Harris County right to reject new prosecutor funds

If the history of Harris County shows us anything, it is that we cannot prosecute our way to true criminal justice reform. Our status quo has led to an incarceration rate higher than the national rate, which is already the highest in the world.

So, consider it good news that Commissioners Court on Tuesday rejected Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s request for a $20 million budget increase to hire an additional 101 prosecutors. They also approved a comprehensive review of our criminal justice budget to determine where resources might be better diverted toward mental health care, medical care and other resources that address the underlying causes of our overcrowded criminal courtrooms and county jail.

This was absolutely the right move for a community that’s serious about smart criminal justice reform.

Unfortunately, the district attorney’s budget request put at risk the very essence of this criminal justice reform. Here’s why: In 2018 alone, the District Attorney’s Office filed 55,337 misdemeanor cases — an astoundingly high number. The Harris County jail is bursting at the seams and cannot manage its population. The county jail failed its last inspection and a woman tragically committed suicide within its walls last month. Conditions are so egregious that state Sen. John Whitmire, a Democrat, has threatened to have the state of Texas intervene. Yet the district attorney continues to prosecute people for low-level misdemeanor crimes, including crimes of poverty like criminal trespass or driving with a license that is suspended because of an inability to pay for the license.

If the district attorney feels she needs more prosecutors, then Harris County can do what others across the country have done: Stop prosecuting low-level cases that don’t belong in the criminal justice system in the first place. Move resources to prosecuting serious, violent crimes. That would actually make us safe.

Ogg is already partway there. She recently touted her diversion programs, which she said have gotten more than 36,000 people out of jail and back to the communities without permanent criminal records. But how many of those cases should never have been in the system in the first place?

Meanwhile, other questions remain about operations in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. What is the current system for prosecutors to decide which cases to file?

And, if the county is going to hire dozens of new prosecutors, what are the plans for accountability and training?

The ultimate question is this: Are we as a county ready to expand the district attorney’s office without adding to the existing problems that people face in our broken criminal justice system? The answer is no — not now and not without clear plans for moving forward.

If Harris County is going to spend $20 million on our criminal justice system, let’s spend it on drug treatment and mental health treatment instead of relying on our jail to serve as the largest de facto mental health provider in the state. Let’s spend it on housing, vocational and educational services, and all the social programs we need to keep people out of the criminal justice system in the first place.

Harris County commissioners have taken a critical step by focusing on what actually works in our criminal justice system and ensuring that our policy decisions are backed by the right information. That’s how they can truly keep us all safe.

Cornelio is the criminal justice reform legal director with the Texas Civil Rights Project.