Business Packages, Construction This is how I learned how little was in their campaign accounts. Raising this as a First Amendment issue makes sense to me, and maybe it will make sense to the courts as well. In a statement, Air Alliance Houston said the agreements will do very little to protect Houston communities from the harms posed by this project, specifically related to air pollution caused by the larger freeway in many neighborhoods around the central business district. The 5th U.S. That would not be a cheap race as things stand now, as you can see. Commissioners courtOfficeNameHarris County Commissioners Court JudgeLina HidalgoHarris County Commissioners Court Precinct 1Rodney EllisHarris County Commissioners Court Precinct 2Adrian GarciaHarris County Commissioners Court Precinct 3Tom Ramsey1 more row. All public case information is still available to everyone, once they login, and can be viewed FREE of charge. After weeks of meetings between state and federal highway officials, the Texas Department of Transportation can proceed with detailed design work of the southernmost stretches of the project, portions of the downtown redesign called Segment 3, removing them from the development pause put in place by federal highway officials in June. Given that Harris County voters cast more than 1.1 million ballots overall, the 2,000 provisional ballots have little chance of changing most election outcomes. Many of those races were close, and it wouldnt surprise us to see candidates filing election contests.. The votes that were cast during that time period pursuant to a court order are still perfectly legal. We are ready to move forward together, said Texas Transportation Commissioner Laura Ryan. His application of state law is wrong. packages, Easy Anyone who ran into a problem at one location could have gone to another. Hiring a lawyer after receiving a letter is an excellent option. In the event that the Harris County Elections Office ever needs to contact you directly, our staff will have county ID badges to prove their identity, and/or paperwork with the logo or official seal of the office included, the release states. 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. Recent bills proposed in the state legislature largely floundered. She said Republican judges only learned the day before that election that they would have to hand ballots over at polling sites, rather than drive them downtown themselves. This happened to Rob Icsezen, the host of the H-Town Progressive podcast and a Democratic appointee of the Early Voting Ballot Board and Signature Verification Committee for the 2020 election. 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.. Youre immunocompromised and you want to vote by mail or from your car because youre afraid of a deadly disease? It seems like the intent was to keep I-45 on the TxDOT project list for at least a little longer, to see if an agreement among all the parties can be reached. Yet, the way the (Texas Public Information Act) is written, no one except those involved in the underlying lawsuit can get access to the public information.. The night also could be politically turbulent as a dispute plays out over one line in the states election code. 21. 2022-79328; Erin Lunceford v. Judge Tami Craft. If you need to write a similar letter. I would be very interested in meeting with you to discuss this matter further, and I would appreciate any advice or guidance you can provide. (Any lawyers out there that want to help, by all means please do.). Former officer Gerald Goines led a raid on the home, which police believed to be a drug den.Jun 21, 2021 But if she does comply with them, she will be participating in an illegal price fixing scheme and violating her customers privacy rights.. The Texas Transportation Commission is scheduled to approve the UTP at its Aug. 30 meeting. They also refer to the overall total of about 4,000 provisional ballots the actual overall total is 4,333, of which 1,778 were cast early and are clearly not at issue. Trust, Living My read on this Ive sent some questions to the Harris County Attorneys office to get clarification is that Elections Admin Longoria would like a ruling from the court to settle the question of what exactly she is and is not allowed to do, given that as things stand right now saying the wrong thing could get her arrested. You could have voted early! Those challenges are awaiting a summer trial. His comments followed testimony from Longoria and Morgan, who said they feared the civil and criminal penalties that could come from violating the broad prohibition. The County Attorneys office, however, said it had no information that anyone had attempted to misrepresent themselves as public employees, which would be illegal. Obviously, County Attorney Menefee made up his mind since then. Check out how to write a Harris County attorney letter. Under Hegars calculations, Heaps annualized budget would have been about $48.9 million over 12 months nearly $2.3 million more than the $46.7 million figure calculated by the county. TxDOT still must acquire some property, Koch said, and the pending Federal Highway Administration review that the local agreements do not affect must be resolved. An accurate and complete description of the vehicle (license plate, VIN number, year, make, model and color) that you own and desire returned. Similarly, Morgan argued in the filing that her work as a voter registrar particularly around the University of Texas in Austin will be hampered if she can no longer proactively suggest that eligible but unaware voters request an application to vote by mail as she has in the past.. Ramsey 550,625 149,433 0 944,935 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. 