SB 318: Creighton Bill’s Election Unit Can Subpoena Cities And Counties

Caption

relating to the establishment of the election integrity division in the office of the attorney general.

Summary

State law enforcement must help on request. Locals must hand over records or send witnesses.

The bill orders the Texas attorney general's office to set up an election integrity division that investigates reports of election fraud and other Election Code offenses, working in support of the local county or district attorney. It touches the attorney general's office, state law enforcement agencies, which must help when the division asks, and cities, counties and other local governments, which can be subpoenaed for documents and witness testimony. Starting September 1, 2025, a standing state unit can investigate election complaints and force local governments to hand over records or send witnesses.

Labels

Labels: GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on Apr 1, 2025. Died in the House: failed to receive a favorable vote in the State Affairs committee on May 15, 2025.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB318 · 2024-11-12

SOLD BY

Sen. Brandon CreightonRSenate 4

+ 4 coauthors

ITEM

relating to the establishment of the election integrity division in the office of the attorney general.

WHAT IT DOES

State law enforcement must help on request. Locals must hand over records or send witnesses.

The bill orders the Texas attorney general's office to set up an election integrity division that investigates reports of election fraud and other Election Code offenses, working in support of the local county or district attorney. It touches the attorney general's office, state law enforcement agencies, which must help when the division asks, and cities, counties and other local governments, which can be subpoenaed for documents and witness testimony. Starting September 1, 2025, a standing state unit can investigate election complaints and force local governments to hand over records or send witnesses.

CHARGES

[x] NEW FEE, FUND, BOARD OR APPOINTEESanalysis confidence 50%

THE TEXT

…“office of the attorney general shall establish an election”…

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The bill creates a new division inside the attorney general's office. The caption says so openly, so this is a tag, not a bait-and-switch.

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 11, 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

Nov 12, 2024Received by the Secretary of the Senate
Nov 12, 2024Filed
Feb 3, 2025Read first time
Feb 3, 2025Referred to State Affairs
Mar 13, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Mar 13, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 13, 2025Testimony taken in committee
Mar 13, 2025Left pending in committee
Mar 20, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 20, 2025Vote taken in committee
Mar 24, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendments
Mar 24, 2025Committee report printed and distributed
Mar 25, 2025Co-author authorized
Mar 26, 2025Placed on intent calendar
Mar 31, 2025Co-author authorized
Mar 31, 2025Rules suspended-Regular order of business
Mar 31, 2025Record vote
Mar 31, 2025Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
Mar 31, 2025Record vote
Apr 1, 2025Rules suspended-Regular order of business
Apr 1, 2025Record vote
Apr 1, 2025Read 3rd time
Apr 1, 2025Passed
Apr 1, 2025Record vote
Apr 1, 2025Reported engrossed
Apr 2, 2025Received from the Senate
Apr 22, 2025Read first time
Apr 22, 2025Referred to State Affairs
May 15, 2025Considered in formal meeting
May 15, 2025Failed to receive affirmative vote in comm.

FILED UNDER

GOVERNMENT GROWTH UNDER A CONSERVATIVE BANNER

THE TEXT

…“office of the attorney general shall establish an election”…

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The bill creates a new program office, an election integrity division, inside the attorney general's office, funded from available or appropriated money.

SIGNED FOR BY

Senate · 20 yea · 11 nay

Sources

Senate: Final passage · Apr 1, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

Smells

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Brandon Creighton

Donors

Donors report through Friends of Brandon Creighton.

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

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

$0 raised since Jul 1, 2024. Derived sum of published report totals. blank in the state's data, consistent with zero. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026. 4 of 4 filed reports carry a published figure.

Report 101060909: Published total from the filed report. Retrieved Oct 29, 2026. Filed report 101060909

$0 spent Jan 1, 2026 to Jun 30, 2026. Published total from the filed report. Flow, Jan 1, 2026 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026. 1 of 1 filed reports carry a published figure.

Report 101060909: Published total from the filed report. Retrieved Oct 29, 2026. Filed report 101060909

$0 cash on hand. Published report total. Stock, as of Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

$0 loans outstanding. Published report total. Stock, as of Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived sum of itemized contributions in regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Unitemized contributions are not included. Flow, Jul 1, 2024 through Jun 30, 2026. State filing data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Money

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

Votes4

Senate Apr 1, 2025

Yea: 20
Nay: 11
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 20, Nays 11. (Same as previous roll call)

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

Yea: 20 (published)
Nay: 11 (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 1, 2025

Yea: 20
Nay: 11
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 Creighton moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 318 at this time on its third reading and final passage: SB 318, Relating to the establishment of the election integrity division in the office of the attorney general. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays 11.

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

Yea: 20 (published)
Nay: 11 (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 Mar 31, 2025

Yea: 19
Nay: 11
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 1

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 11. (Same as previous roll call)

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

Yea: 19 (published)
Nay: 11 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

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

Senate Mar 31, 2025

Yea: 19
Nay: 11
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0
Excused: 1

Names

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

Senate journal

Sources

Senator Creighton moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration SB 318 at this time on its second reading: SB 318, Relating to the establishment of the election integrity division in the office of the attorney general. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 19, Nays 11.

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

Yea: 19 (published)
Nay: 11 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: 0 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

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

Witnesses19

For: 8
Against: 9
On: 2

Names

For

Self6 registrations
Self; State Republican Executive Committee1 registration
True Texas Elections1 registration

Against

ACLU of Texas1 registration
Common Cause Texas1 registration
Common cause texas1 registration
Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot1 registration
Self1 registration
Self; MOVE Texas Civic Fund1 registration
Self; NAKASEC ACTION FUND TEXAS1 registration
Self; Texas Democratic Party1 registration
Texas Civil Rights Project1 registration

On

Office of Attorney General1 registration
Office of the Attorney General1 registration

Sources

19 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 I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 11, 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 I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Nov 12, 2024

05/15/2025 H Failed to receive affirmative vote in comm.

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 2:03 PM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors

Paul BettencourtRSenate 7

Bob HallRSenate 2

Bryan HughesRSenate 1

Lois KolkhorstRSenate 18

House committee · State Affairs · Final status: Died in committee

Senate committee · State Affairs · Committee vote 9 aye, 0 nay, 2 absent · Out of committee

Subjects

Elections--General

State Agencies, Boards & Commissions--Newly Proposed

State Finances--Management & Control

SUBPOENAS

ATTORNEY GENERAL

Text

The text as introduced · 192 words

89R4406 PRL-D

By: Creighton
S.B. No. 318

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment of the election integrity division in

the office of the attorney general.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 402, Government Code, is

amended by adding Section 402.0385 to read as follows:

Sec. 402.0385. ELECTION INTEGRITY DIVISION. (a) The

office of the attorney general shall establish an election

integrity division.

(b) The election integrity division shall, using available

funds or any funds appropriated to the division and in support of

the appropriate county or district attorney, investigate reports of

election fraud or that a person has committed an offense under the

Election Code.

(c) As requested by the division, a state law enforcement

agency shall assist the election integrity division in an

investigation conducted under this section.

(d) For an investigation conducted by the division, the

division may issue an administrative subpoena to a political

subdivision of this state compelling:

(1) the production of information or documents; or

(2) the attendance and testimony of a witness.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Verdict: Smells

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Senate Apr 1, 2025

Senate Apr 1, 2025

Senate Mar 31, 2025

Senate Mar 31, 2025

For

Against

On