KEN PAXTON 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

March 20, 2017 

The Honorable Stephen Bret Tyler 

Victoria County Criminal District Attorney 

205 North Bridge Street, Suite 301 

Victoria, Texas 77901 

Dear Mr. Tyler: 

Opinion No. KP-0137 

Re: Procedures for a grand jury to report its 

findings and the district clerk's obligations 

related to that report (RQ~0129-KP) 

You ask several questions related to whether a district clerk must accept for filing a grand 

jury report, other than an indictment. 1 Specifically, your questions concern whether "grand jury 

reports prepared as part of investigations into official misconduct conducted under article 2.03 of 

the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure may be filed with the district clerk." Request Letter at 9-

10. Article 2.03(a) provides: 

It shall be the duty of the attorney representing the State to present 

by information to the court having jurisdiction, any officer for 

neglect or failure of any duty enjoined upon such officer, when such 

neglect or failure can be presented by information, whenever it shall 

come to the knowledge of said attorney that there has been a neglect 

or failure of duty upon the part of said officer; and he shall bring to 

the notice of the grand jury any act of violation of law or neglect or 

failure of duty upon the part of any officer, when such violation, 

neglect or failure is not presented by information, and whenever the 

same may come to his knowledge. 

TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 2.03(a). 

The central issue underpinning your questions is whether a grand jury has legal authority 

to deliver a report other than the return of indictments. See Request Letter at 1-2. The Legislature 

sets forth the authority of the grand jury in three principal provisions of the Code of Criminal 

Procedure. First, article 20.09 of the Code of Criminal Procedure sets forth the duties of the grand 

jury, as follows: 

'See Letter from Honorable Stephen Bret Tyler, Victoria Cty. Crim. Dist. Att'y, to Honorable Ken Paxton, 

Tex. Att'y Gen. at 1-2 (Sept. 16, 2016), https://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opinion/requests-for-opinion-rqs 

("Request Letter"). 
The Honorable Stephen Bret Tyler - Page 2 (KP-0137) 

The grand jury shall inquire into all offenses liable to indictment of 

which any member may have knowledge, or of which they shall be 

informed by the attorney representing the State, or any other 

credible person. 

TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 20.09 ("Duties of grand jury") (emphasis added). Article 20.19 of the 

Code of Criminal Procedure then provides for voting on the presentment of an indictment by 

members of the grand jury after hearing testimony. Id. art. 20.19 ("Grand jury shall vote"). Article 

20.19 states: 

After all the testimony which is accessible to the grand jury shall 

have been given in respect to any criminal accusation, the vote shall 

be taken as to the presentment of an indictment, and ifnine members 

concur in finding the bill, the foreman shall make a memorandum of 

the same with such data as will enable the attorney who represents 

the State to write the indictment. 

Id. (emphasis added). Finally, article 20.21 of the Code of Criminal Procedure addresses the matter 

of the grand jury's report to the court. Id. art. 20.21 ("Indictment presented"). Article 20.21 states: 

When the indictment is ready to be presented, the grand jury shall 

through their foreman, deliver the indictment to the judge or clerk 

of the court. At least nine members of the grand jury must be present 

on such occasion. 

Id. (emphasis added). 

Construing the plain language of these provisions collectively, this office previously 

concluded that Texas law authorizes grand juries to report by indictment only. Tex. Att'y Gen. 

Op. No. M-1171 (1972) at 2 ("[U]nder the law of Texas, the power of the Grand Jury is limited to 

investigating possible criminal offenses and delivering any resulting indictment to the district 

court."). As the only grand jury report authorized by law is an indictment, this office concluded 

that grand juries have no statutory authority to issue other reports, such as investigatory findings 

or other recommendations. Id. at 2-3 ("There being no authority given to the Grand Jury to 

investigate civil matters or to make any investigation into circumstances where no criminal offense 

is suspected or alleged, no report or recommendation to the district court in such matters is 

authorized ... . ");see also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JM-1119 (1989) at 2 ("Grand juries in Texas, 

like the vast majority of other states, lack constitutional and statutory authority to make reports 

and recommendations."). Because there is no statutory or constitutional authority underpinning 

these documents, we further concluded courts have no legal duty to accept such reports. See Tex. 

