At the Texas Capitol, a Day for Arrest Warrants, Not Legislation

The Texas House sergeant-at-arms spent his day delivering 52 civil arrest warrants to Democrats who fled rather than enact the Republican voting agenda.

AUSTIN, Texas — Just after the Texas House of Representatives, well short of the quorum needed to pass legislation, quit for the day after meeting for less than an hour, Michael Black, the House sergeant-at-arms, left his office just outside the second-floor chamber to embark on an extraordinary mission. Suddenly entrusted with a pivotal assignment in the bitter showdown in the Republican-led Texas Legislature, Mr. Black was given the job of distributing 52 civil arrest warrants to compel the presence of the absentee Democrats who bolted the chamber during the final hours of the legislative session in May. Their goal was to deny the House a quorum and thus block the passage of a restrictive election measure. Such was life at the imposing red granite Capitol on Wednesday after the House vote on Tuesday night to authorize state law enforcement officials to round up and potentially arrest the missing Democrats. The 80-12 vote empowered the House sergeant-at-arms to compel the attendance of missing members “under warrant of arrest, if necessary.”