In lieu of the the Texas Constitution specifying the basis for an impeachment bill issued regarding the Governor, it permits the Legislature to do so through the passage of statutes. One such statute from the 1970s defines abuse of office. It is that statute and another one (also from the 70s) relating to coercion of a public servant that is the basis for the grand jury's indictment.

What is generally not known by the public is that the Travis County Public Integrity Unit the funding for which was vetoed by Governor Perry was investigating the financial integrity of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, which is accused of improperly distributing grant money including some grant money that was given to people with close ties to Governor Perry. Texas Governor's have line item veto authority. However, the grand jury's indictment addresses the reason for the veto. If the Travis County DA had resigned, guess who gets to replace her?