Criticism builds for Texas DPS decision to lay off 117 older officers
The Texas Department of Public Safety is feeling the heat over a budget-related decision to lay off 117 officers serving in a retire/rehire program. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety recruit graduation class on April 7th, 2011 in Austin, Texas]()
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Texas Lt. Gov. Patrick wants AG Paxton to look into San Antonio immigrant smuggling case
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to look into a December human smuggling case in San Antonio. Patrick wants to know if how the chief of the San Antonio Police Department handled the case violated Texas' immigration enforcement law. Full Story
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![Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick speaks at a press conference after the state Senate adjourned sine die on Tuesday night, August 15, 2017.]()
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Texas will give out enough bulletproof vests to equip 40 percent of police in the state
Harris County and Houston top the list of hundreds of Texas law enforcement agencies set to receive bulletproof vests from a state grant. Full Story
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We're reporting on sexual harassment in Texas workplaces. Share your story — confidentially — with us.
The Texas Tribune has been reporting on sexual misconduct at the Texas Legislature, but now we're seeking stories beyond the Capitol. Share your story of Texas workplace harassment with us confidentially. Full Story
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Relatives report inadequate heating at more than 30 Texas prisons
Relatives of inmates have reported that more than 30 Texas prisons lacked adequate heating during the state's recent cold snap. A Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman said Wednesday that all prison units were “operating with adequate heating.” Full Story
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How renting furniture in Texas can land you in jail
Reread this investigation by the Tribune and NerdWallet into the rent-to-own industry, which has a special tool in Texas law that lets it file criminal charges when customers don't pay their debts — while other businesses have to use civil remedies. Full Story
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![Maribel Walker rented bedroom and living room furniture in April 2015. When she forgot to make payments and failed to return the furniture for more than a year, she was arrested, jailed and now faces felony prosecution.]()
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Heat and a hurricane had a big impact on Texas criminal justice in 2017
Weather-related prison evacuations, legal battles over execution drugs and death sentences, and reform efforts at the Texas Legislature led the state's criminal justice headlines in 2017. Full Story
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![Inmates shuffle past new fans in the Darrington prison's main hallway on a hot July day.]()
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Texas leads the nation in executions, but its death row population is dropping
Texas executed more people than any other state this year, but fewer new death sentences has led to a shrinking death row population. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott asks Texas Rangers to investigate sexual abuse at youth lockups
Gov. Greg Abbott wants the Texas Rangers to investigate sexual abuse at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott gives a briefing to the media regarding Hurricane Harvey at the DPS command center in Austin, Texas, on August 25, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
This Texas lawmaker could finish his term from jail
State Rep. Ron Reynolds recently lost his appeal to a 2016 conviction of five misdemeanor ambulance-chasing charges. If his last effort to have his conviction overturned fails, he faces a yearlong jail sentence. Full Story
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![Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, during a House Environmental Regulations Committee meeting on April 16, 2013.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera -
Former Texas judge accused of sexually assaulting teen for years
A lawsuit filed this fall alleges that Paul Pressler, a former state judge, lawmaker and leader on the religious right, repeatedly sexually assaulted a young man over a period of decades, beginning when the boy was just 14. Full Story
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![Paul Pressler, retired justice of the Texas 14th Circuit Court of Appeals.]()
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District attorney who prosecuted Jeff Wood now wants him off death row
The prosecutor in the death penalty case of a man who didn't kill anyone has asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to change his sentence to life in prison. Full Story
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![Supporters of Jeff Wood gathered on July 23, 2016, in front of the Governor's Mansion to rally against his scheduled August execution.]()
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With border arrests down, some question Trump's push for more agents
The Department of Homeland Security’s announced a near-record decline in the number of people caught trying to enter the country illegally. Yet the Trump administration still wants to hire thousands of more border agents. Full Story
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![Customs and Border Protection agents constantly patrol wide gravel roads along the border fence. The traffic — which has increased as border enforcement budgets have soared — is another threat to border wildlife, according to scientists and conservationists.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Three women indicted in death of impaired woman in state facility
Five months after the death of a severely disabled woman in a state facility, three employees have been indicted on felony murder charges. Full Story
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Texas prisons ban over 10,000 books. An Israeli diplomat wants to know why Hitler’s "Mein Kampf" is allowed.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice often takes heat for the books that are banned in state prisons. But the controversy escalated this week when Israel’s general consul to the Southwestern U.S. questioned why Mein Kampf isn't on the list. Full Story
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Texas senators discuss closing youth lockups amid sexual abuse scandal
Several state senators indicated at a Tuesday committee hearing that they would be open to closing at least some of Texas' five remaining remote lockups for committed youth. Full Story
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![State Sens. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Royce West, D-Dallas, at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Dec. 5, 2017.]()
Credit: Marjorie Kamys Cotera for The Texas Tribune -
Two Gainesville youth lockup guards arrested over alleged abuse
Two guards at a Texas lockup for minors were arrested last week after allegedly abusing youths in custody, according to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Full Story
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Texas reform advocates want to close all state-run youth lockups
Juvenile justice reform advocates want all the state's youth lockups closed after the department's latest sexual misconduct scandal. Full Story
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What's happening in Harris County now that the sheriff issues bail bonds?
The burden of a federal court order mandating the free release of poor misdemeanor defendants from jail has fallen onto the Harris County Sheriff. County data shows more than 40 percent of the sheriff's bonds fail because defendants aren't showing up to court, but critics say that number doesn't tell the whole story. Full Story
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![The Harris Co. Sheriff's Office and Detention Facility in Houston.]()
Credit: Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune -
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halts state's last execution of 2017
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped the state's last remaining execution of 2017, sending the San Antonio case back to court to resolve claims of false testimony at trial. Full Story
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