Hays County district clerk withdraws lawsuit seeking to remove district attorney
The Hays County district clerk has requested the dismissal of his lawsuit to remove the county's district attorney from office.
On Thursday, Avrey Anderson filed a notice of nonsuit in his case against District Attorney Kelly Higgins. But, in an interview with the American-Statesman, Higgins said that he planned to pursue a judgment in the case.
"This ain't over," Higgins said.
Earlier this month, Anderson filed the petition under House Bill 17, which allows for the removal of a district attorney for "official misconduct" — including declining to prosecute certain criminal offenses. The Texas law took effect on Sept. 1 and is part of a movement among state Republicans to rein in "rogue" progressive prosecutors.
In his suit, Anderson cited campaign promises made by Higgins not to prosecute minor drug offenses or violations of state restrictions placed on abortions and gender-affirming health care.
Anderson, who was elected as a Democrat at age 19, previously told the Statesman that he recognizes the negative impact of prosecuting minor drug offenses. He also said he supports women and transgender people's "right to bodily autonomy."
"This doesn't mean that I or any other elected official can personally undermine the laws that we swore to uphold or in the case of the District Attorney to enforce," he said in a text message.
In Higgins' response to the petition, filed Wednesday, he described Anderson's suit as a "preemptive strike" against any effort to remove the clerk from office for incompetence.
The response claimed that Anderson has repeatedly failed to fulfill his duties as district clerk. Higgins alleged that Anderson's inexperience and refusal to learn affected the court's functions.
In text messages with the Statesman, Anderson disputed this characterization of his performance. "I believe it is an attack on me because I am young," he said.
However, the day after Higgins' response, Anderson filed his motion to dismiss the case.
"I felt that it would be in the interest of the community to drop the charges. It isn’t easy dealing with our District Attorney but if someone is to bring him down it shouldn’t be me," Anderson told the Statesman in a text message.
He also said that he "absolutely" intended to continue in his role as district clerk.
In response to Anderson's notice of nonsuit, Higgins asked for the court to declare that Anderson's initial claims are false and do not serve as adequate basis for his removal. He will also pursue the recovery of his legal fees from Anderson.
"I'm looking forward to getting in the courtroom," Higgins said.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Hays County district clerk stops lawsuit targeted at district attorney
