Tag Archives: Harris County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

County finally takes jail overcrowding seriously

We’ll see what this actually becomes. Chasing $4 million in grant money, Harris County officials on Thursday announced reforms in the criminal justice system to unclog dockets, lower jail population and address racial and ethnic disparities. And because the changes … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

You have the right to a phone call

But it won’t help you much if you don’t know what number to call. [Harris County Sheriff’s] Deputies on Wednesday outlined a pilot program they hope will help lower the jail population by letting detainees copy five numbers out of … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on You have the right to a phone call

We still need to reduce inmate headcount

The Harris County jail’s population is down from historic highs, but with the usual summer uptick coming, Sheriff Adrian Garcia has asked for a waiver to make some more beds available. State officials have rejected a request from Sheriff Adrian … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on We still need to reduce inmate headcount

If we need more courts, we should ask for more courts

I’m not sure why there hasn’t been more of a push to deal with this. As Harris County’s population continues to swell, more people means more crimes. And that results in more work for the county’s 22 felony courts. But … Continue reading

Posted in Crime and Punishment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Not a big enough picture

The headline on this story reads “County mulls big-picture health council”, but a read of the story makes it clear that there’s a big piece of this picture missing from the discussion. Harris County is discussing a big-picture approach to … Continue reading

Posted in Local politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments