The commissioners voted to approve a budget meeting 18 percent of law enforcement requests, but will borrow money from road bonds to fund salary increases.
Crime Stoppers of Houston announced the launch of a new crime research initiative in response to an increase in homicides.
The county will spend up to $2.6 million on overtime for deputies to patrol seven high crime neighborhoods in unincorporated areas for 120 days.
Under a redistricting plan adopted by Harris County, 1.1 million residents who were slated to vote for a commissioner in 2022 will not be able to vote until 2024.
Although commissioners voted to cancel an $11 million contract with Democratic strategists, revelations about the vendor selection have prompted a grand jury investigation.
Emulating programs in Seattle and Madison, Harris County will enact new equity policies for hiring, contracting, and providing county services to residents.
A slew of flood mitigation projects promised when the county sought voter approval for a $2.5 billion bond package in 2018 may be defunded due to a request from Commissioner Garcia.
Commissioner Tom Ramsey called a map proposed by Rodney Ellis “the most corrupt plan I've ever seen in my 45 years of doing work in Harris County.”
The county will invest in planting trees, adding streetlights and sidewalks, and cleaning up vacant lots in a program designed to reduce the dramatic rise in violent crime.
Although the county has already paid $539,000, a firestorm of controversy over a contract awarded to a well-connected Democrat has prompted county Judge Hidalgo to agree to seek cancellation.
Only representatives from county Judge Lina Hidalgo’s office and the county’s public health department were allowed to participate in vendor selection.
Decrying other proposals as “splashy headlines,” Hidalgo and Garcia sought a 6-month expansion of criminal courts but passed a resolution condemning a legislative fix to felony bond policy.
