AUSTIN, Texas — A lawsuit filed in Hays County to remove District Attorney Kelly Higgins from office has been dropped, according to Higgins' attorney, Michael Shaunessy.
The lawsuit, filed by Hays County District Clerk Avery Anderson, alleged that Higgins has misused his position by not prosecuting simple drug offenses, such as marijuana possession, as well as illegal procedures committed by licensed physicians, like abortions.
"If there had been any communications, 'Hey, I've got this concern,' we'd have sat down and addressed it with him and taken care of it," Shaunessy said.
Court documents show on Sept. 21, Higgins and his team filed a counterclaim asking "the Court to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims but not dismiss the lawsuit because of the pendency of D.A. Higgins’ claims for declaratory relief and attorney’s fees."
Less than 24 hours later, Anderson filed to dismiss his petition against Higgins.
"If you're an adult and you decide to take actions, you need to understand the consequences of your actions, which is one of the reasons we said, 'Look, if we prevail, he needs to pay our attorney's fees,'" Shaunessy said.
Shaunessy said Anderson's claims are not covered by the new law or are simply not true. Even though Higgins campaigned on not prosecuting low-level marijuana offenses, Shaunessy said since the law has taken effect, Higgins hasn't made any policies or statements that don't comply with state law.
"It's everything after Sept. 1," Shaunessy said. "Moreover, the law acknowledges that you can't be found liable for what you said during a campaign."
In the documents, Higgins said Anderson has been unable to fulfill his duties as district clerk. In a response to the lawsuit, Higgins said "many within the Hays County legal community were concerned about Anderson's youth, inexperience and failure to prepare for the role of District Clerk."
Shaunessy said soon, they will file a motion for summary judgment with evidence to prove he is not in violation.
"You can't use this bill as a means to conduct personal attacks or political attacks, or just because you think it ought to be fun to drag somebody who is a district attorney's name through the mud," Shaunessy said.
In the original filing, Anderson said Higgins violated section 87.013, which states that a district attorney may be removed from office for official misconduct of the Texas Local Government Code, by “intentional or corrupt failure, refusal or neglect of an officer to perform a duty imposed on the officer by law," as well as “a prosecuting attorney’s adoption or enforcement of a policy of refusal to prosecute a class or type of criminal offense under state law or instruct law enforcement to refuse to arrest individuals suspected of committing a class or type of offense.”
Both Anderson and Higgins began their terms in January.