letter from harris county attorney

Members of the Texas Transportation Commission, however, stopped short of imposing a deadline or considering shelving the project, as they have in the past when removing the $9 billion plan from the states short-range plan was a possibility. After weeks of meetings between state and federal highway officials, the Texas Department of Transportation can proceed with detailed design work of the southernmost stretches of the project, portions of the downtown redesign called Segment 3, removing them from the development pause put in place by federal highway officials in June. He had already overcome the 165-vote deficit he had in earlier reports thanks to the counting of cured mail ballots, which had gained him 259 votes. They asked Biery to rule no later than Feb. 14, noting that to cast a mail-in ballot in the primaries, voters must fill out and return an application between Jan. 1 and Feb. 18. Access to quality Texas Attorney Vacation Form templates online with US Legal Forms. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said the county would challenge Hegars finding in court if necessary. The Harris County Attorneys Office whose attorneys were unaware of the judges ruling until the order was uploaded Monday to the Harris County District Clerks Office defended the Bail Bond Board against the lawsuit. There were 2,555 provisional ballots cast on Election Day, of which 2,420 included a vote in the DaSean Jones Tami Pierce race. ====================================================== Wider highways are not an appropriate or effective intervention to expand commerce opportunities, and they do not expand opportunities for those bearing the greatest burdens of the expansion, more than 15 groups wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, released Tuesday. At an Oct. 21 forum sponsored by Transportation Advocacy Group-Houston Chapter, Texas Transportation Commissioner Laura Ryan said the pause by the Federal Highway Administration and county lawsuit were more of an obstacle to open dialogue because they impede TxDOT from designing alternatives. Rodriguez also rejected Paxtons claim that granting the injunction would interfere with the orderly operation of Texas elections. Keith Ingram, the secretary of states director of elections, told lawmakers in the hearing he disagreed with that interpretation and believed Harris Countys plan violated the law. Not a dismissal, but I hope that will demonstrate our commitment., Menefee said he will ask the court for a stay of 30 days, and then potentially extend that for an additional 30 days if the discussions are fruitful., The pause is a show of good faith by the county to remind TxDOT that were in this to find solutions and address community concerns, Menefee said in a statement. Trust, Living During the last month, weve had a lot of our candidates that were in very close races that have been talking to us wanting to know the information that weve accumulated and have reported, Siegel said. She said Republican judges only learned the day before that election that they would have to hand ballots over at polling sites, rather than drive them downtown themselves. Because I have nothing better to say, here are a couple of tweets from Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee: . When it comes to voting by mail, I have to be very careful with my words, Longoria said from the witness stand. Become a member to support the independent voice of Houston The request drew a fast rebuke from Democratic Party leaders and Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee. As the Harris County Attorney, Christian D. Menefee is the chief civil lawyer for the largest county in Texas. At a May 11 hearing with the state House Elections Committee to address delayed election results, Longoria argued the plan utilizing law enforcement officers and deputized staffers is in compliance with Texas law. I still dont see any mention of a decision being handed down. Given the precedent and given the broad discretion the governor has under that act, hes probably on pretty solid ground, Erben said. Tuesday, February 28, 2023, 1:54 PM. Though planned for nearly 20 years, concerns intensified five years ago, when groups such as Air Alliance Houston, LINKHouston and Stop TxDOT I-45 organized toargue highway officials should focus more on improving transitand avoid any additional freeway widening. Danna 1,983 19,814 18,452 982 Who Should T.H. It doesnt make any sense outside of, obviously, cynical partisanship and these targeted actions against Harris County, the most diverse county in the state Mirza said. But they could if they are willing to do so.. Giving the go-ahead to two parts of the $10 billion-plus project work along Interstate 69 and at Texas 288 to rebuild where the three freeways converge near Third Ward staves off the possibility of state officials removing all of the projects funding from Texas 10-year highway plan and provides a glimmer of hope that officials locally, in Austin and Washington can find some common ground. The motion filed today requests a preliminary injunction against the S.B. The dispute seems to be more about politics than the law, Martin Renteria, a Republican election judge in Harris County, said. Forms, Small The Harris County Democratic Party is NOT doing anything to assist the 22 electeds. I dont know what legal options the majority has, but I do know that the Speaker of the House has the authority to call upon the Texas Rangers to round up legislative quorum-busters, which is why they always flee the state. Siegel said that is precisely why the GOP is suing. The bottom line is that the plaintiffs have asked for a temporary