Attorney General Ken Paxton today issued a letter on the committee substitute for Senate Bill 4 (CSSB 4), determining the legislation, as drafted, is constitutional and that the legal concerns raised at the hearing on the bill are unfounded. During the 16-hour hearing on CSSB 4, a number of questions and comments were raised about the legality of the bill, including whether detainers are lawful and whether counties could be liable to inmates for holding them pursuant to a wrongful detainer.
In a letter to Sen. Joan Huffman, chair of the Senate Committee on State Affairs, Attorney General Paxton wrote:
“Our review of the law concludes CSSB 4 is constitutional, there are viable methods for covered entities to avoid liability regarding invalid detainers, and the remainder of the legal concerns are unfounded.”
Attorney General Paxton concludes the letter by observing that: “CSSB 4 would make great strides to keep communities secure by requiring state and local law enforcement to cooperate with federal agencies as they take care to faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United States.”