The latest criminal justice news from The Texas Tribune.
The state has canceled all visits to Texas prison inmates until a comprehensive search of all 100 correctional facilities for contraband has been completed. Full Story
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With little in local tax revenue to help pay staff, rural Texas sheriffs are often forced to do more with less. Lawmakers hope a new grant program will help rebuild the ranks of rural law enforcement. Full Story
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The law restricting pedestrians from walking on roads has been revised to let pedestrians use roadways in certain situations. Full Story
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Most Texas prisons lack air conditioning. At least 41 prisoners have died of heart-related or undetermined causes since the unrelenting heat wave began. Full Story
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A day after Patrick announced the appointment, Marc Brown declined it, citing a campaign contribution he made to Paxton’s GOP primary opponent in 2021. Full Story
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Cecily Aguilar, 25, pleaded guilty last year to helping her boyfriend, Spc. Aaron Robinson, dismember and bury the remains after Robinson bludgeoned 20-year-old Guillén to death in April 2020 at Fort Hood. Full Story
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The seven-months-pregnant officer reported contraction-like pains at work, but said she wasn’t allowed to leave for hours. The anti-abortion state is fighting her lawsuit, in part by saying her fetus didn’t clearly have rights. Full Story
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More than 8 in 10 people charged by state troopers since they began helping Austin police have been people of color. In Southeast Austin, a neighborhood president calls it “outright racial profiling.” Full Story
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We’re bringing people together for talks that will examine education, Texas’ energy future, the 2024 races for U.S. Senate and president, and the state of democracy. Full Story
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A federal lawsuit accuses the sheriff’s office of violating the constitutional rights of inmates, dozens of whom have died or been injured at the jail in recent years. Full Story
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The impeached attorney general appeared in a Houston courtroom, where lawyers from both sides agreed to return in October to set an expected trial date on charges that have been pending since 2015. Full Story
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Though she is not named in the four-count indictment filed Tuesday against Trump, the Justice Department makes numerous references to a “co-conspirator 3” whose description matches Powell, a prominent election fraud conspiracy theorist. Full Story
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A new Houston police report details how the rapper perceived what was happening and what he told investigators. It also contains police interviews with concert promoters, security personnel and other key witnesses. Full Story
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Operation Lone Star originally targeted single men suspected of crossing the border illegally in mass trespassing arrests, but some claimed that not arresting women violated equal protection laws. Full Story
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After the tragic Uvalde school shooting in 2022, Abel Ortiz, an art professor at Southwest Texas Junior College, asked artists from across the state to come together to use the power of art to heal. See the results of their efforts in this video. Full Story
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Several lawmakers supported a call for Gov. Greg Abbott to bring lawmakers back immediately to approve air conditioning for prisons, which the Legislature declined to do during its regular session. Full Story
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The Republican from Georgetown was arrested in Austin in February. But the county attorney said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prosecute. Full Story
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Management & Training Corporation had been accused of defrauding the state by charging for services it didn’t provide and directing prisoners to falsify paperwork about their treatment. Full Story
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Austin Mayor Kirk Watson had said that troopers pulling a gun on a 10-year-old prompted the end of the agreement. A video of that encounter shows troopers with guns pointed at the ground, not the child. Full Story
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The soldier, serving as part of Operation Lone Star, said he accidentally fired his weapon, wounding the migrant in January. Full Story
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