I'm only ever in the county my college is in for school alone. And completely out of the blue. Judge Craft is represented by Steve Kherker. Phil Sandlin, Constable Precinct 8, Teneshia Hudspeth, County Clerk 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. No one knows this better than the former federal prosecutors at Oberheiden, P.C. Were evaluating the lawsuit and will let the courts sort it out.. Step 3: If payment is not received within sixty . View Website View Lawyer Profile Email Lawyer. 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. When it comes to voting by mail, I have to be very careful with my words, Longoria said from the witness stand. We use cookies to improve security, personalize the user experience, enhance our marketing activities (including cooperating with our marketing partners) and for other business use. Its a complicated story. Ballots are kept in secure lock boxes for 60 days, and then transferred to another secure facility for the remainder of the waiting period in order tocomply withthe Civil Rights Act of 1960, a federal law which, in part, requires ballots be securely stored for 22 months. But with blessing of local, state and federal elected officials, it is likely TxDOT and the FHWA could come to a separate agreement and work could proceed, people involved in the deal said. In the meantime, we have a small victory, for now, against SB1. 13 Cause No. Claim your certified mail. Cagle 64,225 186,970 0 5,056 Lesley Briones, County Commissioner, Precinct 4, Kim Ogg, District Attorney RECORDING OF ANY PROBATE PROCEEDINGS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITEDAND COULD RESULT IN A FINDING OF CONTEMPT OF COURT. Hidalgos office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UPDATE: Later in the day I found this Statesman story, which added a few details. Why would I receive a letter from Harris County attorney? 11 Cause No. Republican, Democrat, or Independent no eligible voter should have their ballot thrown out because the Attorney General cant accept the results of Harris County elections.. Judge Draper is represented by John Raley. Lets see what happens in May. Sean Morales-Doyle of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law submitted a brief that was in line with Pettit on the first and third questions, but had a nuanced distinction on the question of solicitations meaning. Things are moving in what seems to be a positive direction, said J. Bruce Bugg, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission. . It is the May 7 election, and widespread problems that day, that prompted the concerns in the first place. They noted many of the details give TxDOT room to renege while others fall short of the changes some neighborhood advocates had sought. If you throw out all of the Election Day provisional ballots, DaSean Jones still leads by 89 votes. The citys press release is here. Judge Singh is represented by Anthony Drumheller. People also can comment online, via phone or at local TxDOT offices. Will, All Check out the subscription page by clicking Buy Now. 21 Cause No. It also doesnt matter whether the regular Republicans support this madness or not. 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. (Except for Steve Radack, who still has a nice chunk of change in his account.) 10 Cause No. The fee cant be lowered due to appearance of impropriety issues. That letter must include the following four paragraphs: 1. Christian D. Menefee (@CDMenefee) 4:44 PM 17 February 2022. . No results found. See here and here for some background; the story also references the lawsuit filed by Harris County that has been temporarily paused to allow the discussion that led to this agreement. My guess is a subpoena. But the states highest civil court also ordered Harris County to determine whether those late-cast ballots would affect the outcome of any races and kept alive Attorney General Ken Paxtons challenge to counting them. I didnt write about the initial failure of the board to pass a rule requiring that bail bond companies must charge a minimum of ten percent of whatever bail had been set. Phony Defunding Claims II: Electric Boogaloo. Tenant, More Sherman Eagleton, Constable Precinct 3 I really dont think thats too much to ask. Shell have plenty of time to build that treasury back up; she did a pretty good job of that this cycle, so Id expect to see her total tick up in short order. You know what she did? Bail band companies had been lowering that percentage from what had once been seen as a de facto standard of ten percent because of the misdemeanor bail reform. Nothing else of great interest in this group Id expect both Ed Gonzalez and Christian Menefee to start posting bigger numbers soon. 2023-00936; Mark Montgomery v. Judge Kelley Andrews. . packages, Easy A grand jury subpoena is a court order demanding that the recipient produce documents and/or testify at a given time. Wyatt 1,950 2,110 0 2,258 Texas law allows voting by mail in certain circumstances, including when a voter is 65 years old or older, sick, or disabled, out of the country on election day, or confined in jail. 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. Not to my knowledge anyways. One judge whose race is being challenged, David Fleisher, lives in 133. 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. Privacy Policy and our Accessibility Statement. But, the judge noted, Longoria and Morgan do not work for the state. 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. judges sued to undo 22 election. of Incorporation, Shareholders Thank You!!!! Anyone who ran into a problem at one location could have gone to another. Trevino 3,150 4,270 0 26,871 Tami Pierce is representing herself with co-counsel, Paul Simpson. If the case moves quickly, and the Texas Supreme Court vacates the temporary restraining order, chaos could ensue, Taylor said. 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. At this point, we do not anticipate that it impacts the outcome of any races, Harris County First Assistant County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne said. