See here for the background and here for the courts order. Interpret laws, rulings, and regulations for individuals and businesses. Given the precedent and given the broad discretion the governor has under that act, hes probably on pretty solid ground, Erben said. While the provisional ballots are included in the official count certified by Commissioners Court, the Supreme Court also is ordering the county to include in the final canvassed results a separate report that details the votes of the later cast votes for each candidate in each race. That way, candidates can determine whether this group of ballots would change the outcome of their race and assess the extent to which further litigation is warranted.. (That lawsuit is now on hold as negotiations continue.) Traditionally, the responsibility of transporting the ballots to the counting station on election night has fallen to election judges, the final task at the end of their 15-hour day. What gives us perspective are the lawyers in our firm who left behind successful careers as federal prosecutors to come and work for us. 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. Because the proceedings are still ongoing, it is too soon to know whether the ability to extend voting hours in the future could be impacted. A public meeting has been scheduled later this month for residents to weigh in on a plant thats been proposed in Simonton, asmall citywest of Houston in rural Fort Bend County. Hani Mirza, legal director of the Texas Civil Rights Projects voting rights program, was part of the team that sought the court order extending voting hours this year. Regardless of the contents, if you're going to attempt to evade service of process, it will not end well for you in the long run. Judge Craft is represented by Steve Kherker. It created a 20-day window of early voting in the late 1980s and expanded it dramatically in the early 1990s to include more locations like shopping malls and grocery stores. Hes going to have to weigh all that.. After spending months at loggerheads, but working on some consensus, the Texas Department of Transportation committed to a handful of concessions, such as increasing the money it will pay the Houston Housing Authority for relocation and development of affordable housing, and assurances to design the project as much within the current freeway footprint as possible. The push to further restrict early voting and mail-in ballots is rooted in former President Donald Trumps continued claim without evidence that the 2020 election was stolen from him largely because of mail-in balloting. For Houston, more than $6 billion of the plans spending centers on I-45, masking it nearly half of the $12.5 billion Houstons TxDOT district has to spend over the next decade. Texas law says that if the ballots legal custodian, typically a local election official, makes unauthorized entry into the secure container containing the voting ballots during the preservation period, or fails to prevent another person from making an unauthorized entry, the custodian has committed a Class A misdemeanor, Bitter wrote. . Ms. Wyatt is represented by Neal Manne. Further, the EAs Office discussed the plan for both May elections with both political parties as early as April 7. Aaron Adams is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. Attorneys for the city and county relied on a dissenting opinion from a judge on the 8th Court of Appeals in a mask mandate case involving El Paso County, Ariens said: that Texas law does not allow the governor to suspend laws giving local governments the ability to respond to public health crises as they see fit. It could all be a moot point by then anyway.. Things are moving in what seems to be a positive direction, said J. Bruce Bugg, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission. See here for the background. It has a chilling effect, Rodriguez said while questioning a state attorney Friday morning. The state is expected to quickly appeal the ruling. 2023-00952; Nile Copeland v. Judge Latosha Lewis Payne. Rodriguez also rejected Paxtons claim that granting the injunction would interfere with the orderly operation of Texas elections. I have no interest in prioritizing those needs over anyone elses. View New York Release of Lien of Estate Tax, View Application for Name Reservation - West Virginia, View Arkansas Registration of Foreign Corporation, View Colorado Foreign Judgment Enrollment. Harris County will continue to follow Texas law, not the Attorney Generals opinion.. I'm a college student making a commute across state lines (to the county the attorney is from) and I have no criminal record or charges in my name. 