Rep. Chip Roy said he recently learned of a statistic he believes highlights the need for stronger enforcement and accountability in Texas’s criminal justice system.
“I was visiting with Crime Stoppers down in Houston a couple of weeks ago, and they told me a statistic that should turn your head,” Roy said.
“And that is that there are 222 Houstonians who have been murdered over the last seven years by multiple-time felons who were released and back out on the streets in Houston.”
Roy said such outcomes should not occur in the state.
“That can’t happen in Texas,” he said.
“This is Texas, and the fact is, we’ve got DAs and judges that are allowing it to happen.”
Roy called for stricter enforcement of existing laws and greater accountability for local officials.
“So of course, we should enforce the law, and we should make sure that DAs and judges are held to account,” Roy said.
He suggested the Texas Legislature should expand the governor’s authority to remove district attorneys who fail to uphold the law.
“I think the legislature ought to give greater authority to the governor, like Governor DeSantis out in Florida, to remove recalcitrant das and to have greater flexibility to do that,” Roy said.
“And we ought to be able to do that to judges.”
Roy also emphasized the need for a more robust state-level prosecutorial system.
“But importantly, I think the Governor has been right when he’s been talking about a state prosecutorial function,” Roy said.
“The Office of Attorney General has prosecutor’s assistance, but for a state the size of Texas, with eighth biggest economy in the world, with over 30 million people, we ought to be able to have a function and not have to rely on department of justice as a backstop.”
He argued that a state-based system would better ensure that violent offenders remain behind bars.
“But a state function to be able to make sure bad guys are in jail, that gang members are in jail, that cartel members are in jail and not on our streets, harassing the people of Texas,” Roy said.
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Roy’s remarks centered on the idea that Texas should exercise greater authority over criminal prosecutions and enforcement rather than relying on federal intervention.
He said the statistic provided by Crime Stoppers highlights what he views as a failure by some local prosecutors and judges to keep repeat offenders off the streets.