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State Legislative Tracker: Texas state Rep. Reynolds guilty of ambulance chasing

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November 23, 2015

Edited by Jackie Beran

This week’s tracker includes a look at a Tennessee state representative's comments on Syrian refugees and the conviction of a state representative in Texas for ambulance chasing.

Weekly highlight

Tennessee State Rep. Glen Casada (R)

TENNESSEE: With numerous governors refusing to accept new Syrian refugees in the wake of the recent Paris attacks, one state legislator is proposing something more: the removal of those already settled in Tennessee. Rep. Glen Casada, who chairs the House Republican caucus, told The Tennessean that the National Guard should be deployed not only to prevent the entry of refugees, but also to detain them for transfer to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When asked about the legality of such a move, Casada replied that Tennessee is a "sovereign state."[1] Casada also proposed placing preexisting refugees under state surveillance.[2] Of the 1,601 refugees who settled in Tennessee during fiscal year 2015, 30 were from Syria.[3] In total, 42 Syrian refugees are estimated to have settled in the state since 2011.[2]

When the comments attracted derision from Democrats, Casada held a press conference, saying, "I am going to protect your family and mine by making statements that no terrorists get into the state."[4] House Democratic caucus chair Mike Stewart called Casada's comments "one of the most extraordinarily misguided statements that I have heard made by a public official."[1] Tennessee is one of 30 states with governors, the majority of them Republican, who have resisted the entry of new refugees.[2] Last Tuesday, Gov. Bill Haslam (R) wrote a letter to President Obama requesting a suspension of new refugees coming into the state. However, Haslam responded to Casada's comments in a statement, saying, "Let me be clear: We must not lose ourselves in the process. If we abandon our values by completely shutting our doors to those who seek the freedom we enjoy or mistreating our neighbors who made it here after enduring unimaginable hardships, the terrorists win."[4] State Republican chair Ryan Haynes concurred with Haslam, saying, "With regards to Rep. Casada’s specific comments, no, I don’t agree with everything he said."[5]

Texas State Rep. Ron Reynolds (D)

TEXAS: Last Friday, Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-27) was convicted of five counts of misdemeanor barratry, also known as ambulance chasing.[6] Reynolds was sentenced to one year in county jail and a $4,000 fine.[7] The conviction does not require Reynolds to resign his seat.[8] The case began in 2013, when Reynolds and seven other Houston-area lawyers were arrested in a sting operation.[6] All eight lawyers were accused of illegally soliciting clients in an "ambulance chasing for profit" scheme.[6] Reynolds was the only lawyer who did not accept a plea deal.[6] In November 2014, Reynolds was convicted of six counts of misdemeanor solicitation of professional employment, but the verdict was overturned after state District Judge Lisa Michalk declared a mistrial.[9][10] Michalk declared a mistrial after one juror reported that he or she was influenced by another juror.[10]

Reynolds was indicted last summer on related charges, and the conviction on Friday was the result. Texas law makes it illegal for lawyers to solicit clients for accident or disaster claims until 30 days after the incident.[10] A key witness for the prosecution was Robert Ramirez Valdez Sr., a four-time felon, who is currently serving five years in prison as part of the scheme.[6] He testified that Reynolds paid him on average $1,000 for each client who was recruited to his law firm.[6] Reynolds argued that he did not know that the clients were being illegally solicited, saying that he would appeal the conviction.[8]

Sessions

Current sessions capture for the week of November 23, 2015
See also: Dates of 2015 state legislative sessions
Click here to see a chart of each state's 2015 session information.

Regular sessions

Currently three out of 50 state legislatures are meeting in regular session. Three states are in recess, 43 states have adjourned their 2015 legislative sessions, and one state is in special session.

