The latest criminal justice news from The Texas Tribune.
State politicians, high court judges and top bureaucrats would get public corruption cases against them moved to their home counties under a controversial bill that cleared the Texas House on Monday. Full Story
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Three years after a police officer shot and killed their 5-year-old border collie, Mark and Cindy Boling watched Friday as the Texas House voted for a police canine training program they have been calling for since the day the dog died. Full Story
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After a bit of a Democratic gamesmanship shot down a major gun debate before it started, a measure that would allow gun owners with a concealed handgun license to carry their weapons openly in public is back on the House schedule Friday. Full Story
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At our 4/16 conversation, state Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, and state Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond — the chairmen, respectively, of the Senate and House Higher Education committees — handicapped the prospects for passage of campus carry legislation. Full Story
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Looking to clear the Texas Department of Public Safety's name, the agency’s top official is asking the head of the state's anti-corruption unit to renew a halted investigation into $20 million no-bid border security contracts. Full Story
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If the names of the compounding pharmacies providing execution drugs to Texas officials are made public, it could end the death penalty, state Rep. John Smithee told a house committee on Wednesday. Full Story
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Ahead of a trip to Texas to advocate for an end to mass incarceration, the Grammy and Academy Award-winning singer talked with the Tribune about why the state is so crucial to the criminal justice reform movement. Full Story
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A Democratic congressman has asked the federal government to do what the Texas Department of Public Safety has said it can’t: Provide information on what role federal agents have played during the state’s multimillion-dollar border surge. Full Story
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State Rep. Ron Reynolds made his case on Thursday for requiring cops in Texas to wear body cameras, citing the fatal police shooting of an unarmed man in South Carolina. But police advocates were skeptical. Full Story
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Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis has asked the Texas Rangers to look into Attorney General Ken Paxton's violation of state securities law, Willis' office said Thursday. Full Story
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The Texas House on Thursday passed legislation that would codify the current policies and duties of the state’s Border Prosecution Unit. Full Story
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As a bystander's video of a South Carolina cop shooting and killing an unarmed black man reignites a national debate over police brutality, Texas lawmakers are set to discuss police body cameras in a public hearing. Full Story
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Despite improvements in pockets of northern Mexico after years of bloodshed, instability still reigns in areas of Chihuahua state that continues driving people north to seek safe haven. What determines whether a person lives or dies near this part of the Rio Grande could be as simple as geography. Full Story
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Along party lines, a Senate committee Wednesday advanced a controversial "sanctuary cities" bill from Lubbock Sen. Charles Perry that would cut state funds to cities that don't let their peace officers enforce immigration laws. Full Story
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Three bills up for House committee hearings Wednesday would lower the penalties for possessing small amounts of pot in Texas. A fourth would decriminalize pot entirely. Full Story
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State Rep. Borris Miles threatened to "beat up" a plainclothes DPS trooper while the lawman was guarding Attorney General Ken Paxton during a meeting at an Austin steakhouse, according to a report obtained by the Tribune. Full Story
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UPDATED: Business groups are weighing in on gun legislation, trying to preserve a business owner's rights to ban guns from private property. A House committee took up the question up Tuesday. Full Story
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After a marathon hearing that stretched well into Tuesday morning, a Senate subcommittee approved Sen. Donna Campbell's bill to repeal Texas law that allows some undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at colleges and universities. Full Story
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A bill banning so-called sanctuary cities in Texas – the common term for local entities that do not enforce immigration laws — advanced out of a Senate subcommittee on Monday. Full Story
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A set of bills from conservative lawmakers would make it illegal for people to use the bathroom other than the one designated for their gender assigned at birth. Members of the transgender community say the legislation specifically targets them and even places a bounty on their heads. Full Story
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