HARRIS COUNTY DA KIM OGG BACKS BILL TO PRIORITIZE MURDER TRIALS

By StyleMagazine.com - Newswire

State Sen. John Whitmire, chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and author of SB 402, filed the bill last week, outlining his solution in part for addressing violent crime in Harris County and the backlog of criminal cases in the county’s court system. The legislation would give capital murder and murder cases priority in scheduling similar to that currently given to child sex abuse cases.

others, both in jail and on our streets.” to pass SB 402 this legislative session.”

Ogg noted a spike in the local murder rate and cited a near doubling of homicide cases filed since the beginning of her administration in January 2017 to January 2023 – from 1,019 to 1,841. Long delays in those cases can result in lost witnesses and evidence, she noted.

Whitmire said he’s proud to have filed the bill to get swifter justice for families across Texas.

Families who waited a long time for their loved ones’ killers to come to trial also applauded the move. While no law can bring victims back, they said they hope the enacting of SB 402 will help others.

For more information, visit app.dao.hctx.net/kim-ogg-harris-county-district-attorney.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg joined with families of homicide victims Friday to announce her support for proposed legislation to eliminate delays in the scheduling of murder trials.

“This is common-sense legislation that puts murders and capital murders on par with child sex crimes and domestic violence cases, which state law already requires judges to prioritize,” Ogg told the gathering at Crime Stoppers of Houston. “Those accused of murder are some of our highest-risk offenders and pose the greatest threat to

“Surely everyone can agree that families of victims should not have to suffer long waits before trials take place,” Whitmire said. “In addition, our county jails, particularly in Harris County, were not designed to be prisons housing our most dangerous offenders. I look forward to working with District Attorney Ogg, crime victims and others