injunction against the provision of that law that makes it a crime for election officials and election workers to encourage voters to vote by mail, whether or not those voters are eligible under Texas law to do so. If you see it clear to forward me $1000 to cover the locksmith, I will egarly give you 20% of any monies recoverd.". Giving this much power to a governing minority is the problem here. Wayne Dolcefino, a media consultant and former TV journalist. Filing this suit, in the same manner as several other jurisdictions, was I think a straightforward choice. This happened to Rob Icsezen, the host of the H-Town Progressive podcast and a Democratic appointee of the Early Voting Ballot Board and Signature Verification Committee for the 2020 election. If the state cut early voting to just one week, as Hall has proposed, it would affect up to 6.5 million Texans thats how many voted in the first two weeks in 2020. House announced he would bring such a proposal to the board last week. Disclaimer | An accurate and complete description of the vehicle (license plate, VIN number, year, make, model and color) that you own and desire returned. Here are the questions the 5th Circuit asked the Texas Supremes to answer: https://ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/22/22-50110.0.pdf, Chuck Lindell (@chucklindell) 2:45 PM 23 March 2022. If the name sounds familiar, it may be because Judge Peeples was the jurist who ruled that the abortion bounty hunter law SB8 violated the state constitution last December, though he did not issue a statewide injunction against it. Not that Im complaining. 12(lost to Judge Genesis Draper), Brian Staley, former candidate forHarris County Civil County Court at Law No. Morales-Doyle said that Morgan began the case with a reasonable fear of prosecution and while the state has indicated a disinclination to prosecute she does not know the position of the Travis County district attorney, nor what future district attorneys would do. The election code does not speak to the delivery other than the presiding judge must turn over those election records to our election office. Todays decision allows the threat of criminal prosecution to loom over officials trying to help voters. Menefees office asked the EPA to stop any new standard concrete batch plant permits from being issued until the investigation is finished, he said. Agreements, Bill The Harris County Elections Administrators Office also issued a statement, saying it readily has responded to requests that do not require documents subject to the litigation, and has sought an opinion from the attorney generals office on those that do. If granted, the mask mandate would remain in place until trial or until the decision was appealed. Business Packages, Construction A new Texas law that keeps local election officials from encouraging voters to request mail-in ballots likely violates the First Amendment, a federal judge ruled late Friday. 21. By contrast, under Texas law, it isnota crime for a public official or election official todiscourageeligible voters to vote by mail, saidLiz Ryan,partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. In its release, the county elections office said it does request the information being asked on the form used by men and added that voters are not required to sign them. Four Weeks Is Norm for Lawyers At law firms that have official policies, 20 vacation days per year is the norm, with some senior associates getting as many as 25, Moody told Bloomberg Law.But taking vacations while billing enough hours, remaining available to clients, and meeting court deadlines can be tricky. After provisional and mail-in ballots were counted, the incumbent for Harris Countys 180th Criminal State District Court, DaSean Jones, went from trailing Republican Tami Pierce to leading by less than 500 votes, the Houston Chronicle reported. Both parties had the opportunity to ask questions, review the chain of custody document, and raise issues. But the Republicans opposed that at every turn. I have a hard time believing that this couldnt have been litigated before Tuesday afternoon, however. If you make a mistake, print out and complete application again (once youve registered an account every document you download is reusable). Center, Small Heap 0 69,735 18,880 68,808 Houston, TX 77003. . Ann Harris Bennett, Tax Assessor, Alan Rosen, Constable Precinct 1 Harris County will pause its lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation over the proposed Interstate 45 widening in hopes that it leads to a consensus that has eluded them for more than four years. Maybe you illegally downloaded a movie or song. State highway officials held fast to their plans for rebuilding Interstate 45 in Houston on Thursday, offering a litany of benefits the project will bring and pressing federal officials to lift a 12-month-and-counting pause on development. Thank you for your time and consideration. Hiring a lawyer after receiving a letter is an excellent option. I dont expect that to be any more successful, but well see. Harris County District Clerk - Web - https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com or by US mail - Harris County District Clerk, PO Box 4651, Houston, Tx 77210-4651 Criminal history/Background checks information-involving arrests made by any law enforcement agency within Harris County visit their website. Amendments, Corporate Judge Ramirez is represented by John Staley. The letters stem from the investigation into the 2019 drug raid of a small home on Harding Street in south Houston. This court is a sham and a disgrace, and the only way forward is to pack it with judges that will actually apply the law. A