
District Attorney Announces Community Action Plans
Formed With 60 Member Transition Team
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg unveiled her Community Action Plans Tuesday regarding officer-involved shootings, bail reform, and other matters, following months of collaboration with 60 community leaders and experts who made policy recommendations for her administration.
“We listen to the community,” Ogg said. “We are evidence-based and data driven, but it is important to know how the community wants tax dollars spent to enhance public safety.”
Shortly after taking office in January, Ogg built a Transition Committee to reflect Harris County’s diverse population and bring together a mix of experiences and perspectives to guide her administration’s priorities in criminal justice reform.
Former Houston Police Chief C. O. Bradford; Thurgood Marshall School of Law professor Lydia D. Johnson; and former Sheriff Adrian Garcia, were among those who participated on the transition teams.
Others included grass-roots activists; small-business owners; health-care providers; academics; lawyers; judges,; politicians and former law-enforcement officers.
“Direct community engagement is crucial to building trust between the district attorney and the people,” Bradford said. “Harris County will be a safer place and Kim Ogg will be a better district attorney as a result of her genuinely seeking participation from the community.”
The Transition Team was organized into specialized committees that identified issues, reviewed data’ and made recommendations.
They probed such areas as officer-involved shootings; evidence integrity; equality; immigration; bail-bond reform, mental health; diversity; technology and victim’s rights.
The Transition Team recommendations are posted on the Harris County District Attorney Web site, as are the HCDAO responses to the recommendations.
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Officer Involved Shootings/Civil Rights Committee Members:
Co-Chair – C.O. Bradford, former Houston Police Chief; former Houston City Council Member
Co-Chair – Paul Looney, Lawyer, head of commission that reviewed Waller County Sheriff’s Office after Sandra Bland’s death
Member – Dr. Linda Bell Robinson, former HCDAO prosecutor, former HPD Officer
Member – Frances Valdez, Lawyer, Houston GLBT Caucus Trustee
Member – Michael Harris, Lawyer, former HPD Officer
Member – Frank Garcia, Community Organizer at My Brother’s Keeper
Member – Glen Austin, Lawyer
Member – Judge Kristin Guiney, 232nd District Court, former HCDAO prosecutor
Evidence Integrity Committee Members:
Chair – Sandra Guerra Thompson, Alumnae College Professor of Law, Director; Criminal Justice Institute
Member – Christel Wommack, Ph.D., Neuroscience
Member – Paul Morgan, Lawyer
Member – Alvin Nunnery, Lawyer
Member – Anthony Graves, Chairman Anthony Graves Foundation
Member – Lloyd C. Saunders, Lawyer
Member – Jay Aiyer, Lawyer, Professor at TSU
Equality in Justice Committee Members:
Chair – Dr. Lydia Johnson, Associate Professor of Law at Thurgood Marshal School of Law
Member – Hon. Jolanda Jones, HISD Trustee, Lawyer, former Houston City Council Member
Member – Janis Bane, Director at Galveston Co. Community Supervision and Corrections Department
Member – Zaf Tahir, Houston Planning Commission, Lawyer, Businessman
Member – Katherine Neill, Fellow in Drug Policy at Baker Institute of Public Policy, Rice University
Member – Tammie Campbell, Executive Director Honey Brown Hope Foundation
Member – Gareth Morgans, Director of Communications, Houston City Council At-Large 2
Immigrant and International Communities Committee Members:
Chair – Claudia Hogue-Ortega, NALEO Texas Director
Member – Jessica Chen, Lawyer
Member – Penny Shaw, Lawyer
Member – Oscar Hernandez, United We Dream
Member – Frances Valdez, Lawyer, Houston GLBT President
Member – Nishan Khan, Realtor, EmergeUSA
Member – Jannette Diep, Executive Director of BPSOS-Houston
Member – AJ Durrani, retired petroleum engineer
Bail Reform Committee Members:
Co-Chair – Juan Guerra, Lawyer
Co-Chair – Jay Jenkins, Project Attorney at Texas Criminal Justice Coalition
Member – Tarsha Jackson, Harris County Director at Texas Organizing Project
Member – Carolyn Henry, MS Special Education
Member – Jack Carroll, Lawyer
Member – Anthony Muharib, Lawyer, Owner of Online Bail Bonds
Member – Gerald Wheeler, PhD, Project Orange Jumpsuit
Mental Health Committee Members:
Co-Chair – James Horwitz, lawyer
Co-Chair – Adrian Garcia, former Harris Sheriff, former Houston City Council Member, 23 year veteran of HPD
Member – Maisie A. Barringer, Lawyer
Member – Staci Biggar, Lawyer, NAMI Houston Advisory Board
Member – Robert Simon, Asst. Deputy Director Adult Justice Services at Harris Center for Mental Health
Member - Annalee Gulley, Director Government Affairs at Mental Health America of Greater Houston
Member – Penny Shaw, Lawyer
Diversity in the HCDAO Committee Members:
Chair – Glen Austin, Lawyer
Member – Carlos Doroteo, Lawyer
Member – Dr. Linda Bell Robinson, former HCDAO ADA, HPD Officer
Member – Judge Kristin Guiney, 232nd District Court, former HDAO prosecutor
Member – Alexius Marcano, Urban & Metropolitan Governance Fellow at Kinder Institute
Member – Ray Shackelford, Lawyer
Member – Gere’ Cole, Lawyer
Member – Patricia Limón de Rodríguez, Director at Edge Creative Strategies
Technology Committee Members:
Chair – Josh Verde, Lawyer
Member – Chris Reid, HCDAO Staff
Member – Theodis Butler, Megalith Technologies
Member – Pablo Ormachea, Co-Director at Center for Science and Law
Member – Jeff Reichman, January Advisors
Member – Gary Zallar, HCDAO Director, IST
Victims’ Rights Committee Members:
Shelley Kennedy Crime victims’ advocate
Anthony Graves Exonerated former Death Row inmate
Betty Gregory Crime victims’ advocate
Dottie Walker Crime victims’ advocate
Jessica Chen Crime victims’ advocate
Ron Goines GLBT activist
Fernando Martinez Crime victims’ advocate
Carrie Ruiz Crime victims’ advocate
Committees:
Officer-Involved Shootings
Evidence Integrity
Equality
Immigration
Bail-Bond Reform
Mental Health
Diversity
Technology
Victims Rights
Community Action Plans Below (To read or download action plans please click PDF files below)