District Attorney Kim Ogg warned Texas senators of a secretive process for appointing magistrates who set bail bonds and that Harris County courts had quietly stopped recording bail hearings.
The incumbent Whitmire and his challenger Cook largely agreed on education. Crime and environmental issues split them more substantially.
Rising crime and felony bond practices are expected to be top issues in local judicial elections in Harris County next year.
Judge DaSean Jones reduced felony bonds for DeAundric Dorsey’s charges related to forcing a 16-year-old girl into prostitution. Convicted in absentia, Dorsey is now a wanted fugitive.
A day after briefing the city on its all-time record homicide total, the Austin Police Department announced another homicide.
A new report from District Attorney Kim Ogg says that bail reform has led to declining community safety and disintegration of the purpose of bail reform.
Skyrocketing homicide rates and bond release practices in Harris County have drawn the attention of gubernatorial candidate Allen West.
A Harris County report sparked controversy for excluding data from the district attorney’s office, and commissioners clash over felony bail legislation.
A man charged with murdering a Houston police officer was released on bond just hours after police Chief Acevedo lambasted Harris County judges over felony bond practices.
A report for Harris County acknowledges spikes in violent crime, but says misdemeanor bail reform policies are unrelated and are helping to reduce misdemeanor filings and use of cash bail.
During a discussion on policing and criminal justice reform, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo warned of a coming public backlash on lenient felony bond policies.
In response to policies in some of Texas' blue cities, Abbott has identified public safety reforms he will push this legislative session.
