by
Criminal justice issues likely played a major role in the political shifts seen in Harris County. Public frustration over rising crime, slow-moving dockets, and a system that often fails both victims and defendants, has led to increasing calls for reform.
However, the crime problem didn’t develop overnight, and it won’t be solved overnight either. Long-term solutions require a mix of enforcement tools, streamlined legal processes, and anti-recidivism efforts. The Legislature has the opportunity to rebuild public trust in the system while maintaining fairness, efficiency, and strong public safety measures.
Public Access to District Attorney Offices Must Be Restored
One of the most overlooked consequences of COVID-19 was the elimination of walk-up public access to District Attorney offices. Before the pandemic, citizens could present evidence of crimes directly to the DA’s office—but many of these public access points never reopened.
With law enforcement overwhelmed by serious violent crime, everyday Texans must have the ability to report crimes directly to the DA when necessary.
Requiring the District Attorney offices to have a walk-up desk will increase crime detection and criminal apprehension. An online portal could also serve a similar purpose, with the public being able to submit reports and supporting evidence in a secure online format with the District Attorney office able to review and decide whether or not to accept the case.
Restoring this access empowers the public while ensuring that low-priority crimes don’t slip through the cracks simply because law enforcement is stretched thin.
Also, if an outside governmental agency makes a finding that a crime likely occurred – such as Adult Protective Services making a finding of neglect or abuse, law enforcement must be obligated to make a report to the district attorney to see if they will accept the case.
Law Enforcement Needs More Tools to Stop Criminals
Law enforcement has been hamstrung by policies that make it harder to stop and apprehend criminals. One of the most effective tools in fighting crime is pretext stops, yet many jurisdictions have restricted or discouraged their use.
Programs like Houston’s requirement that businesses have surveillance cameras are great if they are actually utilized for crime prevention.
A standardized, statewide system should be implemented to ensure that surveillance footage is preserved and accessible for investigations. Many businesses automatically overwrite security footage within 7 days, causing critical evidence to be lost before law enforcement can review it. A centralized reporting system or automated footage preservation request could ensure that video evidence is flagged and stored when a crime is reported.
Programs like Houston’s Flock license detection program are essential to empowering law enforcement to identify vehicles involved in crime and initiate pretext stops to apprehend individuals that otherwise would not be caught. Legislative support for these programs will yield a tangible increase in apprehension.
Expand Mediation Policies to Criminal Cases
Apprehension is only one part of the puzzle. Not every crime is the same, and a one size fits all solution isn’t in the public interest. Texas already requires mediation for civil cases to reduce court backlogs and encourage settlements—a similar approach should be extended to certain criminal cases.
Currently, victims do not have a formal voice in criminal proceedings—the District Attorney represents the state, not the victim. In many cases, forcing mediation could help resolve cases faster while also giving victims a voice and incorporating restorative justice measures to prevent reoffending.
How Criminal Mediation Would Work
Criminal mediation would allow a neutral third-party mediator to facilitate structured discussions between prosecutors, defense attorneys, and (when appropriate) victims. This process would not be an alternative to prosecution but rather a tool for reducing court backlog while promoting tailored resolutions. Cases involving first-time offenders, victim-consented resolutions, or minor non-violent offenses could benefit from structured agreements that include restitution, rehabilitation, or alternative sentencing options.
This would be limited to non-violent cases or cases where the victim of a violent offense consented to mediation. For example, assault family violence where the victim wants the offender to get help rather than serve time.
The goal is to craft creative solutions with a focus on anti-recidivism solutions. The requirement to mediate will force expedited case development increasing resolution efficiency. This would not replace traditional prosecutorial tools, but it is an additional tool that can be used to lead to case resolution. This would be especially helpful for cases where a criminal defense attorney is conducting the mediation and can come in and tell a resistant defendant that their expectation is unrealistic and help facilitate a plea that otherwise may not be forthcoming or nor available until the eve of trial.
Prioritizing Anti-Recidivism Measures
Reducing crime isn’t just about enforcement—it’s also about breaking cycles of repeat offenses.
Texas has already seen success with diversion programs that help nonviolent offenders avoid prison and reintegrate into society. However, there are still gaps in the system where small policy changes could have big long-term impacts.
Every county should have a program where individuals with a suspended or expired driver’s license is assisted with obtaining an occupational license. While access to the occupational licenses have been increased by allowing Justice courts to issue the orders the Counties should be required to facilitate the obtaining of the licenses. This allows individuals to drive legally and helps with return to work and integration into society. Repealing the administrative fees associated with crimes also helps individuals break free of the cycle of driving without a license.
Probation programs should be directly tied into workforce development initiatives when possible. This helps offenders break the cycle of repeat crime from a lack of job prospects. Whether it’s a direct interaction with the Texas Workforce Commission, or nonprofit organizations such as the excellent Between Jobs Ministry in Harris County a part of the probation process should either be gainful employment or helping with skill building to obtain employment.
Expanding Emergency Relief Dockets for Faster Case Processing
One of the biggest issues in Texas’ overwhelmed criminal justice system is the slow pace of case processing. Emergency Relief Dockets (ERD) have been used successfully, but their effectiveness is limited by staffing issues. Justice delayed is justice denied, both for the defendant and the victim. Some cases should go to trial, and those cases need to be handled in as efficient a manner as possible.
Simply having emergency relief dockets isn’t enough. If they, too, become backlogged they simply become a new docket the elected judges get to send away the unsavory cases they don’t want to deal with. This means care needs to be taken to ensure that sufficient ERC capacity is present to handle the needed caseload.
Some of this a courtroom availability issue, but some is a qualified individual to hear the case issue. For example, many of the misdemeanor courts don’t have courtroom activity occurring in the afternoons and the impediment to having trials is a qualified individual to serve as judge. Other staff is already present – hearing reporter, court coordinator, bailiff etc.
Obviously, having the elected judge hold as many trials as practicable is the best solution. However, that’s already occurring much of the time. A judge can only handle so many cases at a time before becoming mentally fatigued. Measures need to be taken to ensure that the lack of judicial capacity isn’t the bottleneck. While the legislature already allows for formerly elected individuals to serve as visiting judges this isn’t a sufficient amount capacity in some jurisdictions. A solution is to allow elected officials to nominate attorneys to serve as single case judges. This could be done on a wheel basis.
Sitting judges and other elected officials should nominate qualified attorneys to serve as temporary judges for single-case assignments in ERD courts. To prevent conflicts of interest or bias, appointments should be rotational and case-specific, meaning no single attorney handles multiple cases back-to-back. Additionally, these positions should be unpaid to ensure that appointments are made based on legal experience, not financial incentives, and self reduces the applicant pool to attorneys who are seeking to participate for the purpose of the prompt, fair administration of justice.
Conclusion
The crime problem didn’t develop overnight, and it won’t disappear overnight either—but smart, targeted reforms can strengthen Texas’ criminal justice system for the long term. Taking care to integrate the ability of individuals to report crime with alternative dispute resolution processes and increasing the number of individuals who can handle case disposition together will bring down crime over time.
No comments:
Post a Comment