DA Susan Reed blocking key Bexar jail crowding solution

Reporter Dave Maass gives Bexar County DA Susan Reed a well-deserved tongue-lashing in an' open letter in the new San Antonio Current. Though Reed won't talk to the press about it, apparently behind the scenes she's opposing local implementation of HB 2391, legislation that would allow police to issue a citation instead of arresting low-level offenders for nonviolent crimes including driving with a suspended license and marijuana possession. County Judge Nelson Wolff conservatively estimated the law would save $10,000 per day in jail costs.

HB 2391 actually was conceived in part by the Bexar County Jail Administrator, and nobody before now ever heard of DA Reed's concerns - indeed, she won't talk to Maass about it now. But she's apparently trying to keep the idea from ever being implemented.

Maass writes to Reed, "SAPD has told us that after talking to you they’ve decided not to implement the cite-and-summons option." He still hopes some other local jurisdictions might be given permission to implement the summons option now that Bexar County will begin to charge them $100 per arrest through an interlocal agreement to house prisoners in the county jail.

"Imagine you’re mayor of a suburban city," Maass suggested, "would you rather spend $100 on, say, infrastructure, or would you rather spend it to lock up a minor offender in a squalid detention center for up to 18 hours?" Indeed! Where are the small-government conservatives when you really need them?

This news comes on the heels of Reed's insensible opposition to the Bexar County needle exchange project and a self investigation that turned up nothing after the recantation of the sole witness/victim in a long-closed capital case.

Reed may not want to talk about it, but IMO she'll pay a price for such hubris. Her self-exoneration in the Ruben Cantu case after she'd presided over a portion as a judge, whatever the reality, cannot avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Ultimately that harms the credibility of her office. Now her refusal to implement needle exchange and HB 2391 makes her directly responsible for poorer outcomes and higher costs for both HIV and the jail.

These just shouldn't be her calls. Why should the DA get to defy the Legislature on needle exchange or refuse to work with police to implement their new authority under HB 2391? For that matter, why should she be trusted to investigate her own office's alleged misconduct?

Since Dave Maass wrote an open letter to the DA, I'll offer some direct advice of my own: If you're going to play the part of Dr. No, Mrs. Reed, you at least owe voters an explanation why - don't just skulk around behind the scenes pulling the plug on cost-saving solutions without explaining yourself to the public.