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. I doubt theres an agreement that satisfies everyone, but there are definitely options that do a better job of minimizing harm and promoting equity. Harris Countys decision to allow volunteers to transport election records including voted ballots to the countys Central Count location on Election Night is incompatible with the Texas Election Code and violates well-established chain of custody protocols spelled out under Texas law, Texas Secretary of State spokesperson Sam Taylor said in a statement on Friday. Elizabeth Buss is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. Contractors, Confidentiality 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. Harris County Attorney Letter // Get FREE Letter Templates (Print or The criminal division prosecutes criminal cases. They were discouraged because the lines were long, or because they were told theyd have to wait.. And, yet, thats not the way its breaking.. This is a preliminary injunction, and whether it survives the Fifth Circuit or not there will be a trial on the merits later this year, and you can bank on it going all the way to SCOTUS. Icsezen interpreted this to mean that they werent allowed to observe the SVC, checked his interpretation with the Harris County Attorney, which approved his decision, and turned the poll watcher away. With a new election administrator about to come on board, we can revisit the matter and see if theres a consensus to be had. What hes doing is not helping in furtherance of coping with the disaster, Menefee said. Note that Paxton had previously tried to indict Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir on similarly flimsy charges in 2020, but a grand jury in Williamson County again, not where the alleged crime took place declined to indict. of Sale, Contract Things are moving in what seems to be a positive direction, said J. Bruce Bugg, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission. Not to my knowledge. Under S.B. Hegar, responding to a fresh complaint from Harris County Constable Ted Heap, said county officials had reduced the budget for Heaps Precinct 5 office by some $2.4 million in their most recent budget. The law is clear that these voted ballots are confidential and its a crime for anyone to access them unless authorized by law.. Specifically, Rogers said FHWA is not prepared at this time to allow TxDOT to resume any right-of-way acquisition in Segment 3. TxDOT, he added, could acquire properties from owners who approach it on a case-by-case basis rather than relying on eminent domain.. In a primary election, each polling location has one judge from each party overseeing their own partys voting process. On January 7, 2021, I filed with the Harris County Clerk's Office an affidavit disclosing my . The Press has more. Judge Ramirez is represented by John Staley. Jerry Garcia, Constable Precinct 2 Wayne Dolcefino, a media consultant and former TV journalist. Respondents are directed to conduct the canvass of the November 2022 election as required by the Election Code. 4. I included Mealer and Cagle for post-election inclusion mostly out of curiosity. Each of those votes represents a Harris County resident who participated in our democratic process. This is all bullshit and should be seen as such. Its just one page long, and the gist of it is this: In this mandamus proceeding, which challenges Harris County election officials processing of the later cast votes, we grant the following temporary relief under Rule of Appellate Procedure 52.10(b): The petition for writ of mandamus remains pending before this Court. & Resolutions, Corporate 2023-00927; Bruce Bain v. Judge Corey Sepolio. To Access County Clerk's Forms: (click here Downloadable Clerk's Office Forms) For suggestions or comments regarding this site please email us at webcomments@hctx.net. Christian D. Menefee (@CDMenefee) 5:00 PM 17 February 2022. As the highest-ranking election official in Harris County, Im responsible for enabling the countys millions of voters to exercise their right to cast a lawful ballot, many of whom face obstacles to voting in person due to illness, disability, or age. The amount of evidence theyd need to provide to come close to justifying such an ask, I cant even begin to comprehend. If you open up the floodgates and give anyone access to the ballots throughout that process, you have broken that chain of custody to the point where you would not be able to prove that this was the ballot a given voter