SB 11 Texas Senate · 89th Legislature, 1st Called Session (2025)

Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute criminal offenses prescribed by the election laws of this state.

SB 11 requires Texas law enforcement agencies to report election-related crimes to the attorney general and gives the attorney general exclusive authority to prosecute these offenses. Local prosecutors and law enforcement must share relevant information with the attorney general to assist in these cases, and the attorney general can direct local offices to handle or support prosecutions. The law applies only to election crimes committed after its effective date (91 days after the legislative session). This shifts prosecution responsibility for election law violations from local to state-level authorities.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jul 2025

Committee Review

Jul 2025

Senate Passage

Aug 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jul 21, 2025 Last action Aug 4, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Engrossed · 4 edits · Aug 1, 2025

MODERATE

This bill reorganizes the Attorney General's authority to prosecute election crimes by creating a new subchapter and clarifying the conditions under which the Attorney General must take over a case. The most significant change is a new requirement that if a local prosecutor does not act within six months of receiving a probable cause report, the Attorney General must automatically assume jurisdiction to prosecute the offense. The bill also updates related sections in the Election Code to align with these new procedures.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of the Attorney General's mandatory involvement in election crimes by adding a specific time threshold (six months) that triggers automatic jurisdiction, whereas the previous version did not specify this timeline.

ENFORCEMENT

Added a mandatory six-month waiting period; if a local prosecutor does not initiate proceedings within six months of a probable cause report, the Attorney General must take over the prosecution.

REQUIREMENT

Modified the reporting requirement so that law enforcement agencies must now submit probable cause reports to both the local prosecuting attorney and the Attorney General simultaneously.

TECHNICAL

Added a new Subchapter E to the Government Code to formally organize the Attorney General's prosecution authority.

Updated cross-references in the Election Code to point to the new Subchapter E instead of the old section numbers.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Aug 4, 2025

Introduced

Received from the Senate

lower

Aug 1, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed

upper

Jul 30, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed to engrossment

upper

Jul 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee report printed and distributed

upper

Jul 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

upper

Jul 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Vote taken in committee

upper

Jul 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Testimony taken in committee

upper

Jul 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to State Affairs

upper

Jul 21, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

upper

1 primary · 9 co-sponsors