Two months out from Election Day, the politically charged debate over crime and public...
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat who presides over Commissioners Court, repeatedly has said the sheriff, constables and district attorney have received funding boosts in each county budget since Democrats won a 3-2 court majority in 2018. The annual increases are comparable to those adopted under Republican control, relative to the size of the county’s overall general fund budget, with some caveats.
“Certainly, the crime issue has been a staple for the Republican side,” said Adams, the director of TSU’s master of public administration program. “They feel that they can galvanize and gin up voter support by running on an anti-crime platform, and it’s nothing new for them. You can go back to Richard Nixon, in terms of being tough on crime, law-and-order.”Contrary to Young’s claim, Houston is far from the most dangerous city in the country.
Homicides climbed again in Houston last year, from 400 to 469. With a rate of about 20 murders per 100,000 people, 2021 marked one of the city’s deadliest years over the last three decades. Houston also surpassed Dallas for the highest murder rate among Texas’ large cities — though still well behind other big cities around the country.
Even with the initial decrease through June, however, the countywide tallies of murders and assaults remained on pace to far exceed their levels from 2019, the year before those two categories spiked.While the political dispute over constable funding has attracted headlines in recent weeks, the combined budget of Harris County’s eight constable precincts makes up only a fraction of the county’s overall public safety spending.
County budget officials note they allowed each department, including constables, to retain unspent funds last year for specific proposals and demonstrated needs, as long as they were used for one-time expenses. They were not allowed to use the funds to pay for personnel, as some constables regularly had done.
Hidalgo and county budget officials also said Harris County largely was an outlier in allowing departments to keep unspent funds for future budgeting cycles. In a memo last year outlining the change, Berry said some departments were not filling all their funded positions so they could increase their rollover amount.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Pierce absent and Dunleavy infrequent on debate stages as Walker and Gara rack up milesPierce absent and Dunleavy infrequent on debate stages as Walker and Gara rack up miles (via AlaskaBeacon)
Read more »
Two dead, two injured after crash in Shelby CountyTwo people are dead and two others, including a child, were injured after a crash in Shelby County Saturday.
Read more »
Two dead, two wounded in shooting at Plainfield hotelTwo people were killed and another two wounded in a shooting Saturday evening at a Plainfield hotel.
Read more »
Two Philadelphians in two days were shot and killed just going about their routineOne of the dead was a mother of three, shot while sweeping outside the Mill Creek Recreation Center, where she worked. The other was believed to be a husband and father carrying home groceries.
Read more »
Watch: Aaron Hicks’s Mistake Leads to Two Rays Runs With Two OutsOn Friday, New York left fielder Aaron Hicks added to the Yankees' list of self-inflicting issues this season when he made two critical errors in its game against the Rays
Read more »
8 firefighters hurt when 2 fire trucks collide in New JerseyEight firefighters were injured when two fire trucks collided in Paterson, New Jersey, on Saturday.
Read more »