cast, Masterson said. And for all of the fuss, final results were posted at 1:26 AM, which seems pretty damn reasonable to me. The Compliance Practice Group specializes in lawsuits for debt collection and enforcement of laws that protect the interest of Harris County. I dont know if the drafters of this opinion have a firm grasp on how ballot security and ballot processing is done at the county level, he said. If that does not happen, the county will resume the suit and well let the courts decide.. Court records filed Friday showed a bail bondsman sued Harris County as an attempt to stop the new rule, which would require agents like her to charge defendants jailed on violent offenses a 10 percent minimum to secure their freedom after an arrest. Its just the Big Lie in a slightly sanitized package. Design specifics of the future I-45 interchange with Interstate 10 that accommodate Metros planned. See here for the background. for Deed, Promissory Notes, Premarital Doing nothing is identical to telling the other lawyer take me to court.. Harris Countys settlement is part of a global settlement with JUUL Labs, Inc resolving numerous cases brought by government entity plaintiffs, including school districts, cities, and counties. 2. Currently, Texas has two weeks of early voting before elections, though in 2020 Gov. 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. The letter, addressed to Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan on Nov. 25, concludes the appointment of Isabel Longoria as the county's first election administrator is "unlawful and null and void 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. Well see what the Court says. Let me just show you what that second linked file says: The case underlying these certified questions is a pre-enforcement challenge to two recently enacted provisions of the Texas Election Code: section 276.016(a) (the anti-solicitation provision) and section 31.129 (the civil-liability provision) as applied to the anti-solicitation provision. Please read the Administrative Order below: - Prohibiting Recording of Remote Proceedings, Emergency Public Helath and Safetly Conditions, NEW!!! 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. UPDATE: The Trib story also references 2,000 ballots, which does not help clear up my confusion. Minutes, Corporate U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez last week halted enforcement of a provision of Senate Bill 1 that made it a crime for election officials to solicit mail-in ballots. A new Texas law that keeps local election officials from encouraging voters to request mail-in ballots likely violates the First Amendment, a federal judge ruled late Friday. Specials, Start DA is technically a state office for smaller counties, the DA can cover several of them at once so Id normally expect to see them on the Texas Ethics Commission site. Each affidavit alleges that numerous registered voters in Harris County do not reside at the addresses listed on their voter registration records, as required by state election law. Please update the original post to include this information. Metro is probably as eager as anyone to get this going, as their MetroNext plans depend on various items in the I-45 rebuild. She offered examples of voters she no longer felt she could help navigate the vote-by-mail process. However, he is leading by 449 votes, so if you threw out all of the E-Day provisionals, he would still be ahead by 89 votes in his race. She intends to offer competitive pricing of less than 10% of the face amount of the bond to consumers who desire to purchase a bail bond for themselves, or their loved ones charged with a designated offense and qualify for reduced payment terms, the lawsuit continued. Any suggestion that the Harris County Elections Administrators Office lacks transparency is false, it said. As the story notes, Bell County had similar issues with some polling locations and also got a court order allowing locations to remain open until 8 PM, which the AGs office has not opposed. In the roughly 20 months since, officials chipped away at the differences,postponing action on the countys lawsuitand awaiting the federal review, while exploring what changes TxDOT could make to appease concerns. The judges listed as well as Lina have little in their campaign coffers. And facilities are often in communities of color not wealthy, white River Oaks making what has been happening clear environmental racism, state Sen. Borris Miles said. All public comments received by Aug. 8 will be submitted to the commission, including comments fromTuesdays midday virtual public hearing. Estate, Public Like a ritual murder involving tomato and cream cheese? UPDATE: Later in the day I found this Statesman story, which added a few details. She cited the example of barratry, where lawyers unlawfully solicit clients for profit. Pick a favored file format to save the document (.pdf or .docx). Now you can just go somewhere else. 8(lost to Judge Erika Ramirez), Bruce Bain, former candidate for the269th District Court(lost to Judge Cory Sepolio), Michelle Fraga, former candidate for the281st District Court(lost to Judge Christine Weems), Elizabeth Buss, former candidate for theHarris County Criminal Court at Law No. As things stand now, a whole lot of people will be mad at the outcome, whatever it is. Lets see what SCOTx says first and maybe that will clue me in. S.B. Harris County District Clerk - Web - https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com or by US mail - Harris County District Clerk, PO Box 4651, Houston, Tx 77210-4651 Criminal history/Background checks information-involving arrests made by any law enforcement agency within Harris County visit their website. Dan Simons is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. Advise and represent clients in courts, before government agencies, and in private legal matters. The office provides legal counsel to Harris County government, elected officials, and employees, and represents them in civil lawsuits. Located in downtown Houston, the Harris County Attorneys Office represents Harris County government, the Harris County Flood Control District, the Harris County Toll Road Authority, and the Greater Harris County 9-1-1 Emergency Network in all civil matters, including lawsuits. Schools also are required to notify parents when a student has close contact with someone who tests positive for the virus. Theres absolutely no justification for this state and federal law are clear, and nothing has changed about them. 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. 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. The state is expected to quickly appeal the ruling. 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. Forms and Templates - Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library This practice group provides general legal services covering law enforcement, public works, community services, road and building construction, park site planning and development, vendor selection and contract development, agreement preparation for design and engineering services, real property transactions, inter-local agreements with other governmental jurisdictions, Public Information Act requirements, open meetings requirements, and the application of state and federal laws and regulations related to HIV/AIDS programs, the medical examiner, parks and library operations, disaster planning, and emergency management services. Everyone who has closely read the law agrees the ballots are confidential: the Secretary of States Office, counties across the state, and his own office just a month ago. While Ingram was on the stand, Rodriguez presented him with hypothetical interactions between Longoria and voters, asking if she could recommend voting by mail to someone who appeared to qualify. About | Sylvester Turner, Mayor Mayor Sylvester Turner serves as the Executive Officer of the City. If the state cut early voting to just one week, as Hall has proposed, it would affect up to 6.5 million Texans thats how many voted in the first two weeks in 2020. The Bail Bond Board adopted this rule after hearing directly from the families of victims of violent crimes, community organizers, and law enforcement. I still dont see any mention of a decision being handed down. Several of them are considering election contests.. I would quibble with the assertion that Abbott took swift action as you know, Ive been marveling at how long it took him to respond. An essential component of the central counting station is the physical delivery of sealed ballot boxes and access to the central counting station is necessary (for) that process to take place, the filing states. (lost to Judge Manpreet Monica Singh), Mark Goldberg, former candidate forHarris County Criminal Court at Law No. County Judge Lina Hidalgo had little to report after the session but said the county attorneys office is researching options. It is believed that the purpose of these suits is to drag out the cases, have judges dip into personal resources, and be exhausted financially and emotionally by the time of their next race. Giving this much power to a governing minority is the problem here. 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. The group also filed a lawsuit in 2018 obtaining a similar court order in Harris County. The letter, a response to a letter sent by seven Houston-area Congressman urging Buttigieg to not impede the project, was drafted by Stop TxDOT I-45, which formed to oppose the project, along with Air Alliance Houston and 14 environmental, community or left-leaning groups. Litigators travel more than corporate attorneys. Create your US Legal Forms account now and get a lot more samples. Its good to be a Commissioner. County Attorney Christian Menefee and Lone Star lawyers alleged in separate complaints to the EPA earlier this year that the state agency discriminated against Black and Latino residents when they didnt adequately ensure communities would be protected and didnt appropriately seek input from people who arent fluent in English. Judge Jackson is represented by John Raley. Matthew Masterson, who previously served as the Trump administrations top election security official and now is Microsofts director of information integrity, said that Paxtons opinion will make it impossible for election administrators to appropriately ensure that ballots are kept secure. Because the Harris and Travis County district attorneys did not appeal, only Longorias challenge to the civil penalty permitted by the civil-liability provision and the Volunteer Deputy Registrars challenge to the criminal liability imposed under the anti-solicitation provision were at issue in the appeal. I dont know if we will get Constable/JP redistricting, but there are always some interesting primary contests here, and even with the same maps we could have interesting November races in Precincts 4 and 5. today. 