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. Despite the crisis, St. Marys University School of Law professor Michael Ariens believes the lawsuits ultimate success is a long shot.. Were evaluating the lawsuit and will let the courts sort it out.. As the Harris County Attorney, Christian D. Menefee is the chief civil lawyer for the largest county in Texas. (S or C-Corps), Articles The difference in visions has dogged the project for more than two years, but progress on remaking the freeway hit two large potholes in March 2021, after critics of the widening convinced some local officials to step in andfederal highway officials paused work. My office is going to do everything we can to protect every single vote that was cast. My tuition has been paid in full and I would have imagined the school would have notified me for other fees at this point in time. Former officer Gerald Goines led a raid on the home, which police believed to be a drug den.Jun 21, 2021 Texas should be encouraging election officials to provide voters all the information they need to participate in elections. Area residents had fought the companys application, which was rejected on the grounds that it didnt adequately study the impacts of pollutants. In a handful of cases, no one came to pick up the ballots leading the election judge to take them home or couriers failed to drop them off in a timely manner. TxDOT has yet to adequately respond to community concerns about induced demand the phenomenon by which wider highways make traffic worse, the group Stop TxDOT I-45 said in a statement. There is nothing more reliable in this world than the Fifth Circuit giving Republicans everything they ask for. Another 49 challenges came in after Aug. 10, the 90th day before the election. Harris County Republican Party Chair Cindy Siegel indicated there could be more election contests to come. If even one is bounced, Abbott could appoint a replacement for those in the criminal courts. As to who might file a contest, again well have to see. The main takeaway here is that not only can you not trust anything Paxton says, you also cant trust anything his office says, even if they sign their names to it. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit, though his office opposes the request for an injunction and will respond to that in the future, as well. Googling around, I saw a news item from September about Juul settling with the state of Texas, which was part of a larger class action settlement, and a news item from December about a $1.7 billion settlement of over 5000 lawsuits nationwide. And in response to the recent Court of Criminal Appeals case holding that the Texas Attorney General has no independent authority to prosecute criminal offenses created in the Election Code, they also sued the Harris, Travis, and Williamson County district attorneys to challenge the criminal penalties imposed by the anti-solicitation provision. Federal prosecutors sometimes resemble sharks, because they are frequently unwilling to abandon even fruitless investigations unless they draw some blood. Governors have broad power under the Disaster Act, he said, noting that the state Supreme Court sided with Abbott when Travis County attempted to enact a New Years Eve curfew for restaurants. And of course there can always be election contests. Still, others have been pleasantly surprised when what was once an existential threat is transformed into a manageable inconvenience. Comptroller Hegar misapplied the law, bungled the math, and is acting outside of his legal . 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. In a statement, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said his office will keep a close eye on Luncefords election contest. i know understandably literally nobody is in the mood to hear about primary runoff election night but i am at NRG arena & feel compelled to tell you that so many people are working very hard (here and across the state) to get votes counted tonight, Jen Rice (@jen_rice_) 10:04 PM 24 May 2022. The opinion itself provides little guidance as to how long or for what reasons election administrators can block access to such ballots, leaving administrators across the state concerned about their ability to appropriately comply. They noted many of the details give TxDOT room to renege while others fall short of the changes some neighborhood advocates had sought. Wider highways are not an appropriate or effective intervention to expand commerce opportunities, and they do not expand opportunities for those bearing the greatest burdens of the expansion, more than 15 groups wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, released Tuesday. The Department of Justice haschallengedS.B. We expect TxDOT to uphold its end of this historic agreement, and not only to evaluate the impacts over the next year but to agree to and fund real solutions that address concerns about displacement, pollution, flooding and impacts on the public transportation network, said Harris County Pct. Hes playing a tough game with everybody, but if enough people stand up to him and cause enough of an uproar, hell back down, I think, Flores said. On defining solicitation, because a felony criminal prosecution is possible, Justice Jane Bland asked if the state should limit its meaning to the penal codes definition, which would restrict the term to situations where a public official induces someone to commit a criminal act. in the final count and seeking clarification so that the parties can pursue any legal remedies, if necessary., In a statement Monday, Harris County Attorneys office spokesperson Roxanne Werner said: Representatives from the Attorney Generals office and the Harris County Republican Party asked for the language describing that process to be removed from the agreed order, leaving Harris County to process and count the late ballots as they would other provisional ballots while ensuring they were kept segregated. 