business
Apr 24, 2025Record vote
Apr 24, 2025Read 3rd time
Apr 24, 2025Passed
Apr 24, 2025Record vote
Apr 24, 2025Reported engrossed
Apr 25, 2025Received from the Senate
Apr 28, 2025Read first time
Apr 28, 2025Referred to State Affairs
May 23, 2025Considered in formal meeting
May 23, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 19 yea · 12 nay

Sources

Senate: Final passage · Apr 24, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Brent Hagenbuch

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$50K Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC$25KJohn Kleinheinz$25,000

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Jun 15, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC$50,000.00

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$50,000.00

Cash: $50,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $50,000.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 23, 2025 to Sep 8, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101010787, 101032653.

Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC$25,000.00

Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC

$25,000.00

Cash: $25,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $25,000.00

Also funds 1 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Apr 8, 2026 to Apr 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Apr 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101058859.

John Kleinheinz$25,000.00

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

$50,000.00

Cash: $50,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $50,000.00

Also funds 124 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 10, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team

Sources

Derived itemized flow · Jun 23, 2025 to Sep 8, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101010787, 101032653.

×

Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC

$25,000.00

Cash: $25,000.00
Paid by others: $0.00
Total: $25,000.00

Also funds 1 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Apr 8, 2026 to Apr 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Apr 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 101058859.

Votes4

Senate Apr 24, 2025

Yea: 19
Nay: 12
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 19, Nays 12. (Same as previous roll call)

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 19 (published)
Nay: 12 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 24, 2025

Yea: 19
Nay: 12
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

Senator Hughes, on behalf of Senator Hagenbuch, moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 2743 at this time on its third reading and final passage: CSSB 2743, Relating to the prosecution of certain election offenses. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 19, Nays 12.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 19 (published)
Nay: 12 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 24, 2025

Yea: 19
Nay: 12
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

The bill was read second time and was passed to engrossment by the following vote: Yeas 19, Nays 12. (Same as previous roll call)

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 19 (published)
Nay: 12 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 24, 2025

Yea: 19
Nay: 12
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 0

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Sources

Senator Hagenbuch moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 2743 at this time on its second reading: CSSB 2743, Relating to the prosecution of certain election offenses. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 19, Nays 12.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 19 (published)
Nay: 12 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 0 (derived from named list)

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses6

For: 1
Against: 4
On: 1

Names

For

Self; Harris county ballot security1 registration

Against

ACLU of Texas1 registration
Common Cause Texas1 registration
Self1 registration
Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration

On

Office of the Attorney General1 registration

Sources

6 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

Senate witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version S · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version S · April 15, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version S by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Mar 13, 2025

05/23/2025 H Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:20 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors

Brandon CreightonRSenate 4

Adam HinojosaRSenate 27

House committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 8 aye, 5 nay, 2 absent · Final status: Did not pass

Senate committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 8 aye, 1 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Companion

HB 4705 by Hopper (similar)

Subjects

Courts--Judges

Courts--Prosecuting Attorneys

Criminal Procedure--General

Elections--Administration

Elections--General

Text

The text as introduced · 346 words

89R19451 TYPED

By: Hagenbuch
S.B. No. 2743

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution of certain election offenses.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Article 2A.105, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) A judge of a court in which a district or county attorney

represents the state, or a judge of a court in an adjacent county,

upon petition for removal by any resident of this state who, at the

time of the alleged cause of disqualification, lives and has lived

for at least six months in the county or adjacent county, shall

declare the attorney disqualified and must appoint the attorney

general to represent the state in accordance with Article

2A.104(b)(2) with respect to a criminal case or proceeding

involving the election laws of this state, on a showing that the

attorney has adopted a policy or practice, or is following or

enforcing a policy or practice, under which the attorney

consistently refuses or declines to prosecute a violation of the

election laws of this state.

SECTION 2. Section 273.021, Election Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) In accordance with an appointment made under Article

2A.104(b)(2), the attorney general may prosecute a criminal offense

prescribed by the election laws of this state on the

disqualification of a district or county attorney under Article

2A.105(d), Code of Criminal Procedure.

SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

the prosecution of an offense committed on or after the effective

date of this Act. The prosecution of an offense committed before

the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on

the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued

in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an

offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any

element of the offense occurred before that date.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Verdict: No flags

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC

Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC

Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet PAC

Senate Apr 24, 2025

Senate Apr 24, 2025

Senate Apr 24, 2025

Senate Apr 24, 2025

For

Against

On

Companion