letter from harris county attorney

If the state cut early voting to just one week, as Hall has proposed, it would affect up to 6.5 million Texans thats how many voted in the first two weeks in 2020. If you open up the floodgates and give anyone access to the ballots throughout that process, you have broken that chain of custody to the point where you would not be able to prove that this was the ballot a given voter cast, Masterson said. Both parties had the opportunity to ask questions, review the chain of custody document, and raise issues. Sartaj Bal is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. Did I mention that the Republicans opposed the extension of voting hours in Harris County (and not in red-voting Bell County, which also had voting location issues), and also opposed the counting of provisional ballots cast by people who voted after 7 PM? 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. 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 fee cant be lowered due to appearance of impropriety issues. Bruce Bain is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. I do hope the County Attorneys Office keeps an eye on this activity, because we know its ill-intentioned bullshit and it deserves to be closely scrutinized. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar on Friday accused Harris County of defunding law enforcement,rekindling a feudfrom last fallin which Republican state officialsthreatened to blockthe countys annual budget. So, until I hear otherwise, it is my contention that these provisional ballots are not enough to alter any races result, and also that this doesnt matter because all of the ballots should be counted. The Harris County Attorney's Office fights for the interests of Harris County through the civil justice system to preserve access to clean air and water; ensure safe, healthy neighborhoods; protect consumers against fraud, exploitation, and other bad acts; and defend voting rights. Adrian Garcia, County Commissioner, Precinct 2 Im disappointed to see another losing candidate challenging the results of their election. The county attorneys office did not respond to a request for more information about the requests, including who submitted them. However, the hyperlink for that case didnt work when I tried it, and searching for the case via that number returned no results. Earlier on Thursday, County Attorney Christian Menefee filed a lawsuit challenging Gov. Ramsey 550,625 149,433 0 944,935 As shown by Attorney General . While Ingram was on the stand, Rodriguez presented him with hypothetical interactions between Longoria and voters, asking if she could recommend voting by mail to someone who appeared to qualify. Oh, and the second place where there might be a Democratic primary fight worth watching is in Precinct 1. Isabel Longoria, the Harris County Elections Administrator, and Cathy Morgan, a Volunteer Deputy Registrar serving in Williams and Travis counties, sued the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, to enjoin enforcement of the civil liability provision, as applied to the anti-solicitation provision. 2 Cause No. 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. Menefee said Harris County had received more than three dozen requests to inspect ballots since Paxton issued his opinion. It is highly likely that a lawsuit will result. Gonzalez 0 4,032 0 9,258 Thats what we need to aim for. Judge Finch is represented by Anthony Drumheller. As the district court already determined, this law is unconstitutional and prevents election officials from encouraging people to vote by mail, including our seniors, our neighbors with disabilities, and our active-duty service members. Details big and small remain works in progress and a federal pause looms as the last big hurdle, for now, as officials move ahead after last months agreements. These losing candidates should move on too.. Harris County Attorney January 11, 2021 VIA E-MAIL (opinion.committee@oag.texas.gov) Office of the Attorney General of Texas Attention: Opinion Committee . A target letter is another type of letter that can be issued from the United States Attorneys Office. Think about sending the document to your legal counsel to make certain all things are completed properly. City of Houston and Harris County Statements on EPA Order for Union Pacific Contamination Cleanup, Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee Responds to Texas Comptroller, Harris County Attorney Announces Legal Action Against Landfill Expansion. The lawyers job is to protect the opposing partys interests Hiring a lawyer after receiving a letter is an excellent option. The midnight update had about 98% of ballots counted on the Dem side and about 95% on the GOP side 70,016 of 72,796 Dem votes and 105,486 of 116,100 GOP votes. Contractors, Confidentiality Comptroller Hegar misapplied the law, bungled the math, and is acting outside of his legal . While most criminal cases are handled in state courts rather than in federal courts, the types of criminal cases prosecuted by the United States Attorneys Office include white collar fraud, Medicare fraud, drug trafficking, tax evasion, and immigration crimes. Incorporation services, Living Michelle Fraga is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. This law was created to combat alleged voter fraud that we know does not exist, and instead hinders the ability to properly encourage seniors and voters with disabilities to exercise their right to vote by mail, saidChristian Menefee, the County Attorney for Harris County, Texas. Metro is probably as eager as anyone to get this going, as their MetroNext plans depend on various items in the I-45 rebuild. Federal and state law require that ballots be kept secure for 22 months after an election to allow for recounts and challenges a time frame Texas counties have had set in place for decades. The Press has more. Its not clear to me where things are procedurally with this litigation and remember, there are a bunch of other cases as well but in this matter the Fifth Circuit wanted to get some clarity on state law before doing whatever it has on its docket to do. Lawyers, please feel free to correct me as needed. Nothing else of great interest in this group Id expect both Ed Gonzalez and Christian Menefee to start posting bigger numbers soon. But hey, lawsuits are time- and resource-intensive, and they often end in settlements anyway, so why not give this a try. Dockets. Privacy | So it doesnt speak to who has to drive to meet the other person to do so, Longoria said. Now you can just go somewhere else. If the case moves quickly, and the Texas Supreme Court vacates the temporary restraining order, chaos could ensue, Taylor said. Somebody has to be in the kitchen, or else were all on the menu, he said during a Dec. 8 panel discussion with federal highway officials and local opponents. Please update if/when you open the letter. 