The following states are in regular session:[11]

In recess

As of today, November 23, there are three state legislatures currently in recess.[12]

Adjourned

The following states have adjourned their 2015 regular sessions:[13]

  • February 27, 2015: Virginia; one-day special session ended on 8/17[14]
  • March 6, 2015: Wyoming
  • March 12, 2015: Utah; one-day special session ended on 8/19
  • March 14, 2015: West Virginia
  • March 21, 2015: New Mexico; one-day special session ended on 6/8
  • March 23, 2015: Kentucky
  • March 30, 2015: South Dakota
  • April 2, 2015: Arkansas; three-day special session ended on 5/28
  • April 2, 2015: Arizona; three-day special session ended on 10/30
  • April 2, 2015: Georgia
  • April 2, 2015: Mississippi
  • April 11, 2015: Idaho; one-day special session ended on 5/18
  • April 13, 2015: Maryland
  • April 22, 2015: Tennessee
  • April 24, 2015: Washington; special sessions were from 4/29 to 5/28, 5/29 to 6/27 and 6/28 to 7/10
  • April 27 , 2015: Alaska; 1st special session was from 4/28 to 5/21; 2nd special session was from 5/21 to 6/11; 3rd special session was from 10/24 to 11/5
  • April 28, 2015: Montana
  • April 29, 2015: Indiana
  • April 29, 2015: North Dakota; one-day special session ended on 6/16
  • May 1, 2015: Florida; 1st special session was from 6/1 to 6/19; 2nd special session was from 8/10 to 8/21; 3rd special session was from 10/19 to 11/5
  • May 6, 2015: Colorado
  • May 7, 2015: Hawaii
  • May 15, 2015: Missouri
  • May 16, 2015: Vermont
  • May 18, 2015: Minnesota; one-day special session ended on 6/13
  • May 22, 2015: Oklahoma
  • May 29, 2015: Nebraska
  • June 1, 2015: Texas
  • June 1, 2015: Nevada
  • June 3, 2015: Connecticut; special session was from 6/29 to 6/30
  • June 4, 2015: South Carolina; special veto session was from 6/16 to 7/9
  • June 4, 2015: Alabama; 1st special session was from 7/13 to 8/11; 2nd special session was from 9/8 to 9/16
  • June 5, 2015: Iowa
  • June 11, 2015: Louisiana
  • June 12, 2015: Kansas
  • June 25, 2015: Rhode Island
  • June 25, 2015: New York
  • June 30, 2015: Delaware; special session was from 6/30 to 7/1
  • July 1, 2015: New Hampshire
  • July 6, 2015: Oregon
  • July 16, 2015: Maine
  • September 12, 2015: California
  • September 30, 2015: North Carolina

Special sessions

As of today, November 23, there is one state legislature currently in special session.

  • November 6, 2015: Wisconsin; convened extraordinary session

2015 Legislative Elections

See also: State legislative elections, 2015

In the 50 states, there are 99 state legislative chambers, of which seven chambers held state legislative elections in November 2015.[15]

There were seven chambers in four states with elections in 2015:

A total of 131 of the country's 1,972 state senate seats and 407 of the country's 5,411 state house seats were up for a vote. This accounts for 6.6 percent of the country's state senate seats and 7.5 percent of the country's state house seats. Altogether, 538 (7.3%) of the country's 7,383 state legislative seats were up for election. Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia hold elections in odd-numbered years. The New Jersey State Senate was the only chamber in those four states without scheduled elections in 2015.

Primary Information

The state legislative filing deadlines and primary dates in 2015 were as follows:

Filing Deadlines

Primary Dates

Special Elections

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See also: State legislative special elections, 2015

There are no special elections scheduled for this week.

Recent elections results

November 10, 2015

☑ New Hampshire House of Representatives District Strafford 1

See also: New Hampshire state legislative special elections, 2015

A special election for the position of New Hampshire House of Representatives District Strafford 1 was called for November 10. A primary election took place on September 22.[20]

The seat was vacant following Robbie Parsons' (R) death on June 22, 2015.[21]

Larry Brown (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Robert Graham defeated Frank Emiro in the Republican primary. Brown was defeated by Graham in the special election.[22][23]

New Hampshire House of Representatives, Strafford1, Special Election, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRobert Graham 77.8% 259
     Democratic Larry Brown 22.2% 74
Total Votes 333
New Hampshire House of Representatives, Strafford1 Republican Primary, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngRobert Graham 92.9% 92
Frank Emiro 7.1% 7
Total Votes 99
Democratic Party September 22 Democratic primary candidates:
Republican Party September 22 Republican primary candidates:
November 10 Special election candidates:
Democratic Party Larry Brown
Republican Party Robert Graham Green check mark transparent.png

