CITY & COUNTY
Top city & county stories to watch in 2023
Hays County Public Defender’s O ce shaping up for 2023 launch
BY ZARA FLORES
NDS will take on the equivalent of 1,434 misdemeanor cases annually over the next ve years, according to the contract, wherein a misde- meanor counts as one misdemeanor case and a felony counts as 1.87 misdemeanor cases. The focus for NDS will be to take on cases in which the defendant may have a mental illness, which is determined through the Sandra Bland Act. The Sandra Bland Act, also known as Article 16.22 of the Code of Crimi- nal Procedure, provides the protocol to take when an individual has been arrested and shows signs of mental illness or an intellectual disability. The 16.22 evaluations take place after the initial booking process is complete. If the evaluation establishes any reasonable cause, the magistrate may require the individual to undergo more medical assessments and may require the individual to be transferred to a mental health facility. NDS is in the process of seeking sta and a physical location to rent. The o ce is expected to be up and running by spring.
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM Neighborhood Defender Service Inc. will serve as the public defender’s o ce in Hays County, aimed at tackling mental health-related cases and providing a defense to those who cannot a ord it.
HAYS COUNTY The county will nally have a public defender’s o ce after a yearslong uphill battle to make it a reality. The county was initially denied funding in early 2019 for the o ce, and it was not until more than a year later that the county was able to come up with the funding for it. The county received $44.7 million of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds under the American Rescue Plan Act, of which $5 million was approved August 2021 for the o ce; after the initial $5 million runs out, the commissioners will need to plan for o ce funding during the annual budget process. In May, the commissioners selected Neighborhood Defender Service Inc. to take on the o ce, and in Novem- ber, the contract was approved. NDS has o ces in Harlem, New York; Detroit, Michigan; San Antonio; and soon, Hays County, where the team will provide legal counsel to those who cannot a ord it. The philosophy of NDS is to utilize its resources to address the underlying issues that have brought clients into the criminal legal system.
1. A CRIME IS COMMITTED
A person is arrested and is read their rights which include, “if you cannot a ord an attorney, one will be appointed to you.” Despite the county not having a public defender’s o ce, the county does have indigent defense with a rotation of private attorneys. A person charged with a misdemeanor punishable by jail time or any felony is eligible for a court-appointed attorney through indigent defense if their family income does not exceed 125% of federal poverty guidelines.
2. AN INDIVIDUAL IS THEN BOOKED AND SCREENED This is when a 16.22 evaluation would take place. A prosecutor decides whether to formally charge the individual.
A. If charged, a person is then scheduled for an arraignment; an individual pleads guilty, not guilty or no contest.
B. If applicable, an
C. If not applicable, an individual will wait for their trial in jail.
individual can post bail to be released from jail while they await trial.
As of Jan. 11, 85% of the Hays County jail population was being held pretrial. The median length of stay for those held pretrial is 112 days.
SOURCES: BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS, HAYS COUNTY, VERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE COMMUNITY IMPACT
Certi cation to repeal contract between police and city goes forward
BY ZARA FLORES & ERIC WEILBACHER
transparency and discipline issues within the San Marcos Police Department. “The community members who signed our petition are demanding police accountability and transparency; they want, at the very least, for o cers to be held to a standard equal to the rest of us. We now call on the city council to honor this petition by repealing the Meet & Confer Contract and to begin renegotiations immediately—this time including all 5 Hartman Reforms—rather than wasting time and resources on an unnecessary May election,” Mano Amiga Communications Director Sam Benavides said in a statement. The Hartman Reforms were named after former SMPD Sgt. Ryan Hartman, who caused a car crash in Lockhart on June 10, 2020, that killed Jennifer Miller. Lockhart police found a half-full beer can in his truck, but Hartman denied drinking and driving, as previously reported by Community Impact . Hartman was terminated from the SMPD in June. Miller’s life partner Pam Watts was also in the car but survived and is the individual who proposed the reforms.
REFORMING POLICE DISCIPLINE
SAN MARCOS A petition to repeal the city’s Meet & Confer agreement between the San Marcos Police O cers’ Association and city leaders was certi ed by City Clerk Elizabeth Trevino on Dec. 20. Now, the City Council has 30 days to either pass the question of whether to repeal it to voters or vote to reject the agreement it passed in Septem- ber and lasts through Sept. 30, 2025. City Council passed the agreement as it stands Sept. 6 by a 7-2 vote with then-Council Member Max eld Baker and Council Member Alyssa Garza voting against the agreement. Meet & Confer agreements concern the scope of wages and pay, hours of work and other employ- ment terms the city and police o cers agree to, according to city documents. Local grassroots organization Mano Amiga, which led the charge to decriminalize marijuana in the city of San Marcos, and campaign counsel Andrew Cates partnered and submitted more than 1,200 signatures from the community to include the “5 Hartman Reforms” that address
Five reforms to Article 23—regarding investigations and disciplinary suspensions for police o cers—of the city’s Meet & Confer agreement with the San Marcos Police Department were proposed after the yearslong process of disciplining former o cer Ryan Hartman
came to a close with his termination. Those recommendations include:
Ending the 180-day rule statute of limitations on investigating wrongdoing by o cers; Ending the delay of interviews for misconduct as o cers are currently allotted 48 hours to prepare and review video footage, photos and other materials prior to giving an o cial statement; Opening personnel les of documented misconduct to the community; Ending third-party arbitration; and Ending vacation forfeiture as a substitute to suspension.
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SOURCES: MANO AMIGA, CITY OF SAN MARCOS COMMUNITY IMPACT
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COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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