14 Cause No. Amendments, Corporate 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. Business Packages, Construction Judges cant take pro bono help to defend selves. Morales-Doyle supported that approach, noting that every criminal solicitation statute that he is aware of applies only to solicitation of criminal conduct. Menefee told the Houston Chronicle Tuesday evening that he believes the July 29 order violates the Texas Disaster Act of 1975, which he said grants the governor the power limited authority to suspend laws. Hidalgos order requires students, teachers, staff and visitors to K-12 schools and daycare centers to wear face coverings. Id like to see enough of the concerns raised by the plan opponents be addressed in a way that theyre willing to let the project move forward. On rebuttal, Pettit argued that sanctionable solicitation is not limited to criminal inducement. It also doesnt matter whether the regular Republicans support this madness or not. Radack 0 71,246 0 794,652, You still have time to donate to the Democratic judges legal fund, Phony Defunding Claims II: Electric Boogaloo, Houston furniture magnate Jim Mattress Mack McIngvale, November 2022 election, adding to an array of GOP litigation. I have $15 Million in Zimbabwe dollars locked in a safe. Forms, Small At a May 11 hearing with the state House Elections Committee to address delayed election results, Longoria argued the plan utilizing law enforcement officers and deputized staffers is in compliance with Texas law. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee says the county is not releasing the ballots, arguing the opinion Paxton issued in the name of election integrity last week runs afoul of the law. . Even in the case of the loser who lost to DaSean Jones by 449 votes, its extremely hard to imagine there could have been enough people who encountered problems and could not vote anywhere else and would have voted for the loser to make a difference. [Paxtons office wants] to throw a monkey wrench into the operations of vote counting, especially if they think they might lose, and Paxton is in a close race as far as I can tell, said Linda Eads, a professor at Southern Methodist Universitys Dedman School of Law and a former deputy attorney general for litigation for the state of Texas. right-of-way is an excellent plan but we can't even fix the existing bike trail along White Oak Bayou which the Harris County . Forms, Small As the project has lingered, and faced opposition, some have argued it is forcing TxDOT to take a harder line, jeopardizing some of the gains. 5(lost to Judge David Fleischer), Chris Daniel, former candidate for Harris County District Clerk (lost to Marilyn Burgess), Erin Lunceford, former candidate for the 189, Tami Pierce, former candidate for the180th District Court(lost to Judge DaSean Jones), Alexandra Mealer, former candidate for Harris County Judge (lost to Judge Lina Hidalgo), Mike May, former candidate for State Representative District 135 (lost to Representative Jon Rosenthal). The initial request for a temporary restraining order was denied on Friday, and there will be a hearing for a temporary injunction on May 6. I have $15 Million in Zimbabwe dollars locked in a safe. 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. Work demands keep most lawyers in private practice from frequent or lengthy vacations. Provides legal advice to the Commissioners Court and to other elected officials. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said the county would challenge Hegars finding in court if necessary. Thats the subject of the following email I got in my inbox yesterday, and I cant do any better than that for a post title. In 2022, the county passed a shortened seven-month budget that was in effect until the new schedule began in October. The opinion has already impacted elections administrators across the state, who told Votebeat that theyve seen an onslaught of requests since Paxton released it. Not to my knowledge. The clerk told me I had wrote a bad check for $16.00 and with Attorny Fee's it's now $86.00 shocked to hear the charge..I asked for details on the check she said she can't not give me that info only as to the business name who sent check to them. Adding sidewalks and bike amenities to areas where TxDOThas committed to trying to reduce the number of properties it will take. ====================================================== The EPAs civil rights compliance arm announced the investigation last Wednesday. If you see it clear to forward me $1000 to cover the locksmith, I will egarly give you 20% of any monies recoverd.". Well see him in court.. Copyright 2022 Attorney-FAQ.com | version 5.1.20 (commit d0adbc) Laravel v 8.83.26 | (PHP v8.1.16), Home (current) | Fortunately, we know how to handle these types in fact, many of our clients have been shocked to learn that their investigations have been closed with zero civil or criminal liability. And every voter who might have been discouraged by issues at one location could have gone to another one, which would have been at most a couple of minutes away by car. 