Tag Archives: Mark Herman

July 2023 campaign finance reports: Harris County

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Previously: Congress SD15 City of Houston, part 1 January 2023 reports are here. Not all of these people are on the 2024 ballot. I am not including JPs and County Court candidates. Some potential opponents have already filed finance reports, … Continue reading →

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January 2023 campaign finance reports: Harris County

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Previously: City of Houston January 2022 reports are here, July 2022 reports are here. I did not get around to doing the 30-day and 8-day reports from 2022, so what you see here in these reports is not contiguous for … Continue reading →

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Comptroller caves on phony “defunding” claim

Posted on September 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

In the end, he folded like a lawn chair. Harris County is moving through the process of passing a fiscal 2023 budget with a 1 percent dip in the property tax rate, after the specter of the state blocking its … Continue reading →

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Harris County approves the option of suing Comptroller over baloney “defunding” claim

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Harris County Commissioners Court on Wednesday authorized a pair of private law firms to sue Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who accused the county of defunding law enforcement last week, forcing a halt to consideration of its $2.2 billion budget. … Continue reading →

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Harris County looks to sue over Comptroller’s BS “defunding” claim

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Tell it to the judge. Harris County Commissioners Court this week is expected to hire an outside law firm to take legal action against the state and Comptroller Glenn Hegar, who accused the county of defunding law enforcement in violation … Continue reading →

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The Constables’ and Comptroller’s ridiculous complaint

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

This is transparent bullshit. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar this week accused Harris County commissioners of defunding local constables and threatened to prevent the county from implementing its proposed 2023 budget if the county does not reverse course. In a letter … Continue reading →

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Tesla crash update

Posted on May 11, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Interesting. Federal investigators on Monday released their preliminary assessment of a deadly crash in Spring involving a Tesla, though many details of the incident remain under scrutiny, including whether anyone was in the driver’s seat at the time of the … Continue reading →

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Tesla disputes official account of that autopilot crash

Posted on May 1, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Can’t say I’m surprised. Tesla officials are disputing numerous assertions of local police related to a recent deadly crash in the Spring area, reiterating statements by founder Elon Musk that autopilot was not engaged on the vehicle. Further, company officials … Continue reading →

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The current status on local police reform efforts

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Well, the budget amendment process didn’t do much. City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved Mayor Sylvester Turner’s $5.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year, slightly increasing funds for the Houston Police Department even as some cities are under pressure … Continue reading →

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Where the primary action is

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

It’s on the Democratic side in Harris County. This should come as a surprise to no one. The crowded Harris County Democratic primary field reflects a new reality in Houston politics: With the county turning an even darker shade of … Continue reading →

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About that lost evidence

Posted on November 13, 2017 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry about that. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has sent notices to lawyers in 10,000 closed criminal cases that evidence, which was kept in storage, may have been lost or destroyed between 2007 and 2016. The bulk of the … Continue reading →

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Endorsement watch: First, reform the office

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has almost as much to say about the office of Constable as it does about the candidates for Constable that they prefer. Harris County needs to bring these law enforcement fiefdoms in line: Update precincts to equalize populations, … Continue reading →

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It’s not just Precinct 4

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

There are problems with evidence rooms in other Constable precincts as well. With Harris County’s Precinct 4 Constable’s Office mired in scandal over the improper destruction of 21,000 pieces of evidence, serious evidence cataloging and control problems also have been … Continue reading →

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Internal report on Precinct 4 evidence destruction

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The more you look, the worse it appears. One of the first hints of anything awry in the Precinct 4 property room came in an email from evidence manager Christopher T. Hess. Harris County District Attorney “Investigator Kerry Gillie called … Continue reading →

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More on the Precinct 4 evidence destruction scandal

Posted on September 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Lots of cases have been compromised. District Attorney Devon Anderson’s office first learned in April that the mistaken destruction of evidence in Harris County’s Precinct 4 had likely compromised more than a thousand criminal cases, including more than 400 in … Continue reading →

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The Precinct 4 evidence destruction debacle

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

What the heck is going on here? The Harris County Precinct 4 deputy who was fired after destroying evidence in hundreds of pending criminal cases this year has been wrongfully tossing evidence without following department protocol since 2007, Constable Mark … Continue reading →

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New Precinct 4 Constable chosen

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Now that Ron Hickman is Sheriff, that left a vacancy in his old job as Precinct 4 Constable. Commissioners Court has now filled that vacancy. At a special meeting Tuesday morning Harris County Commissioners Court selected Mark Herman, assistant chief … Continue reading →

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