letter from harris county attorney
Houston furniture magnate Jim Mattress Mack McIngvalehas filed a lawsuit against the Harris County Elections Administrators office accusing it of refusing to turn over public records related to theNovember 2022 election, adding to an array of GOP litigationaimed at the countys elections process. We have a ways to go before this is truly settled. CultureMap has more. Of course the [Texas Supreme Court] proceedings remain pending and the court could rule on something. I didnt look closely at new Commissioner Briones report, but Id bet a nice lunch that a substantial chunk of her cash arrived after the election. TxDOT officials and supporters of the project, however, counter that benefits are built into the project that will mitigate the losses and leave many communities better off. Templates, Name This action was taken in response to the Office of the Texas . Hudspeth 4,660 22,009 0 9,952 On Election Night, the Texas Organizing Project, Texas Civil Rights Project and ACLU of Texas obtained a court order from a judge requiring all Harris County polling locations to extend voting hours until 8 p.m. after the groups argued in a lawsuit that late openings at some polling locations prevented some residents from voting. Because the Harris and Travis County district attorneys did not appeal, only Longorias challenge to the civil penalty permitted by the civil-liability provision and the Volunteer Deputy Registrars challenge to the criminal liability imposed under the anti-solicitation provision were at issue in the appeal. Similarly, Morgan argued in the filing that her work as a voter registrar particularly around the University of Texas in Austin will be hampered if she can no longer proactively suggest that eligible but unaware voters request an application to vote by mail as she has in the past.. Well see him in court.. 2023-01066; Dan Simons v. Judge Sedrick Walker. Reconsidering how the project will incorporate, Mark Montgomery, former candidate forHarris County Criminal Court at Law No. Office of Harris County District Clerk - Marilyn Burgess | Customer Service As noted recently, the Supreme Court never responded to the initial writ, so I assume this was just a matter of the local GOP deciding it wasnt worth the effort to continue. 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. The initial request for a temporary restraining order was denied on Friday, and there will be a hearing for a temporary injunction on May 6. Hilton declined to comment on why the office did not ask for the ruling sooner. Federal law limits the types of requests that the U.S. Attorneys Office can make and the scope of the documentation that it can request. The other thing is this: because theres enough prosecutorial discretion thats involved, it takes time obviously justice takes time and any sort of delay in court action could be months from now, long after, hopefully, the crisis and the spike in delta has passed. We cant spend money to design and we cant spend money to do those things, Ryan said at the forum, which drew criticism because it was for paying guests only at an event sponsored by various engineering, construction and planning firms. Tenant, More I would retain a lawyer and do not talk to any police officers. of Business, Corporate The SOS raised no concerns, legal or otherwise, with the program. I dont care how long it takes some dude to drive into town from The Woodlands. Throughout the hearing, Rodriguez also pressed for the reasoning behind the anti-solicitation provision, interrupting the states questioning of Ingram in search of an answer. of Incorporation, Shareholders The countys agreement can only be approved after a Commissioners Court meeting, scheduled for Thursday. To put it another way, good luck proving intent. . That, coupled with $27 million in affordable housing assistance TxDOT must provide to make up for lost apartments and homes, will allow many residents to stay in the area despite risk of gentrification, said Tanya DeBose, executive director of the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council, in a video about the project produced by TxDOT. It could also ask voters to approve the funding reduction in a referendum, Hegar said. The guardian of the person is authorized to make decisions about health care, living arrangements, and similar matters, but has no authority to expend funds. Up until March, the board primarily approved and renewed bail bondsman licenses. We Will Protect Your Rights, Reputation and Freedom. 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis. Cagle 64,225 186,970 0 5,056 I am willing to consider a pause, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia said. 15 Cause No. Located in downtown Houston, the Harris County Attorneys Office represents Harris County government, the Harris County Flood Control District, the Harris County Toll Road Authority, and the Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network in all civil matters, including lawsuits. This is often a good strategy, but it comes with some caveats. Last time around, Hegar folded like a cheap suit after Harris County took the matter to court. For additional information please review our Rodriguez took particular issue with the lack of a clear definition for what constitutes soliciting when talking to voters, even those 65 and older who automatically qualify to vote by mail under the states strict rules. 5:00AM. Lawyers take business trips if they have to, but time spent traveling is often time spent not billing (or billed at half-rates), which can reduce your income. . As happened last fall, Hegar and County Administrator David Berry have used different methods to project out Heaps seven-month budget to a full year. Notes, Premarital 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. Remember, if you are not working you are not getting paid but the office bills continue nevertheless. 