☐ Oklahoma State Senate District 34

See also: Oklahoma state legislative special elections, 2016

A special election for the position of Oklahoma State Senate District 34 was called for January 12, 2016. A primary election took place on November 10, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 2, 2015.[24]

The seat was vacant following Rick Brinkley's (R) resignation on August 20, 2015. He resigned before admitting in federal court that he stole $1.8 million from the Better Business Bureau.[25]

J.J. Dossett defeated Lisa Franklin in the Democratic primary, while David McLain defeated Mark Williams, John Feary and Chuck Daugherty in the Republican primary. Greg Douglass withdrew from the race before the Republican primary.[26] Dossett defeated McLain in the special election.[27][28]

Oklahoma State Senate, District 34, Special Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJ.J. Dossett 56.3% 2,173
     Republican David McLain 43.7% 1,687
Total Votes 3,860
Democratic Party November 10 Democratic primary candidates:
Republican Party November 10 Republican primary candidates:
Note: Greg Douglass withdrew from the race before the primary.[26]
January 12 Special election candidates:
Democratic Party J.J. Dossett
Republican Party David McLain

Looking ahead

Upcoming special elections include:

  • December 1:
  • December 8:

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Tennessean, "Tennessee GOP leader: Round up Syrian refugees, remove from state," November 19, 2015
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 NPR, "Tennessee Lawmaker Calls For National Guard To Round Up Syrian Refugees," November 19, 2015
  3. ↑ The Tennessean, "Is irrational rhetoric the refugee problem?" November 20, 2015
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 WKRN-TV, "Top Tenn. Republican doubles down on ’rounding up’ Syrian refugee comment," November 18, 2015
  5. ↑ WKRN-TV, "GOP state chair echoes Gov. Haslam’s words on Rep. Casada comments," November 19, 2015
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 Houston Chronicle, "Rep. Reynolds' convicted of misdemeanor barratry," accessed November 23, 2015 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "houston" defined multiple times with different content
  7. ↑ Abc13.com, "State Rep.Ron Reynolds to spend one year in jail on barratry charge," accessed November 24, 2015
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Texas Tribune, "State Rep. Reynolds Guilty of Ambulance-Chasing," accessed November 23, 2015
  9. ↑ Chron.com, "State Rep. Reynolds convicted in solicitation of professional conduct case," accessed November 23, 2015
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Chron.com, "Rep. Reynolds' convicted of misdemeanor barratry," accessed November 23, 2015
  11. ↑ Stateside Associates, "Session Calendar 2015," accessed November 23, 2015
  12. ↑ StateNet, "Daily Session Summary," accessed November 23, 2015
  13. ↑ StateNet, "Daily Session Summary," accessed November 23, 2015
  14. ↑ Special session abruptly adjourned on August 17 with no agreement in place over redistricting congressional districts. The deadline to create new congressional maps was September 1. The courts determined that the state's 3rd Congressional District must be re-drawn. The courts are expected to rule on a new congressional map in November.
  15. ↑ Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia held general elections on November 3, 2015. Louisiana's general election was held on November 21.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 New Jersey Department of Elections, "2015 Primary Election Timeline," accessed February 2, 2015
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
  20. ↑ Fosters, "Special election to be held in state rep. District 1," accessed September 3, 2015
  21. ↑ fosters.com, "State rep. loses battle with kidney cancer," accessed June 26, 2015
  22. ↑ fosters.com, "Graham, Brown to face off for state representative seat," accessed September 23, 2015
  23. ↑ New Hampshire Secretary of State, "Strafford County District No. 1 (Middleton, Milton)," accessed November 20, 2015
  24. ↑ theadanews.com, "Oklahoma governor sets special election to replace senator," accessed August 12, 2015
  25. ↑ koco.com, "Oklahoma state senator pleads guilty to wire fraud, tax evasion; resigns position," accessed August 20, 2015
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Oklahoma State Election Board, "Candidates for State Senator District 34 Special Election," accessed September 3, 2015
  27. ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Special Legislative Races Special Election — November 10, 2015," accessed November 11, 2015
  28. ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Special Legislative Races Special Election — January 12, 2016," accessed January 13, 2016
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