Several top local Democrats are seeking to fit one more candidate of their choice in the already crowded race for the party’s nomination for Travis County sheriff. A professional draft campaign is underway to build buzz for Constable Sally Hernandez’s potential candidacy if she decides to join the four other candidates seeking the office. “Our purpose is […]
Travis County Sheriff
Sally Hernandez
Posted inElections
Sheriff candidates turn cold on ICE
A candidate for the Democratic nomination for Travis County sheriff publicly declared his opposition last night to a controversial partnership with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. John Sisson told a packed house at Polvos restaurant on South First Street that he would end incumbent Sheriff Greg Hamilton’s policy of complying with ICE requests […]
Posted inPolice, Travis County
Hamilton upset over county’s handling of report
Tuesday’s Travis County Commissioners Court voting session turned from sanguine to nearly sour when a stern Sheriff Greg Hamilton showed up to speak on the day’s final item, a report that would steer more money into an ongoing re-examination of the county’s adult correctional system. The first phase of the two-part analysis cost $461,310 and […]
Posted inPublic Safety, Travis County
County postpones Correctional System master plan
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt has temporarily halted preliminary steps toward a new County Correctional System master plan. At Tuesday’s Commissioners Court voting session, Eckhardt agreed to delay a vote on whether to proceed to the second part of a two-phase process after Commissioner Gerald Daugherty insisted on hearing from one critically important stakeholder: the […]
Posted inTravis County
Sheriff Hamilton addresses Secure Communities
A special briefing on how President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration is changing local law enforcement policies left several questions unanswered Thursday at a Travis County Commissioners Court work session. Sheriff Greg Hamilton updated the commission on the new trends his office has seen since the president announced the end of the Secure Communities […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety, Texas State Legislature
GOP wants to restore Secure Communities program
A recent agreement between the City of Austin and Travis County over booking services at the county jail could be in jeopardy if congressional Republicans succeed in reversing President Obama’s executive orders on immigration policy. House Republicans voted out a bill Wednesday to fund the Homeland Security department that would defund the president’s immigration program. […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety, Texas State Legislature, Travis County
Obama immigration plan may end city-county tiff
It may have taken an executive order, but President Barack Obama seems to have headed off a dispute between the City of Austin and Travis County. The long-standing controversy involving Sheriff Greg Hamilton’s participation in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Secure Communities program may soon be over. Under Secure Communities, Travis County Jail officials cooperated […]
Posted inLocal Government, Public Safety, Travis County
Judge-elect Eckhardt takes aim at jail video system
Incoming Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt says one of the many items on her “to-do” list when she takes office in January is to take on the county jail’s policy of limiting almost all family visits with inmates to a video conferencing system. Eckhardt says she would like to restore face-to-face visits. Eckhardt, elected last […]
Posted inLocal Government, Police, Public Safety, Travis County
Report: County jail needs better medical facilities
Travis County’s correctional facilities have an adequate number of beds to handle its jail’s projected population for the next two decades, but current facilities for inmates with medical and mental health needs are acutely inadequate. That was among the key findings of a System Needs Analysis and Master Plan Update for the Travis County Adult […]
Posted inLocal Government, Public Safety
Lawsuit says sheriff’s office, phone vendor violating inmates’ rights
A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses several local law enforcement agencies with violating defendants’ constitutional rights by listening in on conversations between inmates at the Travis County jail and their lawyers and using that information to gain a conviction. The Texas Civil Rights Project filed the suit, naming the Travis County Sheriff’s Department, telephone […]
Posted inLocal Government, Local Politics, Public Safety, Uncategorized
Sheriff’s office defends no in-person jail visitation policy
Officials with the Travis County Sheriff’s Department defended their policy Tuesday of limiting family visits with Travis County Jail inmates to a for-profit video visitation system, saying that the change in policy was for security reasons and that video visitation is a “best practice” in the criminal justice industry. The presentation was requested by […]
Posted inLocal Government, Public Safety, Uncategorized
Civil rights groups: Video jail visits too costly, may be violating civil rights
A two-way video conferencing system that has all but replaced in-person visits by friends and family members with those incarcerated at the Travis County Jail is coming under fire as being too expensive, too impersonal and possibly even dangerous to an inmate’s health. Critics are also concerned about the possibility that attorney-client conversations are being […]