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. Neither he nor Ted Heap seems to have gotten any better at math or more truthful in general, so most likely this will play out in similar fashion. Oh, and if this is one of the final straws that leads to Constable precinct redistricting, I wont complain. This practice group works closely with The State of Texas in Mental Health commitment. The letter, a response to a letter sent by seven Houston-area Congressman urging Buttigieg to not impede the project, was drafted by Stop TxDOT I-45, which formed to oppose the project, along with Air Alliance Houston and 14 environmental, community or left-leaning groups. There is no reason for them to bluff. The decision prompted the three Democrats on Harris County Commissioners Court to go into an executive session to discuss with the county attorneys office whether they have legal options to compel the two missing commissioners to attend. I cant tell if this is just using a round number because exact figures are confusing or if this is the exact figure. Tuesday, February 28, 2023, 1:54 PM. See here for the background. See here for the background. The citys press release is here. Existing law said poll watchers were allowed at the former, but said nothing about the latter. I suppose if this happens the next thing well hear about is Angela Paxton driving them away, probably as they hunch down in the back seat of her SUV, for the safety of the suburbs. Harris County Attorney Vacation Letter - US Legal Forms I believe that I was wrongfully terminated, and I am seeking compensation for the damages that I have incurred as a result of my wrongful termination. Name Change, Buy/Sell UPDATE: Its 10:30 PM, more than a third of the Tuesday votes have been counted, and I see nothing on Twitter or in my inbox to indicate that SCOTx has issued a ruling. This affects no one accused of the most minor, nonviolent offenses who would be stuck in jail because they arent able to pay.. Most letters will include a section labeled Definitions that instructs the recipient about how to interpret keywords within the text of the requests. The Department of Justice haschallengedS.B. Ingram said he didnt know the purpose of the provision. The clerk told me I had wrote a bad check for $16.00 and with Attorny Fee's it's now $86.00 shocked to hear the charge..I asked for details on the check she said she can't not give me that info only as to the business name who sent check to them. in the final count and seeking clarification so that the parties can pursue any legal remedies, if necessary., In a statement Monday, Harris County Attorneys office spokesperson Roxanne Werner said: Representatives from the Attorney Generals office and the Harris County Republican Party asked for the language describing that process to be removed from the agreed order, leaving Harris County to process and count the late ballots as they would other provisional ballots while ensuring they were kept segregated. Judge Weems is represented by John Raley. At this point, we do not anticipate that it impacts the outcome of any races, Harris County First Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne said. We need more Barbara Jordans in politics (Opinion) I dont see the appeals being successful, but maybe theres some technical point of law on which they can get a rehearing. View Website View Lawyer Profile Email Lawyer. Harris County gives 3 for one on non-violent offense but not DWI or BMV. 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. That evening, in quick succession, Paxtons office filed its writ of mandamus asking the Texas Supreme Court to vacate or reverse the court order, and the Supreme Court responded by staying that order, saying votes cast after 7 p.m. should be segregated, without specifying whether they must be excluded from the final count. PDF RQ-0395-KP - Office of the Attorney General Radack 0 71,246 0 794,652, You still have time to donate to the Democratic judges legal fund, Phony Defunding Claims II: Electric Boogaloo, Houston furniture magnate Jim Mattress Mack McIngvale, November 2022 election, adding to an array of GOP litigation. The Harris County Attorney and Lone Star Legal Aid, a nonprofit law group, alleged that the state environmental agency discriminated against racial and ethnic minorities and those with limited English proficiency through a revised permitting process to build new concrete batch plants. The Texas Transportation Commission kept I-45 in its funding plans a few months ago, and some design work was allowed to continue, but now theres another federal complaint filed against the project by various opponents. Further, the EAs Office discussed the plan for both May elections with both political parties as early as April 7. The Bail Bond Board adopted this rule after hearing directly from the families of victims of violent crimes, community organizers, and law enforcement. On balance, with the improvements I think you have an excellent project that will move forward and move the greater good.. Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee gave the following statement in response: "Comptroller Hegar's statement is false. Instead, hes basically taking this power and turning it into a mechanism to tie local officials hands. Thats the subject of the following email I got in my inbox yesterday, and I cant do any better than that for a post title. Harris County Commissioners Court on Thursday voted to sueTexas Comptroller GlennHegars office in response to hiscomments accusing the countyof defunding law enforcement. Nevertheless, the requests contained in civil investigative demands and grand jury subpoenas often exceed the appropriate boundaries of what can be asked for. TCEQ later passed the amendment and approved the companys application after what it called a clerical error.. Brian Douglas Walters. Its your own damn fault you didnt vote! This is not some sort of radical rebellion, he said. Justice Jeff Boyd asked Morales-Doyle, Im just not sure why the dispute matters. Business. Harris County assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions or discrepancies. When it comes to voting by mail, I have to be very careful with my words, Longoria said from the witness stand. Think about sending the document to your legal counsel to make certain all things are completed properly. City of Houston and Harris County Statements on EPA Order for Union Pacific Contamination Cleanup, Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee Responds to Texas Comptroller, Harris County Attorney Announces Legal Action Against Landfill Expansion. I still dont see any mention of a decision being handed down. The County Attorneys office, however, said it had no information that anyone had attempted to misrepresent themselves as public employees, which would be illegal. Theres more, go read the whole thing, and add on this tweet thread from story author Jessica Huseman. Hegars claim is a repeat of a fight thatalready played outbetween the comptroller and Harris County last August. And for all of the fuss, final results were posted at 1:26 AM, which seems pretty damn reasonable to me. 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. The Fifth Circuit asks the justice to answer whether a volunteer deputy registrar, or VDR, is a public official under the Texas Election Code; whether speech the plaintiffs intend to use constitutes solicitation within the context of the state code; and whether the Texas Attorney General has the power to enforce that code. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Thursday issued a mandatory mask order for Harris County schools and daycares, joining the chorus of elected officials in the Texas larges cities in defying Gov. The Harris County GOP on Fridaydroppedits lawsuit, filed on the day of last months primary runoff election, challenging the countys plan for counting ballots. The midnight update had about 98% of ballots counted on the Dem side and about 95% on the GOP side 70,016 of 72,796 Dem votes and 105,486 of 116,100 GOP votes. The county will now have to spend substantial resources handling these contests, time that could instead be spent serving the people of Harris County, added County Attorney Menefee. But in court over Zoom late Friday afternoon, Judge Cory Don Sepolio rejected a temporary restraining order request, allowing the rule to take effect. Mirza said in the case four years ago, Paxtons office did not ask the Texas Supreme Court to intervene. Somebody has to be in the kitchen, or else were all on the menu, he said during a Dec. 8 panel discussion with federal highway officials and local opponents. Longoria has planned to engage in speeches and hold voter-outreach events but has been unable to do so for fear of criminal prosecution and civil penalties, said Tuesdays filing, adding that Longoria also halted plans to promote mail-in voting with fliers and on social media. Will, All This includes legal research and drafting of legal documents for the purchase, sale, lease and operation of real estate including land title examinations, contracts, leases and concession agreements for parks and county buildings, roads and other public purposes. No matter how you get there, bullshit still walks. You know what she did? 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. See here for the background. And even the states witness Keith Ingram, the Texas secretary of states director of elections indicated the threat of prosecution loomed over election officials. In 2017, the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature evenamended state lawto specify 22 months, updating state standards to mirror federal requirements. 9 Cause No. Not all the things we wanted materialized, but that is compromise, said Harris County Pct. Planning Pack, Home Please read the Administrative Order below: Harris County Orders /COVID Emergency Orders. The USPS rede livery form states that it was both a letter and certified mail. Minutes, Corporate The concrete plants are subject to permits that aim to limit pollution in the form of particulate matter and crystalline silica which have been linked to respiratory diseases and cancer but independent testing of concrete facilities by the complaints authors indicate that pollution levels exceed health-based limits. Handbook, DUI Thats what we need to aim for. I did not see any news items related to this, so what you see here is all I know. I figure its just a matter of time before incumbent DA draws a primary challenger or two, so well want to keep an eye on her fundraising totals. So Paxton, ever the coward, convened a grand jury in Montgomery County not Harris, where this alleged crime took place, but the very friendly confines of Montgomery County and presented his case. of Directors, Bylaws 5(lost to Judge David Fleischer), Chris Daniel, former candidate for Harris County District Clerk (lost to Marilyn Burgess), Erin Lunceford, former candidate for the 189, Tami Pierce, former candidate for the180th District Court(lost to Judge DaSean Jones), Alexandra Mealer, former candidate for Harris County Judge (lost to Judge Lina Hidalgo), Mike May, former candidate for State Representative District 135 (lost to Representative Jon Rosenthal). The office provides legal counsel to Harris County government, elected officials, and employees, and represents them in civil lawsuits. Verify that the Texas Attorney Vacation Form youre considering is appropriate for your state. As the motion filed today argues, this provision violates the First Amendment and undermines election officials and election workers ability to perform their duties. You can read the Chron story here and their explainer about election contests here. Sherman Eagleton, Constable Precinct 3 Estates, Forms My guess is that the states response will be some combination of you cant sue us and neener neener neener, secure in the belief that the Fifth Circuit will undo anything Judge Biery does. Doing nothing is identical to telling the other lawyer take me to court.. For now, at least. Rodriguez previewed his order throughout a Friday morning hearing during which he repeatedly pressed the states attorneys with increasing exasperation to fill in what he cataloged as ambiguities in the new law. 2022-79328; Erin Lunceford v. Judge Tami Craft. Last year, TCEQ approved an amendment that included exemptions for emission limitations for concrete batch plants, in response to an application to construct a plant by a Fort Worth concrete company. 2023-00952; Nile Copeland v. Judge Latosha Lewis Payne. The lawyers job is to protect the opposing partys interests Hiring a lawyer after receiving a letter is an excellent option. CLUBS IN ACTION is trying to raise 95K to donate to them. This one was filed on December 10, and if there was any news coverage of it I am not able to find it. From what Ive gathered from talking to people, the multiple-dropoff-locations idea, which had been Diane Trautmans original plan, is probably the best way to go. Federal and state laws requires ballots be securely stored for 22 months after an election, in part to preserve them for recounts or challenges to election results. There is a deadline of MARCH 8 to raise funds!! The votes that were cast during that time period pursuant to a court order are still perfectly legal. 12 Cause No. Raising this as a First Amendment issue makes sense to me, and maybe it will make sense to the courts as well. Nothing else of great interest in this group Id expect both Ed Gonzalez and Christian Menefee to start posting bigger numbers soon. Each affidavit alleges that numerous registered voters in Harris County do not reside at the addresses listed on their voter registration records, as required by state election law. With voters walking into polling places and ballots set to arrive at NRG Arena in a few hours, Harris Countys Republican Party has challenged the process election officials will use to transfer ballots from locations to the central counting center, citing concerns with handing the machines over to anyone but precinct judges. Another 49 challenges came in after Aug. 10, the 90th day before the election. As the district court already determined, this law is unconstitutional and prevents election officials from encouraging people to vote by mail, including our seniors, our neighbors with disabilities, and our active-duty service members. I will pass along information about the fundraiser when I have it. The opinion has already impacted elections administrators across the state, who told Votebeat that theyve seen an onslaught of requests since Paxton released it. Icsezen interpreted this to mean that they werent allowed to observe the SVC, checked his interpretation with the Harris County Attorney, which approved his decision, and turned the poll watcher away. Our hospital system will operate at a $45 million deficit, Hidalgo said. While remaining supportive of parts of the project, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and city staff have suggested several changes to the project to eliminate some frontage road lanes, re-stitch neighborhoods divided by the freeway with better bike and pedestrian access, and increase commitments to community housing and flood control. Rodney Ellis, County Commissioner, Precinct 1 According to the Public Information Act, the attorney generals office has 45 working days from the day after the request to respond. DeSantis' office demands answers from Orlando area state attorney after The Bell County attorney confirmed last week that a court order there had not been challenged by the Attorney Generals Office or another party. Without the minimum fee, Claiborne planned to offer competitive pricing of less than 10% of the face amount of the bond to consumers who desire to purchase a bail bond for themselves, or their loved ones charged with a designated offense and qualify for reduced payment terms, according to court documents. an LLC, Incorporate A public meeting has been scheduled later this month for residents to weigh in on a plant thats been proposed in Simonton, asmall citywest of Houston in rural Fort Bend County. today. The Harris County Bail Bond Board, on its second attempt, passed a rule that made the ten percent minimum a requirement, and in response a bail bond company owner filed a lawsuit to stop it. While the provisional ballots are included in the official count certified by Commissioners Court, the Supreme Court also is ordering the county to include in the final canvassed results a separate report that details the votes of the later cast votes for each candidate in each race. That way, candidates can determine whether this group of ballots would change the outcome of their race and assess the extent to which further litigation is warranted..