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. In a Nov. 29 letter from FHWA Chief Counsel Andrew Rogers, federal officials said recent discussions represent a good start but set parameters for any design work to proceed. However, Gerald Birnberg, an elections attorney and General Counsel to the Harris County Democratic Party, questioned the Secretary of States logic, pointing out that its own office deputizes others to perform certain duties. Abbott may win in court, but that doesnt mean hell get his way, at least not right away. Astros Week: Michael Brantley, AT&T Sports Southwest's Money Problem and Pitch Clock Chaos, Top Draft Prospect Jalen Carter Charged With Reckless Driving and Racing on Day of NFL Combine. I dont care how long it takes some dude to drive into town from The Woodlands. Todays decision allows the threat of criminal prosecution to loom over officials trying to help voters. The other thing is this: because theres enough prosecutorial discretion thats involved, it takes time obviously justice takes time and any sort of delay in court action could be months from now, long after, hopefully, the crisis and the spike in delta has passed. An election judge is the person in charge of running a voting location. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice or gives rise to a solicitor/client relationship. His application of state law is wrong. If granted, the mask mandate would remain in place until trial or until the decision was appealed. Additionally, many letters from the U.S. Attorneys Office will include a blank Business Records Affidavit for the recipient to fill out and have notarized. Name Change, Buy/Sell Contact, who do court appointed attorney work for in michigan, where file florida department of revenue power of attorney, for power of attorney who is the principal and who is the agent, find out how many cases an attorney has won, how to get an out of state power of attorney for car registration tennessee, texas durable power of attorney form 2019 which statute, what k8nd of registered mail letters come from the state attorney, why would i get a letter from harris county attorney. Under state law, ballots should be delivered by either the election judge or an election clerk designated by that judge. This isnt a lawsuit, its an investigation. A-Z, Form The plaintiffs are Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria and Cathy Morgan, a volunteer deputy registrar who assists people with mail-in ballots in Travis and Williamson counties. There will be a lot more litigation over the rest of that law to come. The plaintiffs argue that the provisions violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments because the risk of criminal and civil liability chills speech that encourage[s] voters to lawfully vote by mail. 2023-00936; Mark Montgomery v. Judge Kelley Andrews. Agreements, LLC Obviously, County Attorney Menefee made up his mind since then. Its just chaos intended to give a boost to Big Lie enthusiasts, and as the story notes later on, its potentially a conflict of interest for Paxton since he himself is on the ballot this year, and everyone agrees its likely to be a close race. Verify that the Texas Attorney Vacation Form youre considering is appropriate for your state. The judges listed as well as Lina have little in their campaign coffers. State law requires four members of the court be present to set the property tax rate. After closing the polls, election judges will hand off ballots to law enforcement officers and deputized county staffers, who will drive the equipment to the central counting station at NRG Arena on the judges behalf. Stan Stanart is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. Icsezen did so. Texas has allowed voters 65 and older to vote absentee without needing an excuse since 1975. Instead, the court did not issue an opinion and election night ballot countingproceeded uneventfullyat NRG Arena. Sales, Landlord Specials, Start Thus far, the Harris County Attorneys Office has identified filings by (and we expect more filings to be made today): These filings are in addition to previously announced contests by: Below is the statement from the County Attorney released this morning: This is a shameful attempt by a group of losing candidates who couldnt win the hearts and minds of Harris County voters and are now throwing nonsensical legal theories at the wall to see what sticks. Please give a few bucks if you can and help them all out. If it was just mismanagement, it was just gross incompetence, wouldnt one think that the lack of paper would apply equally and uniformly across the map, so that there would be roughly an equivalent number of Democratic stronghold precinct neighborhoods as well as Republican precinct stronghold neighborhoods? Taylor said. The Texas Election Network website which has minimal information about the organization and does not disclose its leadership lists five objectives, including clean voter rolls and fraud-free absentee ballots. Target letters inform the recipients that they are the target of a federal investigation, which means that the government intends to press civil or criminal charges against that person. The Texas Attorney Generals office is attempting a last-minute intervention to toss out 2,000 provisional ballots before a Harris County Commissioners Court meeting Tuesday to certify the November election. You know what she did? That sort of addresses my question above about the last line in the SCOTx order. None of that will stop the Fifth Circuit from doing what the Republicans ask them to do since thats what they believe their job is, but at least he tried. Did you witness something? I'm clueless as to what this could be about and I apologize if this isn't the best place to ask this question but I'm rather worried at this point. One thing thats clear from the high % of mail ballot app rejections weve seen is officials should be empowered to explain the process and encourage folks to vote by mail. 1 makes it a crime for public officials or election officials to encourage voters to request a mail ballot application, even if the person would be eligible to vote by mail. 