ruling by a Harris County judge Friday will allow a recently-approved policy requiring bail bond agents to charge some defendants a 10 percent minimum to start Saturday after a last-minute lawsuit tried to stop it from happening. The county received the second largest settlement for a local government in the nation. i know understandably literally nobody is in the mood to hear about primary runoff election night but i am at NRG arena & feel compelled to tell you that so many people are working very hard (here and across the state) to get votes counted tonight, Jen Rice (@jen_rice_) 10:04 PM 24 May 2022. They also collaborate with the Harris County Senior Justice Assessment Center, a consortium of state and county agencies that review cases/offer services for elderly victims of abuse and exploitation. In the letter to the attorney general's office, Bitter, the general counsel for the secretary of state's office, wrote that an election clerk may effectively have to break state law in order to comply with a request for ballots so soon after an election. In December, a motion was filed to get a temporary injunction against the provision of that law that makes it a crime for election officials and election workers to encourage voters to vote by mail, whether or not those voters are eligible under Texas law to do so. The Environmental Practice Group enforces environmental laws and related County development regulations. UPDATE: Later in the day I found this Statesman story, which added a few details. The amount of evidence theyd need to provide to come close to justifying such an ask, I cant even begin to comprehend. If the GOP succeeds, that would end. The Press has more. Though there is concern about the projects impacts in Midtown, Third Ward and Eado, the most vocal opposition to the project emanates from north of downtown where TxDOT proposes to add two managed lanes in each direction to I-45. You can also contribute to any candidate you like directly just google them or find their campaign Facebook page to get to a suitable Donate link for them. The Harris County GOP on Fridaydroppedits lawsuit, filed on the day of last months primary runoff election, challenging the countys plan for counting ballots. Governors have broad power under the Disaster Act, he said, noting that the state Supreme Court sided with Abbott when Travis County attempted to enact a New Years Eve curfew for restaurants. We have 26-pay-period accounting and Comptroller Hegar should know that, the judge said. The Election Administrators office notified Republican election judges they could opt in to the countys plan if they wished, and at least 31 of them did so. I was invited to this meeting because of the effort to create and carry out block walking events. TxDOT has yet to adequately respond to community concerns about induced demand the phenomenon by which wider highways make traffic worse, the group Stop TxDOT I-45 said in a statement. Im perfectly happy telling them all to take one of the commuter buses in, and if the service for that is inadequate to push for it to be improved. Menefee said Paxtons opinion directly contradicts a separate opinion his office issued last month, as well as an opinion issued by the AGs office more than 30 years ago, which both concluded that ballots are confidential for 22 months following an election. There is nothing more reliable in this world than the Fifth Circuit giving Republicans everything they ask for. Its just chaos intended to give a boost to Big Lie enthusiasts, and as the story notes later on, its potentially a conflict of interest for Paxton since he himself is on the ballot this year, and everyone agrees its likely to be a close race. Agreements, Bill of Tatum, your day of reckoning has just started.. Winning it will be another matter. I dont know why the change of court and I dont know if the second hearing was delayed or if it just took that long for a ruling, but here we are. We wont allow any group to engage in illegal conduct to try and remove registered voters off the rolls.. A federal district judge granted the motion, which would have applied to the primaries, and Im willing to bet would have helped ease the confusion that led to all of those rejected mail ballots, but the Fifth Circuit, as is their wont, put a hold on the injunction. Seriously, this was a fine performance by the Elections Office. The Harris County Attorneys Office determined that the board can do more than that and Commissioners Court passed a resolution urging its members to adopt rules regulating the minimum that a bondsman must collect to secure a defendants release from jail. Advise and represent clients in courts, before government agencies, and in private legal matters. What could the letter waiting for me be about? Theft, Personal Create your US Legal Forms account now and get a lot more samples. of Incorporation, Shareholders Tom Ramsey, County Commissioner, Precinct 3 Tuesday, as part of a public hearing on the states long-range plans, opponents opted for leave it, telling the Texas Department of Transportation to drop the 1-45 widening off its list. Please complete an event and/or meeting request in its entirety using the link(s) below. Theres clearly a difference of interpretation of the law here, and if that cant be resolved on its own then a courtroom is the proper venue. But well see what happens. of Attorney, Personal The policy was prompted by a Commissioners Court resolution urging the board members to adopt rules regulating the minimum fee that a bondsman must collect to secure a defendants release on violent charges. Im pretty sure this is not what antitrust law was intended for, but what do I know? Will, All Harris