Last August a Harris County judge released a murder suspect who claimed to be a devil worshipper on a $25,000 bond. The defendant has now been charged in the November shooting death of another man.
Instead of complying with instructions to rescind the appointment of an elections administrator, the Harris County attorney will draft a response to the attorney general on a challenge to the legality of the process.
A letter to Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan says the county failed to follow legal procedures and must take corrective action and rescind the appointment of the elections administrator.
Under Judge Lina Hidalgo’s initiative, the county will spend more than $2 million to provide legal services to individuals facing deportation.
Judge Hidalgo rejected working directly with Crime Stoppers Houston on bail reform impact studies, saying the county should instead work with groups who do not have “an axe to grind.”
A new proclamation from the governor reinstates poll watchers for mail-in ballot delivery activities and thwarts Harris County plans to accept in-person drop off of marked mail ballots at multiple locations.
In Texas’ largest county, a grant from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg injects an additional $9.6 million into an elections administration rife with controversy and legal challenges.
Following a State District Court ruling, the Texas Supreme Court blocked Harris County Clerk Hollins’ plan to send unsolicited mail-in ballot applications to every voter.
After Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins failed to meet a Monday deadline for halting plans to send mail-in ballot applications to each voter, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit.
The Secretary of State gave Harris County a Monday deadline to halt plans to send mail-in ballot applications to all voters, calling the plan an abuse of voters' rights.
Harris County's election budget will increase nearly seven fold to provide vote-by-mail applications to all voters, drive-thru voting, new outreach, and extra COVID-19 safety precautions for this year.
A resolution from Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis launched a “Vision Zero” initiative with the goal of eliminating all traffic-related fatalities by 2030.
Harris County voted to extend the county's disaster declaration until August 26, granting Judge Lina Hidalgo continued emergency powers until then.
A reform advocacy group told Harris County commissioners that the criminal justice system was on "the verge of collapse," and that the county should dismiss 12,000 to 18,000 pending felony cases.
Despite activists and some officials calling for defunding the police department, the Houston City Council approved increased spending for law enforcement.
The court stopped short of defunding police for now, but will explore reforms and alternative approaches to criminal justice that would require future funding shifts.
Residents of Harris County are now required to wear face coverings in public effective Monday, April 27 with few exceptions.
A proposal to end constable contracts by Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia received immense blowback from both Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday.
Judge Lina Hidalgo (D) pushed through the proposal on Tuesday at the Harris County Commissioners Court resulting in a scathing response from the Texas Freedom Caucus.
Harris County commissioners met yesterday with County Clerk Diane Trautman concerning reports of early voting irregularities and possible integrity issues at polling locations.
