AUSTIN, Texas — Travis County District Attorney José Garza is facing a removal from office attempt under a state law that targets "rogue" prosecutors.
On Friday night, state district Judge Dib Waldrip in Comal County appointed Bell County attorney Jim Nichols to pursue the case under House Bill 17, according to KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman. The law, which went into effect in September, allows courts to remove district attorneys for "official misconduct."
The lawsuit, filed by a Travis County resident, accuses Garza of indiscriminately pressing charges against law enforcement officials and presenting those cases to grand juries. The lawsuit alleges he keeps a list of law enforcement officials he deems unfit to testify.
RELATED: Texas attorney general lays out proposed new rules to hold district attorneys more accountable
It also argues that Garza has refused to prosecute certain crimes by not pursuing abortion-related cases.
Meanwhile, Jason Salazar filed the same petition in November, which was complicated by Salazar’s arrest in October for suspicion of drug possession. That petition was dismissed in January.
RELATED: 2024 Texas Democratic primary election: Travis County District Attorney race called for José Garza
According to the Statesman, the petition was written by Martin Harry, a former Republican candidate for district attorney who lost the general election to Garza in 2020. Harry, who is now a Florida resident, has posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, asking Travis County residents to file the petition. His website also has a blank version of the petition to use.
DA Garza's office provided the following statement to KVUE regarding the effort:
"Every day, our office works to bring justice to Travis County and keep people safe. Last month, a few billionaires and MAGA Republicans and their dark money PAC failed to stop our progress at the ballot box. Now, one month later, their allies are wasting taxpayer money trying to undermine the decision of the voters of Travis County. They failed once, and they'll fail again."
On Monday, local Democrats stood by Garza, saying this is an attempt by Republicans to ignore election results. Garza won the Democratic primary in March and is expected to win the general election in November.
"They only believe in elections they win," U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) said on Monday. "They only believe in local control if it follows their dogma. And so, whether it is a plastic bag ban, a health care order, a zoning requirement or, in this case, our district attorney, they believe in overruling the decision of local officials whenever it doesn't fit their dogma."
Democrats pointed out that the petition does not cite any so-called misconduct by Garza that happened after the new law, HB 17, took effect.