Att'y Gen. Op. No. M-1171 (1972) at 3 (concluding district court has no legal duty to accept or 

disclose jury reports other than indictments); see also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JM-1119 (1989) at 

2 (concluding grand jury report lacked statutory underpinnings to render it a binding order). 
The Honorable Stephen Bret Tyler - Page 3 (KP-0137) 

In your letter, you urge us to reconsider or limit these previous opinions, contending that 

in reaching the conclusion that Texas law authorizes grand juries to report by indictment only, this 

office ignored the statutory authority bestowed on grand juries under article 2.03(a). Request 

Letter at 2-3.2 Article 2.03(a) states, in part, that the district attorney "shall bring to the notice of 

the grand jury any act of violation of law or neglect or failure of duty upon the part of any officer, 

when such violation, neglect or failure is not presented by information." TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. 

art. 2.03(a). You suggest this provision necessarily implies a power to report and publicize any 

investigatory findings made by the grand jury under article 2.03(a). Request Letter at 1-3. 

Article 2.03( a) does not expressly authorize the creation of a grand jury report, nor provide 

for the filing or publication of such a report. Rather, the provision does not speak to how the grand 

jury should proceed when it receives notice of an officer's alleged violation oflaw or neglect of 

duty. We must, however, examine article 2.03 in its proper context. Fitzgerald v. Advanced Spine 

Fixation Sys., Inc., 996 S.W.2d 864, 866 (Tex. 1999) (examining entire act, rather than single 

section in isolation, sheds light on Legislature's intent). 

Examining the Code of Criminal Procedure as a whole, the Legislature authorized the 

grand jury to report by indictment. See TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. arts. 20.09, 20.19, 20.21. The 

text of article 2.03 does not suggest an implied grant of additional authority. See id. art. 2.03(a). 

Rather, when we construe article 2.03 in conjunction with other relevant provisions, the plain 

language demonstrates the Legislature authorized the grand jury to report by indictment only. See 

id. arts. 2.03(a), 20.09, 20.19, 20.21; Rich v. Eason, 180 S.W. 303, 304, 306 (Tex. Civ. App.-

Beaumont 1915, no writ) (holding grand jury report criticizing sheriff's moral character was not 

absolutely privileged in libel suit against grand juror because the "articles in our criminal 

procedure which define the duties of the grand jury are silent with respect to [such a] report"); see 

also Rachal v. State, 917 S.W.2d 799, 807 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) (citing Code of Criminal 

Procedure articles 20.09 and 20.19 for proposition that grand jury's "authority and duty is limited 

to inquiring into criminal accusations and determining whether evidence exists to formally charge 

a person with an offense"); Alt v. State, 203 S.W. 53, 54 (Tex. Crim. App. 1918) ("The grand jury 

is only empowered to inquire into violations of criminal laws of Texas."). 

This construction is also consistent with article 20.02, which provides that "[t]he 

proceedings of the grand jury shall be secret." TEX. CODE CRIM. PROC. art. 20.02(a); see also id. 

art. 19.34 (grand jurors' oath of secrecy); Rich, 180 S.W. at 305-06 (grand jury report not 

absolutely privileged in libel suit). For these reasons, a Texas court is likely to conclude that article 

2.03(a) authorizes a grand jury to report only by indictment, and a district clerk therefore has no 

duty to accept reports documenting a grand jury's findings that do not constitute criminal 

2Your letter additionally presents a number of policy arguments supporting the issuance and publication of 

grand jury reports. See id. at 3-9. A Texas court "may not override the Legislature's intent in favor of countervailing 

policy considerations." Garcia v. State, 387 S.W.3d 20, 25 (Tex. Crim. App. 2012). 
The Honorable Stephen Bret Tyler - Page 4 (KP-0137) 

violations reportable by indictment.3 Having so concluded, we need not address your remaining 

questions regarding how such a report would be generated, reported, and published. 

3

The Legislature may, in its wisdom, provide for the creation and publication of grand jury reports concerning 

noncriminal conduct of public officials. See, e.g., 18. U.S.C. § 3333(a), (b), (c)(2) (federal law establishing procedures 

for issuance and publication of grand jury report concerning certain noncriminal conduct by public official, including 

procedures to provide the official who is the subject of the report with notice, an opportunity to present evidence, right 

to file answer which becomes part ofreport, and judicial review prior to publication). 
The Honorable Stephen Bret Tyler - Page 5 (KP-0137) 

SUMMARY 

The Legislature authorized grand juries to inquire into all 

offenses liable to indictment and report their findings by the return 

or rejection of an indictment. 

As article 2.03(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure does 

not implicitly grant the grand jury additional authority to issue 

reports other than indictments, a district clerk has no legal obligation 

to accept a grand jury report prepared under article 2.03(a) as part 

of an investigation into official misconduct. 

JEFFREY C. MATEER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

BRANTLEY STARR 

Deputy First Assistant Attorney General 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

ASHLEY FRANKLIN 

Very truly yours, 

KEN PAXTON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee