AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: Tougher punishment for auto burglars, an issue that triggered a criminal-justice fire fight among lawmakers two years ago, is back for another round. And the Senate veteran who resisted the so-called enhancements before is now carrying the bill. "Yeah, I know," said state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, shaking his head when asked about his new stance. "I'm calling this the Whitmire Gets Tough on Auto Burglars Once and For All Bill. This is the boutique crime of the last two sessions that everyone is concerned about.
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: Minor drug offenders could get sentenced to treatment programs instead of prison, and other nonviolent offenders could work off their debt to society faster under close community supervision as part of probation reform legislation filed this week. While House Bill 1678 looks much like one that was vetoed two years ago by Gov. Rick Perry, amid opposition from prosecutors, state Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Plano, one of four sponsors, said changes have been made to address the earlier concerns. "Our goal is to make the probation system stronger by focusing on better supervision, and I think everyone can support that," said Madden, chairman of the House Corrections Committee that oversees state prison and probation programs.
EL PASO TIMES: With prisons statewide nearly brim-full, lawmakers are growing weary of shelling out more money to just contain them. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice recently requested $377 million to build new prisons, but several legislators see increasing mental-health programs and drug treatment facilities, and reducing sentences for some nonviolent offenders as better ways to protect the public and save taxpayers' money. Proponents of building more prisons say alternative treatment programs could fall by the wayside, leaving the state with the same overcapacity problem it faces now.
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: In the 15 years since he opened his one-man mobile locksmith business in the East Texas town of Livingston, James Moore has changed locks for city officials, repaired cylinders for constables and cut keys for police departments. When Kenneth Hammack was voted Polk County sheriff in 2004, Moore reset every lock for the department. "He's about the only locksmith we have around these parts," says Hammack, a former Texas Ranger who says Moore did a fine job. Thanks to a new Texas law that can dig deep into a person's past, however, state regulators are fighting to prevent Moore from working at the job he's been doing all his life — all because of a decade-old misdemeanor plea bargain.
AUSTIN CHRONICLE: Officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and Board of Pardons and Paroles got a good tongue-lashing Jan. 30, during a joint hearing of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and House Corrections Committee, where agency leaders were questioned about their apparent inability to communicate with one another in an effort to coordinate efficient and effective criminal-justice programs. "We've got to get away from complacency and get energized … things we're not doing," said Criminal Justice Committee chair, Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston. "That's where I'm fixin' to get upset: with the [lack of] urgency."
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN: Billed as the biggest shift for Texas corrections policy in years, proposals to greatly expand rehabilitation and treatment for convicts have made headlines for months as legislative leaders grapple for a way to avoid building expensive new prisons. A month into the legislative session, the massive reform bills have yet to be filed. And they probably won't be either, say lawmakers pushing the changes. "Most of the changes we want are already allowed in current law," explains House Corrections Committee Chairman Jerry Madden, a Plano Republican. "We're going to do most of (the reforms) this time through (the) Appropriations (Committee)."