AG Paxton?Intervenes in Lawsuit Attempting to Release Thousands of Violent Inmates from the Dallas County Jail

AUSTIN, TX -- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton?today filed a motion to intervene into a federal lawsuit seeking to stop the release of inmates from the Dallas County Jail, including killers, rapists, arsonists and armed robbers. Releasing potentially thousands of persons arrested for, charged with, or previously convicted of violent criminal acts would directly endanger Texas citizens.?

“We must continue to protect the health and safety of Texans and maintain?the integrity of our criminal justice system?by preventing the unlawful release of dangerous individuals,” said?Attorney General Paxton. “The safety of Texans is imperative, especially?during this time, and we cannot afford to ignore the need for justice?in the?midst of this?health crisis.”??

The lawsuit seeks to upend Texas’s criminal justice system by indiscriminately releasing inmates into the local community. Releasing such dangerous inmates would violate Texas law and long-established principles of criminal procedure.

In a similar case just two days ago, the Texas Supreme Court stopped an unlawful decision by a state district court in Travis County which would have blocked Governor Abbott’s Executive Order GA 13 and allowed the release of inmates en masse.

Read a copy of the?filing here.?

For information on the spread or treatment?of?Coronavirus (COVID-19), please visit the?Texas Department of State Health Services?website.?