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.. Morales-Doyle supported that approach, noting that every criminal solicitation statute that he is aware of applies only to solicitation of criminal conduct. Thats not how a democratic society works. 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. Could be anything from a subpoena to an envelope of glitter. What is troubling everybodyand apparently troubling the attorney general who wants to give a definition of solicitation that Im not aware existing in any criminal codeis the absurd result that someone could be held criminally liable for encouraging their fellow citizen to vote, Morales-Doyle said. Employment law attorneys advise the county, its departments, and its officials regarding proposed policies, procedures, and legal obligations and provide training for management and newly elected officials. Communicate with their clients, colleagues, judges, and others involved in the case. I've been notified of misdemeanor charges through the mail (not certified) and served by process. The contests being filed request that the more than one million votes cast in Harris County be voided and the county hold another election for the races being challenged (e.g., Harris County Judge, 189thDistrict Court, 180thDistrict Court, etc.). An accurate and complete description of the vehicle (license plate, VIN number, year, make, model and color) that you own and desire returned. Look at how zealously they opposed all of the efforts to expand voting access in the pandemic, including the third week of early voting that Greg Abbott ordered. Who is the county attorney Harris County? And theres nothing in the law that prohibits them from being counted, Menefee said. 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. Thats the best I can do. 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. These election contests are frivolous attempts to overturn the votes of more than a million residents in the third largest county in the country. 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. I can't seem to place how this letter pertains to me at all. 2023-00937; Matthew Dexter v. Judge Genesis Draper. The Harris County GOP on Fridaydroppedits lawsuit, filed on the day of last months primary runoff election, challenging the countys plan for counting ballots. . To put it another way, good luck proving intent. We are doing everything we can to move this project forward, James Koch, director of transportation planning and development for TxDOT in Houston, told a North Houston Association luncheon on Wednesday. Mark Goldberg is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. March 1, 2023 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. Litigators travel more than corporate attorneys. January 2022 reports are here, July 2022 reports are here. For suggestions or comments regarding this site please email us at 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. If the name sounds familiar, it may be because Judge Peeples was the jurist who ruled that the abortion bounty hunter law SB8 violated the state constitution last December, though he did not issue a statewide injunction against it. People also can comment online, via phone or at local TxDOT offices. 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 Will, All That included an 88-year-old voter whom Morgan would typically call at the start of every year to remind her that she has to reapply for mail-in ballots. My school is a party school but I'm a commuter student, from a different state in fact. Oh, and if this is one of the final straws that leads to Constable precinct redistricting, I wont complain. In all, the Elections Administrators Office received 115 affidavits, according to Leah Shah, a spokesperson for the elections office. There may be an opinion in the future that addresses that question.. This was separate from all of those, which I confirmed with the County Attorney Office. Anyone who ran into a problem at one location could have gone to another. In his orders, hell suspend two to three laws specifically by name, and then hell say any other laws that could allow a local official to do something inconsistent with what Im doing, Menefee said. The Texas Secretary of States office has disagreed with her interpretation and urged the county to change its plan. If you make a mistake, print out and complete application again (once youve registered an account every document you download is reusable). So if I understand this correctly, the Elections Office could provide these documents on demand, but legally they dont have to until they get an opinion on it from the AGs office. Harris County Attorney January 11, 2021 VIA E-MAIL (opinion.committee@oag.texas.gov) Office of the Attorney General of Texas Attention: Opinion Committee . 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. Random fact: In 2020, Democrat Jane Robinson lost her race for Chief Justice of the 14th Court of Appeals by 1,191 votes out over over 2.3 million cast, a margin of 0.06 percent of the vote.