More Thoughts on Kerr County Jail Overcrowding; Tanna Brown Recovering; News in 198th DA Race

I believe that our public officials - Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer, County Judge Tinley and the commissioners and the judges will work together in good faith to make the best decision for addressing the problem of overcrowding at the jail. I don't have enough facts to give any opinion. I hope they will explore some of the ideas that other counties have used - more personal recognizance bonds, and having the police and deputies give citations to people caught with personal possession amounts of marijuana.

Personally, I'd like to see the insane, futile "war on drugs" stopped but that is not going to happen and we have to work with the laws on the books.

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DA candidate returns illegal campaign donations
By Zeke MacCormack
Published 05:59 p.m., Thursday, January 26, 2012
Scott Monroe, a candidate for district attorney in the 198th judicial district, says he refunded $550 in contributions by corporations to his campaign.
“I honestly didn't know it was illegal,” said Monroe, who was alerted Tuesday to the problem by Brad McCullouch, his Republican primary opponent. The district in which they are running covers Kerr, Kimble, Edwards, Menard, Mason and McCulloch counties.
Monroe, a Kerrville lawyer, said he self-reported the issue to state officials, who recommended returning the funds to the approximately half-dozen corporate contributors.
McCullouch, now an assistant district attorney, said, “I was glad that he repaid the unlawful contributions after I brought the law to his attention, and I believed the matter closed.”
No complaint has been filed, but Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer said he'd been contacted about the contributions, which are potentially a third-degree felony.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/DA-candidate-returns-illegal-campaign-donations-2737122.php#ixzz1kcQjVDk5
Jeez, I'm glad I'm sitting this one out!
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I'm pleased to report that Tanna Mozell Tyler Hurt a/k/a Tanna Brown is recovering from her health scare. No one is giving any specifics, but it appears that she was life-flighted to San Antonio on the eve of her jury trial in the 216th District Court in Kerr County on 35 felony indictments alleging theft, forgery, tampering with government records, etc., having to do with her job as a probation officer in the 198th District. I sincerely hope she has a full, speedy recovery. She needs to answer the charges, the same as any other person charged with a crime. Being arrested, indicted and put on trial is stressful and traumatic for most people, especially white, middle class people who have never been in trouble. I have had several who became clinically depressed and a number tell me they were considering suicide. Nothing is worth that, short of a terminal, wasting illness.

Her cases have been reset for Feb. 22.