Republican State Rep. Marc LaHood used a special office privilege to help his violent criminal clients and to delay justice for their victims.
Texas State House Representative Marc LaHood (District 121 – San Antonio) is a prolific criminal defense attorney with over 200 criminal clients since 2023. LaHood represents some very bad actors – including accused murderers and child rapists. And he represents them aggressively – so aggressively, in fact, that he may have abused a special privilege called “Legislative Continuance” that is provided to attorneys in the State Legislature.
What is Legislative Continuance?
A “continuance” is a special motion used by Texas legislators during legislative sessions to postpone legal proceedings for cases in which they have a client appearing before court. About one-third of the Texas Legislators are attorneys, so it seems reasonable that they be given some leeway to properly represent clients while also fulfilling their responsibilities as a public officeholder.
However, the law enacting the privilege has guardrails against abuse. Most important are 1) that continuances are not used as a delay tactic but, in fact, are required to assure justice rather than delay it, and 2) that the attorney/legislator’s personal representation is required to assure justice rather than them being replaced as counsel.
Texas ethics law requires attorneys in the Legislature to disclose the clients for whom they obtain legislative continuance to delay legal proceedings against them.
Marc LaHood Used His Continuance Privilege for Murderers and Pedophiles
State ethics filings show that Marc LaHood used his continuance perk on behalf of 10 criminal clients in 2025, an unusually high number. While a few are DUI and illegal narcotics cases, three of his clients are charged with murder or the rape and ongoing sexual abuse of a child. They are the worst of the worst. Their victims deserve swift justice. The broader public deserves peace of mind knowing that our courts are working to keep us safe. Marc LaHood used his privilege to deny both.
And keep in mind that LaHood’s law firm employs as many as ten criminal defense attorneys. It is simply not credible that LaHood was unable to withdraw from any of these cases and allow other attorneys within his firm to provide representation.
A full rundown on legislative continuances and summaries of the charges against each of the 10 clients LaHood shielded with continuances in 2025 can be found here.
The extent of LaHood’s abuse of his legislative continuance privilege is apparent by looking at the two dangerous criminals below:
Convicted Pedophile Bryce Chatland: In 2023, Chatland was arrested in Bexar County and charged, in two separate cases, with two counts of continuous sexual abuse of child under the age of 14, along with one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, two counts of sexual assault of a child, and two counts of indecency with a child/sexual assault with a child and 11 counts of child pornography.
San Antonio news station KSAT and the San Antonio Express News reported that Chatland had been abusing the two young girls over the course of seven years. The victims told deputies that they believed they had been recorded and investigators found a camera disguised as a phone charger that contained videos of the young victims. In January, LaHood obtained legislative continuances for the cases stalling the prosecution of Chatland. On July 8, 2026, Chatland pled guilty to continuous sexual abuse and possession of child pornography. On September 1, 2026, the court sentenced him to 40 years in the Texas Criminal Justice system and required him to be registered as a sexual offender for life.
Accused Murderer Michael Hernandez: On November 4, 2023, Hernandez was charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. Hernandez shot and killed the man and then later ran when police attempted to arrest him. He was later apprehended.
Marc LaHood took Hernandez as a client and provided the surety on Hernandez’s $300,000 bond to bail him out of jail. Twice in 2025 LaHood obtained a legislative continuance to delay prosecution. Then in early 2026, after a delay of almost three years, Hernandez jumped bail and failed to appear in court. Hernandez was later arrested in Oklahoma and extradited back to Texas. Only then was LaHood replaced as legal counsel.