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. Sylvia Trevino, Constable Precinct 6 By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Several other provisions of SB 1 have been challenged ina half-dozenlawsuitsby civil rights groups and theBiden administrations Justice Department,includingbans on 24-hour and drive-thru voting, ID requirements for mail-in ballots andprotections for partisan poll watchers. From the inbox, a press release from Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee: Judge David Peeples will preside over the election contest filed by Republican candidate Erin Lunceford to void the results of her race for the 189th District Court in the November 2022 Harris County General Election. Isabel Longoria, the Harris County Elections Administrator, and Cathy Morgan, a Volunteer Deputy Registrar serving in Williams and Travis counties, sued the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, to enjoin enforcement of the civil liability provision, as applied to the anti-solicitation provision. 2023-00936; Mark Montgomery v. Judge Kelley Andrews. 2023-00841; Tami Pierce v. Judge DaSean Jones. City of Houston and Harris County Statements on EPA Order for Union Pacific Contamination Cleanup, Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee Responds to Texas Comptroller, Harris County Attorney Announces Legal Action Against Landfill Expansion. Forms, Real Estate The resulting ability to anticipate the governments case strategy gives us a critical edge over firms that lack this capability. 3 Cause No. Menefee. Think about sending the document to your legal counsel to make certain all things are completed properly. Theres apparently some talk of a compromise, which would need to happen soon, but Ill believe it when I see it. Ellis 40,800 443,116 0 3,543,358 Those challenges do not amount to voter suppression, Stein said, but merely suggest that Harris County should operate fewer, better-resourced polling locations. The root cause of that debate, however, remains unresolved, Hegar said in the statement, referring to the defunding spat from last fall. Forms, Small In 2021, Harris County became the first governmental entity in Texas to file suit against JUUL. Its a complicated story. Justice Jeff Boyd asked Morales-Doyle, Im just not sure why the dispute matters. We have never agreed that these ballots can be part of the final election results, and this afternoon were going to ask that the Texas Supreme Court rule that these late-cast votes should be excluded as Texas law requires.. Usually, federal agents will handle investigative tasks, such as interviewing witnesses or executing search warrants, and then the United States Attorneys Office will rely on those investigative efforts of the federal agents to build a case for trial. Im extremely doubtful that there is a legitimate legal challenge here, Stein said. Justex Please turn on JavaScript and try again. Not all the things we wanted materialized, but that is compromise, said Harris County Pct. 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. Although the scope of Rodriguezs preliminary injunction is limited, the judge dealt the first legal blow to new elections restrictions and voting changes Republican lawmakers enacted last year. What could the letter waiting for me be about? . A ruling by a Harris County judge Friday will allow a recently-approved policy requiring bail bond agents to charge some defendants a 10 percent minimum to start Saturday after a last-minute lawsuit tried to stop it from happening. The agreements are a rare case of a major Texas highway project receiving major changes, prompted by community opposition, after officials had essentially greenlit its construction. Although the ballots were processed, Harris County now intends to include them in the final vote canvass, Christopher Hilton, chief of the Attorney Generals office general litigation division said Monday. They have a goal in mind and this is why they hired a lawyer. I have $15 Million in Zimbabwe dollars locked in a safe. It doesnt make any sense outside of, obviously, cynical partisanship and these targeted actions against Harris County, the most diverse county in the state Mirza said. Bruce Bain is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. PDF RQ-0395-KP - Office of the Attorney General 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.
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