The Texas Department of Public Safety said last week that it would not perform testing to distinguish between hemp and marijuana in misdemeanor cases.
Department of Public Safety
Posted in
Homeless in Texas
Austin’s homeless residents consider Abbott’s camp helpful but say his tweets still stigmatize them
As the governor latches on to violent incidents to criticize Austin city leaders, people experiencing homelessness say he’s painting them with too broad of a brush.
Posted in
Homeless in Texas
Greg Abbott blames another stabbing on Austin’s homeless policies and ramps up DPS patrols
The Texas governor said DPS will place additional patrols within two blocks of state buildings downtown and around the University of Texas.
Posted in
Marijuana in Texas
He spent a month in Texas jail accused of hauling 3,350 pounds of marijuana. But lab results say it was legal hemp.
The man had told a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper that his truck contained hemp, not weed. He was released from detention after a federal crime lab tested the cargo.
Posted in
Marijuana in Texas
Marijuana prosecutions in Texas have dropped by more than half since lawmakers legalized hemp
After Texas legalized hemp and threw marijuana prosecution into chaos last year, prosecutors filed far fewer criminal charges, police departments paid for private testing and public crime labs were struggling to catch up.
Posted inState Government
Arrest warrant issued for state Rep. Poncho Nevárez after he was caught on tape dropping envelope with cocaine
The document says that the envelope had Nevárez’s official House seal and held “four small clear baggies” containing a substance found to include cocaine.
Posted in
Homeless in Texas
As Texas gets ready to clear some Austin highway encampments, Gov. Abbott and Mayor Adler at odds over homeless residents
The governor’s decision to force homeless people from under state overpasses drew the ire of city leaders and homelessness experts, who criticized Abbott’s “fear-based approach.”
Posted in
Demographics
Texas considering whether to hand driver’s license, citizenship information to Census Bureau
The Texas Department of Public Safety received a request for the information earlier this month but has taken no action.
Posted inState Government
Troopers have sued the Texas Department of Public Safety over a waist size policy. Commissioners say the policy is needed.
The DPS officers’ association sued the agency over a new policy to measure a trooper’s physical readiness for the job not only by fitness tests, but by waist size. Thursday, the Public Safety Commission decided the policy is scientifically sound.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
After two Texas mass shootings, Greg Abbott wants to strengthen a vague network officials won’t discuss
The governor’s executive orders after shootings in El Paso and West Texas are meant to address gun violence without gun control. But a Department of Public Safety network he tapped says it needs more resources — and is remaining mum on how it operates.
