Texas Local Government Code 87.011 – Definitions
Terms Used In Texas Local Government Code 87.011
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Justice: when applied to a magistrate, means justice of the peace. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
In this subchapter:
(1) “District attorney” includes a criminal district attorney.
(2) “Incompetency” means:
(A) gross ignorance of official duties;
(B) gross carelessness in the discharge of those duties; or
(C) unfitness or inability to promptly and properly discharge official duties because of a serious physical or mental defect that did not exist at the time of the officer’s election.
(3) “Official misconduct” means intentional, unlawful behavior relating to official duties by an officer entrusted with the administration of justice or the execution of the law. The term includes:
(A) an intentional or corrupt failure, refusal, or neglect of an officer to perform a duty imposed on the officer by law;
(B) a prosecuting attorney’s adoption or enforcement of a policy of refusing to prosecute a class or type of criminal offense under state law or instructing law enforcement to refuse to arrest individuals suspected of committing a class or type of offense under state law, except a policy adopted:
(i) in compliance with state law or an injunction, judgment, or other court order;
(ii) in response to a reasonable evidentiary impediment to prosecution; or
(iii) to provide for diversion or similar conditional dismissals of cases when permissible under state law; or
(C) permitting an attorney who is employed by or otherwise under the direction or control of the prosecuting attorney to refuse 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 under state law for any reason other than a reason described by Paragraph (B)(i), (ii), or (iii).
(4) “Policy” means an instruction or directive expressed in any manner.
(5) “Prosecuting attorney” means a district attorney or a county attorney with criminal jurisdiction.