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, known as the motor voter act, bars election officials from performing most voter roll maintenance activities within 90 days of a federal election. In a statement Tuesday, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefees office said: The requests for these documents were handled the same as any other requests for documents related to ongoing litigation against the county. Specialist legal advice should be taken in relation to specific circumstances. Im disappointed to see another losing candidate challenging the results of their election. This is a critical piece of leverage that can bring TxDOT to the bargaining table, Peters told Commissioners Court before it approved the pause. Real Estate, Last In fact, the first time any concerns were raised occurred during a public meeting May 11 at the Election Committee Hearing by the Secretary of States Office. Its the motion for preliminary injunction, filed on Tuesday the 28th, for which I received a press release from the Harris County Attorneys office, which in turn led me to find the linked article from the Brennan Center (and this Twitter thread), that is trying to make something happen more quickly. So our perspective is that those provisional ballots are no different than any other provisional ballots they are to be counted.. On January 7, 2021, I filed with the Harris County Clerk's Office an affidavit disclosing my . 7 Cause No. As part of the canvass, respondents are ordered to separately identify in the vote tabulations the number of later cast votes for each candidate in each race and for or against each proposition, so that candidates, the parties, and this Court may ascertain whether the later cast votes would be outcome-determinative and so that the parties can assess the extent to which further litigation is warranted. Please complete an event and/or meeting request in its entirety using the link(s) below. . Of those, Shah said, 66 were rejected because they did not meet statutory requirements and contained incomplete information.. 21. Still, others have been pleasantly surprised when what was once an existential threat is transformed into a manageable inconvenience. Hidalgo 612,111 1,095,479 101,400 36,568 I point this out to say that barring something truly weird, Paxtons bad faith filing will not can not have any effect on any race. Not satisfied with the new voting restrictions put in place less than a year ago, the Texas Republican Party is plowing ahead with yet new measures that would reduce the number of early voting days and end the practice of allowing any senior to vote by mail without an excuse. Harris County Attorney's Office 1019 Congress, 15th Floor Houston, TX 77002 Office: 713-755-5101 Fax: 713-755-8924 Communications@harriscountytx.gov Harris County Attorney's Office Staff Directory For Media Inquiries Media Hotline: 832-544-8045 Communications@harriscountytx.gov To Report Price Gouging Click hereto file a report. Im extremely doubtful that there is a legitimate legal challenge here, Stein said. The average District Attorney in the US makes $77,118. Who is the county attorney Harris County? Im going to guess hed run as a Democrat, but I cant say for sure at this time. The Chron story, from a bit later in the day, has more details. Houston's independent source of All public case information is still available to everyone, once they login, and can be viewed FREE of charge. Herman 0 96,574 0 518,009 Thats how it is for the judges. Thank you for your help! 5 Cause No. The Texas Secretary of States office agrees with the GOPs assessment. 4. Which is what the Chron editorial board concluded a few days ago. If the facts as stated above are accurate, then this really is another case of political math being used in place of, well, math. By all accounts, there were maybe 20-25 sites that have paper issues. solicit[] the submission of an application to vote by mail from a person who did not request an application. The civil-liability provision creates a civil penalty for an election official who is employed by or an office of the state and who violates a provision of the election code. Agreements, Corporate In no uncertain terms, the secretary of states office which isrun by a Republicanappointed by Gov. Forms, Real Estate Work demands keep most lawyers in private practice from frequent or lengthy vacations. Joe Danna, Sheriff But due to a change in state law, you only have until March 8 to make a contribution. The reality is that if communication is ignored, the party who received the letter can be fairly certain that they will end up in court. I doubt theres an agreement that satisfies everyone, but there are definitely options that do a better job of minimizing harm and promoting equity. For Houston, more than $6 billion of the plans spending centers on I-45, masking it nearly half of the $12.5 billion Houstons TxDOT district has to spend over the next decade. 2023-00937; Matthew Dexter v. Judge Genesis Draper. As far as this goes, I dont think anyone is making any new arguments, and there continues to be a large gap between what activists and local governments want out of the project and what TxDOT is willing to give. The Texas Secretary of States office has disagreed with her interpretation and urged the county to change its plan. However, Gerald Birnberg, an elections attorney and General Counsel to the Harris County Democratic Party, questioned the Secretary of States logic, pointing out that its own office deputizes others to perform certain duties. 1 takes direct aim at both, saidSean Morales-Doyle, acting director of the Voting Rights and Elections Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law. Free preview Harris County Attorney Letter, Why Would You Get A Letter From The County Attorney, Harris County District Court Vacation Letter, Living 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. If that does not happen, the county will resume the suit and well let the courts decide.. That has led some community leaders, such as activist and urban planner Abdul Muhammad, to urge federal officials and local opponents to work to find solutions and not reasons to stop the project. 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. 