Countys decision to allow volunteers to transport election records including voted ballots to the countys Central Count location on Election Night is incompatible with the Texas Election Code and violates well-established chain of custody protocols spelled out under Texas law, Texas Secretary of State spokesperson Sam Taylor said in a statement on Friday. James Lombardino is represented by Jared Woodfill. Elizabeth Buss is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. That would require dividing the short fiscal year by 16 pay periods and multiplying that by 26 to cover the whole year, she said. Thanks! Still, others have been pleasantly surprised when what was once an existential threat is transformed into a manageable inconvenience. Not all the things we wanted materialized, but that is compromise, said Harris County Pct. Christian D. Menefee (@CDMenefee) 5:00 PM 17 February 2022. On Feb. 28, Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril D. Haines sent a letter to minority and majority leaders of both the House and Senate urging reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), set to expire at the end of this year . If even one is bounced, Abbott could appoint a replacement for those in the criminal courts. Judge Jackson is represented by John Raley. See here for the background. In a statement, Air Alliance Houston said the agreements will do very little to protect Houston communities from the harms posed by this project, specifically related to air pollution caused by the larger freeway in many neighborhoods around the central business district. In filing the form, bail agents ask deputies to take the defendant into custody, while they keep the defendants bail deposit and stop being responsible for the person in the eyes of the court. The state is expected to quickly appeal the ruling. And Id bet none of those county judges suffer for any of it politically, either. The main takeaway here is that not only can you not trust anything Paxton says, you also cant trust anything his office says, even if they sign their names to it. Ellis 40,800 443,116 0 3,543,358 1, Longoria, Morgan, and other election officials and election workers across Texas can be imprisoned for a minimum of six months and fined up to $10,000 if they encourage a voter to apply for a mail ballot application. First Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne wrote the Harris County Attorneys office was approving the agreement based on the understanding that the Texas Supreme Courts order does not prohibit the tabulating of those votes as long as the ballots themselves remain segregated., Kimberly Gdula, deputy chief of the Attorney Generals office general litigation division, signed off on the agreement in an email: The State is good with this., However, Sunday evening, two days before the commissioners court meeting to certify the election results, Hilton, the chief of the Attorney Generals office general litigation division, sent an email to the parties questioning the legal basis for including the provisional ballots cast after 7 p,m. S.B. Lets make it a little less hard for these Dems who clearly and correctly won their races. ; and. Of those, Shah said, 66 were rejected because they did not meet statutory requirements and contained incomplete information.. As I said, I have no criminal record to speak of prior to this so I'm not sure what to think at this point. While most criminal cases are handled in state courts rather than in federal courts, the types of criminal cases prosecuted by the United States Attorneys Office include white collar fraud, Medicare fraud, drug trafficking, tax evasion, and immigration crimes. Judge Craft is represented by Steve Kherker. It represents the publics interest by opposing the issuance and renewal of environmental permits if the permit would be detrimental to public health. Were not taking the position that the Legislature is opposed to voting by mail, Thompson said. I'm a college student making a commute across state lines (to the county the attorney is from) and I have no criminal record or charges in my name. It is the May 7 election, and widespread problems that day, that prompted the concerns in the first place. I think Harris County has the right response here. Judge Peeples is based in San Antonio, and was appointed by the Honorable Susan Brown, the Presiding Judge of the Eleventh Administrative Judicial Region of Texas. Clerk Burgess is represented by Neal Manne. The Texas Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Harris County can include about 2,100 ballots cast during an extra hour of Election Day voting when officials certify the midterm results. It is believed that the purpose of these suits is to drag out the cases, have judges dip into personal resources, and be exhausted financially and emotionally by the time of their next race. The contests being filed request that the more than one million votes cast in Harris County be voided and the county hold another election for the races being challenged (e.g., Harris County Judge, 189thDistrict Court, 180thDistrict Court, etc.). right-of-way is an excellent plan but we can't even fix the existing bike trail along White Oak Bayou which the Harris County . Youre talking about school districts that are following CDC guidelines on masking. Ramsey 550,625 149,433 0 944,935 19 Cause No. 4 Cause No. But I will send out word when I learn more. You wouldnt want to recommend voting by mail as an option because youd be worried about prosecution, he said. One thing thats clear from the high % of mail ballot app rejections weve seen is officials should be empowered to explain the process and encourage folks to vote by mail.