FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth published June 14, 2023: Gov. Abbott signed multiple fentanyl-related bills. The bill with the biggest impact on dealers is House Bill 6.
FOX 4 News, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX local
written by Steven Dial
Wednesday June 14, 2023
DALLAS - Gov. Greg Abbott signed multiple fentanyl-related bills into law.
There have been multiple arrests in North Texas involving the sale of hundreds of thousands of fentanyl-laced pills.
More than 2,000 Texans died from overdosing on fentanyl last year. The impact continues to hit families hard in North Texas.
This past school year, at least three Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD students died from taking fentanyl-laced pills.
Wednesday, Gov. Abbott signed multiple fentanyl-related bills. The bill with the biggest impact on dealers is House Bill 6.
"It now will be a murder in Texas and ensure death certificates reflect when people are poisoned by this terrible drug," Abbott said.
This week, 22-year-old Jason Villanueva pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute.
Court documents say Villanueva admitted to distributing more than 200,000 pills in North Texas in a six-month span. The pills were tied to at least 10 overdoses in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD.
HB6 would also direct medical examiners to mark the death as fentanyl poisoning.
Another bill that was signed is Tucker's Law, named after Stefanie Turner's 19-year-old son who died thinking he was taking Xanax.
Tucker’s Law requires education resources in schools about fentanyl. Turner read something Tucker wrote in his journal before his death.
"I really want to be something great. I am not exactly sure what, but I will figure it out," he wrote.
A former Dallas County prosecutor said it will take some time to see the real impact of HB6.
Currently, local officials turn fentanyl-type cases over to the feds to charge on federal crimes. But the attorney did say this gives local officials more tools to fight these crimes.
"Our collective goal is to reduce people from dying," Abbott said.
Abbott also signed a bill making October Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month.
FOX 7 Austin published June 6, 2023: Gov. Abbott signs HB 17 aiming to hold ‘rogue district attorneys’ accountable. Gov. Greg Abbott signed a total of eight public-safety-related bills into law. Among them was HB-17, which aims to hold so-called “rogue district attorneys" accountable.
FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth published June 6, 2023: Bills toughen penalties for people who tamper with ankle monitors. After the tragic Methodist shooting in November, lawmakers agreed there needed to be tougher penalties on parolees who tamper with their ankle monitors.
🚨 NO WHITE SUPREMACISTS INVOLVED 🚨
Fox4 News, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX local
written by Peyton Yager
Tuesday June 6, 2023
DALLAS - Governor Greg Abbott celebrated the passage of two bills that were created as a direct response to a deadly shooting at a Dallas hospital.
It was a sign of bipartisan support. The bills were pushed and supported by North Texas Democrats. The two bills here received bipartisan support from the start.
After the tragic Methodist shooting in November, lawmakers agreed there needed to be tougher penalties on parolees who tamper with their ankle monitors.
At a ceremony Tuesday, Abbott celebrated the passage of two bills soon to become law in September.
Both were a direct response to the October 2022 Methodist Hospital shooting in Dallas that killed two healthcare workers.
One of them is Senate Bill 1004. It criminalizes cutting off ankle monitors.
Gov. Abbott referenced the tragedy Tuesday.
"This goal is to deter and hold accountable parolees on ankle monitors as a condition of their release," he said.
Convicted felon Nestor Hernandez was out on parole for aggravated robbery and wearing an ankle monitor. He got permission to be with his girlfriend for their baby’s delivery despite previous parole violations.
Months before the shooting, Hernandez was arrested for cutting his ankle monitor.
Police say Hernandez shot and killed 45-year-old social worker Jacqueline Pokuaa and 63-year-old nurse Katie Annette Flowers.
Also Tuesday, Gov. Abbott also celebrated the signing of Senate Bill 840. The bill filed by State Senator Royce West of Dallas enhance the penalty for assaulting certain hospital staff from a misdemeanor to a felony.
At the time of the shooting, removing or disabling an ankle monitor was only an administrative penalty. Now, it’s a state jail felony.
"As of last night, there was still in a separate crime of a man missing in Dallas County right now after cutting off his ankle monitor waiting for his murder trial," Abbott said.
Abbott also cited the current manhunt for 23-year-old Tyrese Simmons. He was due in court Monday for his murder trial. But more than a week ago, Simmons removed his ankle monitor and has been on the run since.
The 23-year-old is accused of killing 9-year-old Brandoniya Bennett in 2019 after firing in the wrong Old East Dallas apartment during a feud with a fellow rapper.
Gov. Abbott also cited a third instance in North Texas involving ankle monitors.
Back in November, a 36-year-old man out on parole with an ankle monitor was arrested for murder after police say he killed a man at an apartment complex in Lake Highlands.
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