Texas Governor, Comptroller Condemn State’s Largest County for Defunding Constables

HOUSTON, Texas — The governor and state comptroller of Texas took steps on Tuesday to force Harris County to reinstate millions of dollars stripped from the county’s constable offices or face consequences. The action comes after two constables’ offices filed complaints regarding the police-defunding action taken the county’s commissioners court.

Harris County Commissioners Court implemented a policy to stop constables from automatically rolling over funds from one fiscal year to the next, Fox 26 reported. The policy change resulted in the movement of more than $3 million from law enforcement funds to the general fund.

Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman told Breitbart Texas he filed a complaint over the defunding matter with the Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts under the state’s new law (SB23) passed in 2021. He said he believes this is the first action against a government body in Texas as a result of police defunding.

Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap also filed a complaint with Comptroller Glenn Hegar’s office

“The dangerous actions taken by Judge Lina Hidalgo and Harris County represent a brazen disregard for the safety and security of the Texans they are sworn to protect,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement on Tuesday. “The loss of millions of dollars in funding will endanger public safety across the county at a time when Texas law enforcement is working harder than ever to keep criminals and dangerous drugs out of our communities. Harris County continues to show complete negligence for public safety, as the same county whose revolving door bail program releases dangerous criminals back onto the streets to commit more violent crimes like murder.”

The governor’s comments follow the release of a report from Comptroller Hegar where he said the actions taken by Harris County commissioners and County Judge Lina Hidalgo resulted in the loss of more than $3 million meant for local constables. He also said the Harris County’s proposed budget for FY23 cuts funding to constables’ offices by more than $12 million.

“I urge the Harris County Commissioners Court to review its budgetary support for its Constables Office and restore funding lost due to the decision to end ‘rollover’ budgeting,” Hegar wrote. “It must reverse its proposal to reduce funding FY 2023 or it must allow its residents to voice their opinion through an election held for the purpose of approving these actions. Further, the County should eliminate any excessive restrictions that prevent the Constables Office from accessing its budget.”

Hegar added that corrective action must be taken before it can adopt its FY23 budget or it must put the defunding action before the voters for a vote. Failure to do this would restrict the county from adopting an “ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the county’s no-new-revenue tax rate.”

Constable Herman told Breitbart Texas he appreciates “the hard work of both Governor Abbott and Comptroller Hegar in investigating our complaints of defunding by Harris County. We will now let the process take its course under Senate Bill 23.”

Governor Abbott concluded his statement, saying, “While Harris County politicizes the public safety of its citizens, the State of Texas will ensure our brave law enforcement partners have the resources necessary for this solemn responsibility.”

Texas State Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) tweeted that if Harris County is forced to live within the “no-new-revenue rate,” it will save taxpayers more than $100 million. “Big WIN!,” the senator tweeted.

Harris County Commissioners Adrian Garcia (a former Harris County sheriff) and Rodney Ellis — both Democrats — called the action from state officials an assault on Harris County, Fox 26 reported.

In a statement provided to Breitbart Texas, the Republican candidate for Harris County Judge, Alexandra del Moral Mealer said:

The Texas Comptroller’s recent findings confirm two facts (1) the current commissioners court is not transparent about how taxpayer money is being spent and (2) we have not adequately funded our law enforcement. Whether we want to continue to play semantics about whether Judge Lina Hidalgo has defunded police, it is clear her administration has led an effort to constrain law enforcement during an unprecedented crime wave.

The Texas Comptroller’s recent findings confirm two facts (1) the current commissioners court is not transparent about how taxpayer money is being spent and (2) we have not adequately funded our law enforcement. Whether we want to continue to play semantics about whether Judge Lina Hidalgo has defunded police, it is clear her administration has led an effort to constrain law enforcement during an unprecedented crime wave.

In Texas, a county judge is the chief executive officer of the county. Harris County is the largest county in the state of Texas.