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. Steve Radack. The Supreme Court is occasionally solicitous of the First Amendment, if it approves of the speech in question, so who knows what they might do. 1 priority for the next legislative session that begins in January. 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. Remember, if you are not working you are not getting paid but the office bills continue nevertheless. Recent bills proposed in the state legislature largely floundered. Opponents argue the projects design further divides communities it crosses, exacerbating decades of freeway expansion that has worsened air quality and safe street access for those neighborhoods in order to deliver faster car and truck trips for suburban commuters. . That may be a bad feature of the law as it now exists, but it is the law and a district court is highly unlikely to deviate from the normal course of behavior. The letters stem from the investigation into the 2019 drug raid of a small home on Harding Street in south Houston. Well see what the Court says. Menefee. Time and again, the TCEQ has approved permits for additional plants in these very same neighborhoods, and failed to ensure that the pollution that comes out of these plants does not harm human health and the environment, Menefee said. As the motion filed today argues, this provision violates the First Amendment and undermines election officials and election workers ability to perform their duties. He urged the county to proceed with the lawsuit, rather than relent. Agreements, LLC 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. A hearing is scheduled Monday morning; lawyers representing San Antonio, Bexar County, will ask to extend the temporary restraining order into a temporary injunction. Texas has allowed voters 65 and older to vote absentee without needing an excuse since 1975. The court hasnt specified whether or not thats legal, Fombonne said. 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. Judge Jones is represented by Oliver Brown. Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican on the court, voted against the measure. 2504 Rusk St. #110 Become a member to support the independent voice of Houston Greg Abbott expanded early voting for an additional week to allow more people concerned about COVID-19 to vote before Election Day. Arturo G. MichelDecember 3, 2020 -- Mayor Sylvester Turner has selected a familiar name and a well-respected attorney to join the administration as the City's chief legal counsel and advisor. CultureMap has more. Fortunately, we know how to handle these types in fact, many of our clients have been shocked to learn that their investigations have been closed with zero civil or criminal liability. And in their lawsuit, they flat out misrepresent the countys plans to the court, making several statements that they know are demonstrably false., (Longorias) office successfully used constables in the May 7 election, and the GOP had no problem at that time, said Odus Evbagharu, chairman of the Harris County Democratic Party. (That lawsuit is now on hold as negotiations continue.) Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee gave the following statement in response: "Comptroller Hegar's statement is false. Corporations, 50% I dont see the appeals being successful, but maybe theres some technical point of law on which they can get a rehearing. In fact, when something controversial enough happens to be the subject of a lawsuit, that is exactly when the public most needs to know what the record shows. Target letters inform the recipients that they are the target of a federal investigation, which means that the government intends to press civil or criminal charges against that person. The plaintiffs are Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria and Cathy Morgan, a volunteer deputy registrar who assists people with mail-in ballots in Travis and Williamson counties. 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. We worked hard to make this happen. Lawyers for the GOP argue the county is ignoring state election laws and breaking the mandatory chain of custody for ballots. Judge Weems is represented by John Raley. I've been notified of misdemeanor charges through the mail (not certified) and served by process. They dont know when theyre going to run afoul of this vague [law].. Incorporation services, Living for Deed, Promissory The poll watcher complained to the Harris County GOP, who called the Secretary of State, who called Icsezen and said he was wrong, the poll watcher needed to be allowed in to observe the SVC. Its deeply annoying that we have to do this as a reminder, these cases are stinking piles of nothing and the losers pursuing them damn well know it but its where we are. See here for the background. That left a mere 750 or so alternatives, including ones that would have been very close by. Theres no explanation for it hes just flat wrong. Estates, Forms Residents in Aldine recently packed a room to tell TCEQ not to approve another new plant only to find out that the deadline had already passed to ask the state agency to escalate the dispute to the next level. Hegars claim is a repeat of a fight thatalready played outbetween the comptroller and Harris County last August. The file is going to be stored in two places: on your device and in the My Forms folder. They are trying to make it as difficult as possible, and talking people out (of driving ballots themselves) by warning them there will be long lines, Siegel said. None of the affidavits led to county elections officials removing any names from the voter rolls. The restriction applies to any program intended to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official list of eligible voters, including general mailings and door to door canvasses, according to the Justice Department. If not, well take the ones off that are not, and then they update their records.. Tatum, your day of reckoning has just started.. Just like what happened in Bell County (won by Greg Abbott 59.04% to 39.52%, in case you were curious), which the AG has accepted as fact. The state, represented by Lanora Pettit, a principal deputy solicitor general with the Office of Attorney General, acknowledged in her brief that volunteer deputy registrars are not public officials subject to prosecution; the term solicit does not include merely providing information but instead requires strongly urging a voter to fill out an application that was not requested; and the Attorney General is not a proper official to seek civil penalties. 