The State Auditor’s Office is investigating whether state Rep. Dawnna Dukes improperly required her legislative staffers to participate in work for a nonprofit group that she founded, a Capitol source told The Texas Tribune on Friday.
Criminal Justice
Get the latest Texas Tribune coverage on criminal justice, including crime, courts, law enforcement, and reforms shaping the state’s justice system.
Posted in
Bordering on Insecurity
Houston Sheriff Still Shielding Killer’s Record
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has decided to keep secret its investigative files on a Mexican national whose 2015 shooting spree in Houston left two people dead and three injured.
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Criminal Justice
Court of Criminal Appeals Candidates Emphasize Experience
Although the Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest criminal court in the state — and it deals with a number of hot-button issues including the death penalty — its nine judges don’t attract much attention. That can make campaigning for a seat on the court difficult.
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Criminal Justice
Bongs and Fruitcakes Infuse Central Texas Republican House Race
Fourteen years after first being elected to the Texas House, state Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, faces what some consider his toughest re-election battle to date.
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Criminal Justice
Trooper in Sandra Bland Case Set for Arraignment
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Brian Encinia’s arraignment on a perjury charge related to his arrest of Sandra Bland will be held in March, the Waller County District Clerk’s office confirmed.
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
Faces of Death Row App Gets an Update
Mark Anthony Gonzalez arrived on death row last week after being convicted in the shooting death of Bexar County Sheriff Sgt. Kenneth Vann. With his arrival and the executions of Richard Masterson and James Freeman in January, there are now 252 people in Texas living with a death sentence.
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Criminal Justice
As Supreme Court Prepares to Hear Historic Immigration Case, Texas Explains its Strategy
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a case challenging President Barack Obama’s executive order on illegal immigration, the two top lawyers for Texas spoke to the Tribune about what the state is fighting for.
Posted in
Bordering on Insecurity
Indicted Border Patrol Agent has Two Birth Certificates
In an unusual twist to an already unusual case, federal immigration authorities are questioning the nationality of a U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of capital murder and drug cartel ties in deep South Texas.
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Criminal Justice
As Feds Plan to Cut Surveillance at Border, Texas Officials Demand Explanation
Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, pressed the Department of Homeland Security on Monday to explain why the agency plans to reduce its aerial surveillance on the Texas-Mexico border.
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Criminal Justice
Man Who Killed Texas Game Warden Executed
James Garrett Freeman shot and killed Justin Hurst, a game warden, following a high-speed chase in 2007. He was executed Wednesday evening, the second execution in Texas this year.
