A bill by Rep. Debbie Riddle that's up tomorrow in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee would extend the stay of misdemeanor defendants booked into the county jail from a maximum of 24 to 36 hours until they receive a probable cause hearing. According to the fiscal note, "Harris County reported that the county has difficulty meeting the 24-hour probable cause hearing deadline in some cases, generally due to the computers of law enforcement agencies being down or a large volume of traffic through the county systems which slows the necessary preparation of paperwork. Therefore, the bill is anticipated to save the county some time and effort for the extension to 36 hours. In addition, the Harris County District Clerk, District Attorney, and other impacted offices would likely experience a cost savings by a reduced number of extension requests that would otherwise have to be prepared and recorded."
What the fiscal note fails to mention is that the bill would increase the amount of time misdemeanor defendants spend in the jail before magistration, which makes little sense when the county is already shipping inmates to Louisiana because of overcrowding. It'd be better for Harris County to get its internal paperwork problems solved without increasing pretrial jail time for misdemeanants as a go-to solution.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
4 comments:
According to the fiscal note, "Harris County reported that the county has difficulty meeting the 24-hour probable cause hearing deadline in some cases, generally due to the computers of law enforcement agencies being down or a large volume of traffic through the county systems which slows the necessary preparation of paperwork.
Computer down? Total nonsense. The arresting officer's handwritten narrative in the arrest report at the time of booking can serve as the pc affidavit.
Scott, Harris County like many others seems to think if the rules are inconvenient we will have them changed. I absolutely agree that they should get their own business in order and follow the law, after all aren't they arresting these people for not following the law? it is simply ludicrous to have the arrogance to say you have to follow the law but we will change the ones that aren't convenient for us. Who do they think they are anyway.
Representative Riddle also proposed a bill requiring LEOs to check the immigration status of any detainee. However, she provided an exemption for persons on private property, like gardeners and maids. That wasn't missed by many people.
She's not what I would call one of the sharpest tools in the shed. She is from Fort Bend County, so I'm unsure why she needs to stick her nose into Harris County business.
Actually, I think she lives just across the Montgomery County line, but her district goes into Harris.
Post a Comment