Rep. Jonathan Stickland (Regressive) avoids prosecution for alleged rules violation

[TexasTowelie]

State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford

A Texas Ranger investigation has concluded that state Rep. Jonathan Stickland’s staff filled out witness affirmation forms last spring for numerous witnesses who had no intention of testifying before the House Transportation Committee on his legislation banning red-light cameras but that the House’s rules were not specific enough to warrant prosecution.

The investigation was prompted by a confrontation between Stickland, R-Bedford, and state Rep. Joe Pickett, the El Paso Democrat who chairs the Transportation Committee and ordered Stickland out of an April 30 hearing after voicing his suspicion that Stickland’s office had padded the witness lists for the hearing in violation of House rules.

The common understanding of House rules is that people wanting to testify need to be physically present and register at electronic kiosks outside the hearing room.

An extensive report by the Department of Public Safety released Tuesday afternoon confirmed that Pickett’s concerns were warranted and that Stickland’s office had signed up witnesses who were neither in the Capitol nor in Austin but concluded that, nonetheless, “no prosecutable offense was committed.”

Read more: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/jonathan-stickland-avoids-prosecution-for-alleged-/nnf6d/