Politicians and law enforcement figures in Houston are dealing with the massive blowback after an audit revealed that for at least eight years, authorities had “suspended” and not investigated more than 260,000 criminal cases. Officials say a lack of manpower
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) lost the race for Houston mayor in a landslide victory for state Sen. John Whitmire (D) on Saturday.
Inmates are expected to make 25,000 face masks at a prison in Gatesville, Texas, for first responders who need them due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
A Democrat state representative in Texas has pre-filed a bill that would give Child Protective Services (CPS) a longer response window for both the highest priority and second highest priority cases after a report of abuse or neglect.
A Texas State Senator charged with oversight on the embattled Child Protective Services agency said that one of its foster care facilities “was a brothel.”
Members of the Texas Senate Finance Committee were incensed to hear on Wednesday that over 2,800 at-risk children have still not been seen by CPS after citizen reports of abuse or neglect. Senator John Wittmire immediately tapped the Texas Department of Public Safety to address this emergency. Of these 2,800 children, 511 are classified in the “priority one” category.
If one Texas lawmaker has his say on police-community relationships, it could become a high school graduation requirement that ninth grade students learn how to properly interact with law enforcement.
Workers for Texas State Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston) were shocked to discover their office had been fired on during the overnight hours. No one was in the building at the time and no one has been reported to have been injured.
An attorney for the man accused of killing a Texas deputy has filed a motion to stop his expedited transfer to a state mental hospital.
WALLER COUNTY, Texas — University Drive at Prairie View A&M University has been renamed “Sandra Bland Parkway.” The Prairie View City Council named the street after the woman who was arrested on that street and later died in a Waller County, Texas, jail.
The Texas Senate announced it will hold hearings to investigate jail procedures in the wake of the suicide of Sandra Bland in a Waller County jail. Texas lawmakers are conducting an in-depth investigation into current practices for evaluating the mental health of prisoners once they are arrested.
The largest state association for the criminal defense bar in the nation has said that it would be “shocking” for a Waco Police Department detective to sit on a grand jury in the Twin Peaks biker cases.
A McLennan County judge named a Waco police detective to serve as foreman over a newly-selected grand jury in Waco. The detective and this grand jury could end up presiding over the Twin Peaks biker cases.
The Texas Senate passed a bill on Tuesday which would protect the rights of certain religious organizations and pastors to refuse participation in marriage ceremonies which violate their sincerely-held religious beliefs. The Governor said he will sign a bill that offers such protection to pastors and ministers.
The Texas State Senate on Tuesday passed an omnibus bill including many of the initiatives from Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s emergency item on ethics reform. In his State of the State Address in February, the Governor repeated a campaign promise to address transparency and ethics in Texas government. Tuesday marked delivery on that promise.
A police body camera bill passed in the Texas Senate on Thursday by a split vote of 22-8, but faces the Texas State House which has two of its own bills. The bill does not mandate that Texas peace officers use body cams, but mandates uniformity of policies by those using the cameras provided by a grant. The eight Senators that voted against the bill were all Republicans.
The Texas Senate moved forward this week in a bipartisan 26-5 vote to decriminalize truancy. The Failure to Attend School (FTAS) or “truancy” is currently a juvenile Class C misdemeanor that carries fines and criminal marks on a student’s record for cutting class. It may soon be a thing of the past as the Texas Senate moved forward to decriminalize it through Senate Bill 106 (SB 106).
A heated debate erupted over a proposed bill that would decriminalize truancy for minors in Texas. The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice hearing room was standing room only as legislators prepared to hear public testimony on the matter. Senate Bill
DALLAS, Texas — The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday, March 31, that they opened an investigation of Dallas County Truancy Court and Juvenile District Courts. The investigation is being conducted through its Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division.
Editor’s Note: This article was authored by and submitted to Breitbart Texas by Bill Frazer, CPA.
A new nonpartisan study released on Thursday revealed positive effects from juvenile justice reforms passed in Texas during recent years, with the state showing a significant drop in the juvenile incarceration rate while the juvenile crime rate also fell during the same time period.