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. On January 7, 2021, I filed with the Harris County Clerk's Office an affidavit disclosing my . Mealer 356,684 621,482 0 188,512 But, the judge noted, Longoria and Morgan do not work for the state. Harris County assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly as a result of errors, omissions or discrepancies. According to the petition filed Monday night,Wayne Dolcefino, a media consultant and former TV journalist,submitted multiple requests for public information on behalf of the Gallery Furniture owner, who was a major donor supporting Republican candidates including County Judge LinaHidalgos opponent Alexandra del Moral Mealer. The only reason we know any of this is because Paxton put out a whiny press release complaining about his inability to get a Montgomery County grand jury to give him what he wanted. Texas Supreme Court justices questioned during oral argument if they should answer certified questions from a federal appeals court about challenges to an election law that created penalties for soliciting voters to use mail-in ballots. County Judge Lina Hidalgo had little to report after the session but said the county attorneys office is researching options. Adding to the confusion, Hegar and the county are separately at odds over Heaps current budget, which was adopted by the Democratic-controlled Commissioners Court last fall. Alan Rosen had his eye on the Sheriffs office back when Ed Gonzalez was a nominee for head of ICE, but thats off the table now. How TxDOT will rebuild Interstate 69 beneath Metropolitan Transit Authoritys Red Line light rail in Midtown while keeping the trains moving as much as possible. Tami Pierce is representing herself with co-counsel, Paul Simpson. 2022-79328; Erin Lunceford v. Judge Tami Craft. See here for the background. This anti-solicitation provision of SB 1 not only makes it harder for these folks vote, but it criminalizes the constitutionally protected free speech of the Harris County Elections Administrator and violates the First Amendment., S.B. The opinion from Paxton doesnt carry the force of law, but experts say it will almost certainly serve as the basis for a lawsuit by right-wing activists. Proper: For each employer for whom you have worked within the past five years, documents evidencing the name and address of each officer, director, or manager of those employers and documents evidencing each persons position. What hes doing is not helping in furtherance of coping with the disaster, Menefee said. That, coupled with $27 million in affordable housing assistance TxDOT must provide to make up for lost apartments and homes, will allow many residents to stay in the area despite risk of gentrification, said Tanya DeBose, executive director of the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council, in a video about the project produced by TxDOT. Are there more parks like Fairfield Lake out there? Were bringing real money to the county to ensure were protecting our youth from e-cigarette use, said Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee. In a 4-1 vote, the court authorized County Attorney Christian Menefee to pursue a lawsuit against the comptrollers office. Agreements, Letter Abbott is exceeding his authority under the state Disaster Act of 1975, Menefee argued, which the county attorney said allows the governor to suspend laws in only narrow circumstances. A decision by a dissenting [opinion] of the court, while sometimes correct, Ariens said, is not as helpful as a decision from a majority of the court., But getting the temporary restraining order granted in the first place puts San Antonio and Bexar County in a stronger position, he said, as it allowed the city to get a mask mandate in place in public schools and public facilities. As the Harris County Attorney, Christian D. Menefee is the chief civil lawyer for the largest county in Texas. The challenges were first reported by The New York Times, which found the affidavits disputed the eligibility of more than 6,000 voters. Mark Goldberg is represented by Elizabeth Alvarez. Theres absolutely no justification for this state and federal law are clear, and nothing has changed about them. 1, Longoria, Morgan, and other election officials and election workers across Texas can be imprisoned for a minimum of six months and fined up to $10,000 if they encourage a voter to apply for a mail ballot application. The reality is that if communication is ignored, the party who received the letter can be fairly certain that they will end up in court. For suggestions or comments regarding this site please email us at Voters have moved on. Like a ritual murder involving tomato and cream cheese? Usually, federal agents will handle investigative tasks, such as interviewing witnesses or executing search warrants, and then the United States Attorneys Office will rely on those investigative efforts of the federal agents to build a case for trial. I wish the stories that have been published about this would go into more detail about this as I have done yes, I know, math is hard, but you could at least use highly unlikely language to offer some context. The new rule is at odds with how Claiborne, whose license the board renewed ahead of the most-recent vote, plans to conduct her business, according to the court documents. Judge Weems is represented by John Raley. That came one day after Paxton petitioned the Supreme Court to toss the late-cast ballots. Just to review the timeline a bit, the federal order to halt I-45 construction did indeed come one year ago, a couple of weeks after Harris County sued TxDOT over many of the previously expressed concerns about the project. Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee Tuesday denied Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegars announcement that county officials are attempting to resolve the defunding claims Hegar made earlier this month. Maybe Judge Hidalgo can call on the Sheriff to pick up the wayward Commissioners and haul them into the meeting room so that the legal requirement of at least four members being present can be met? Briones 819,495 331,782 0 667,234 From the inbox, a press release from Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee: Judge David Peeples will preside over the election contest filed by Republican candidate Erin Lunceford to void the results of her race for the 189th District Court in the November 2022 Harris County General Election. The election has been certified by Commissioners Court, which if nothing else avoids the drama of any further delays.

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