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. Templates, Name An additional $10 collection fee will be added to each invoice referred to collections, as approved by Harris County Commissioners Court in September 2020. To say the least, that is a massive, massive upending of the regular democratic order. Longoria said her office was now taking a passive approach to voter outreach in regard to voting by mail, with staffers gingerly weighing their words while answering voters questions about their options. FDAMS User Guide . In Tarrant County, volunteers with a conservative group occupied a room in the elections office for weeks this summer, examining 300,000 ballots from the March 2020 primary, which were made available by the county 22 months after the election. On balance, with the improvements I think you have an excellent project that will move forward and move the greater good.. 1 provision no later than February 14, 2022. The county attorneys office did not respond to a request for more information about the requests, including who submitted them. About | Circuit Court of Appeals has put a temporary hold on a preliminary injunction that had blocked enforcement of a rule that keeps local election officials from encouraging voters to request mail-in ballots, according to Harris County officials. Expect a response from the team within48 hoursof your requested date. Despite the GOPs criticism, at least 40 Republican judges are choosing to participate in the countys plan. The Texas Transportation Commission is scheduled to approve the UTP at its Aug. 30 meeting. Its not clear to me where things are procedurally with this litigation and remember, there are a bunch of other cases as well but in this matter the Fifth Circuit wanted to get some clarity on state law before doing whatever it has on its docket to do. The group represents Harris County and numerous entities including the Harris County Appraisal Review Board, the Harris County Toll Road Authority, the Harris County Tax Office, the Harris County Sheriffs Office, the Harris County Constables, and the Harris County Fire Marshals Office. The original hearing was in the 269th Civil Court, and the second hearing was to have been on May 6. Don't read that if you're having a good day. See here for the background. State attorneys said that the law did not apply to volunteers like Morgan and argued the government can prohibit interactions between local election officials and voters without running afoul of the First Amendment. The Statesman has a couple of key bits from the ruling: In his order, Rodriguez rejected Paxtons argument that the solicitation ban targets government speech, which isnt protected by the First Amendment because the state is allowed to regulate how public employees perform official duties. 12(lost to Judge Genesis Draper), Brian Staley, former candidate forHarris County Civil County Court at Law No. See here for the background. Center, Small The Harris County Attorneys Office fights for the interests of Harris County through the civil justice system to preserve access to clean air and water; ensure safe, healthy neighborhoods; protect consumers against fraud, exploitation, and other bad acts; and defend voting rights. However, given that the provisional votes cast on Election Day favored Democrats, its even less likely for that race to be affected, and it would be impossible for both of them to be in a position to change. Oberheiden, P.C. The proposed rule stemmed from concerns that defendants were being released on bail fees lower than the 10 percent and then being forced into payment plans. Even at the highest end of the estimate of locations that had issues, more than 90% of them did not. 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. The County Attorneys office, however, said it had no information that anyone had attempted to misrepresent themselves as public employees, which would be illegal. Judge Andrews is represented by John Raley. With a new election administrator about to come on board, we can revisit the matter and see if theres a consensus to be had. They were discouraged because the lines were long, or because they were told theyd have to wait.. Despite the crisis, St. Marys University School of Law professor Michael Ariens believes the lawsuits ultimate success is a long shot.. If the past is any guide, the local governments are unlikely to prevail in court, said University of Texas School of Law Adjunct Professor Randall Erben. Reporter Edward McKinley and plaintiffs attorney Sean Morales-Doyle have good Twitter threads with more details, so go check them out. Theres already been a lot of time for talk, and I dont know how much latitude TxDOT has to give. 2023-00932; Chris Daniel v. Marilyn Burgess. Under Hegars calculations, Heaps annualized budget would have been about $48.9 million over 12 months nearly $2.3 million off from the $46.7 million figure calculated by the county. 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. Seems like a lot of fuss for something that is unlikely to go anywhere, but who knows. Records, Annual Regardless of the contents, if you're going to attempt to evade service of process, it will not end well for you in the long run. Turner signed the citys agreement Monday, after it was signed by TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams. It created a 20-day window of early voting in the late 1980s and expanded it dramatically in the early 1990s to include more locations like shopping malls and grocery stores. Menu Nationwide Federal Defense, Compliance and Litigation. The remedy for having to vote late because of voting location problems is to extend voting hours to accommodate those that were affected.
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