Texas Governor Rick Perry formally pleaded "not guilty" to the felony charges slapped against him, based on legal files published by a newspaper on Wednesday.

The potential Republican presidential candidate also waived his right to set an arraignment, which was scheduled to take place on Friday. The said document, which was published by the Houston Chronicle, was submitted to the District Court of Travis County and one of Perry's legal staff signed it.

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Perry's office and his legal team have not yet released their comments on the latest development, Reuters reported.

A Travis County grand jury indicted Perry on Friday over his veto of a US$7.5million funding for an ethics watchdog that probed influential Republicans in Texas last year. The court charged him with abuse of power and coercion of a public official.

Travis County remains a stronghold of Democrats amidst a town that heavily supports Republicans.

On Monday, Perry got fingerprinted and had his mugshot taken. He said the felony charges are "outrageous" and were filed only for political reasons.

The longest-serving governor in Texas faces 109 years in prison if found guilty of the first- and third-degree felonies.

The veto was seen as a way to force Democratic District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign after pleading guilty to driving drunk. According to Perry's opponents, the governor may have been aiming to replace Lehmberg with an ally.

Perry backed out of a corruption-tainted Republican presidential race in 2012 but has been trying to find stage a political comeback. He recently earned the spotlight when he accused U.S. President Barack Obama of not doing enough to address the crisis at the country's border with Mexico.

Perry's term as governor will end early next year.

TagsRick Perry, Texas, Reuters, travis county, Houston Chronicle, Republicans, Democrat, ROSEMARY LEHMBERG, Barack Obama