TRIAL

(a) Officers may be removed only following a trial by jury. (b) The trial for removal of an officer and the proceedings connected with the trial shall be conducted as much as possible in accordance with the rules and practice of the court in other civil cases, in the name of the State of Texas, and on the relation of the person filing the petition. (c) In a removal case, the judge may not submit special issues to the jury. Under a proper charge applicable to the facts of the case, the judge shall instruct the jury to find from the evidence whether the grounds for removal alleged in the petition are true. If the petition alleges more than one ground for removal, the jury shall indicate in the verdict which grounds are sustained by the evidence and which are not sustained. (d) Repealed by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 601 (H.B. 2715), Sec. 4, eff. June 20, 2025. (e) Repealed by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 601 (H.B. 2715), Sec. 4, eff. June 20, 2025. (f) In a proceeding to remove an officer under this subchapter, the presiding judge of the administrative judicial region in which the petition for removal was filed shall appoint a prosecuting attorney from another judicial district or county, as applicable, in the administrative judicial region to represent the state. (g) In a proceeding to remove a prosecuting attorney from office, a prosecuting attorney's public statement establishing that the prosecuting attorney adopted or enforced or intends to adopt or enforce a policy described by Section 87.011(3)(B) or permitted or intends to permit an attorney who is employed by or otherwise under the direction or control of the prosecuting attorney to act as described by Section 87.011(3)(C) creates a rebuttable presumption that the prosecuting attorney committed official misconduct. (h) In a trial in which a prosecuting attorney is accused of committing official misconduct under Section 87.011(3)(B) or (C), a court may award reasonable attorney's fees and costs the prosecuting attorney personally spent related to the conduct of the proceeding on finding that the prosecuting attorney did not adopt or enforce a policy described by Section 87.011(3)(B) or permit an attorney who is employed by or otherwise under the direction or control of the prosecuting attorney to act as described by Section 87.011(3)(C), as applicable.