Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas. The population was 38,548 as of the 2010 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area.
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is a department of the government of the state of Texas. DPS is responsible for statewide law enforcement and vehicle regulation. The Public Safety Commission oversees DPS. However, under state law, the Governor of Texas may assume personal command of the department during a public disaster, riot, insurrection, or formation of a dangerous resistance to enforcement of law, or to perform his constitutional duty to enforce law. The commission's five members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate, to serve without pay for staggered, six-year terms. The commission formulates plans and policies for enforcing criminal, traffic and safety laws, for preventing and detecting crime, for apprehending law violators and for educating citizens about laws and public safety.
The Supreme Court of Texas ("SCOTX") is the court of last resort for civil appeals in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is the court of last resort for criminal matters.
The French M. Robertson Unit is a maximum-security state prison located on Farm to Market Road 3522 in Abilene, Texas, United States, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Downtown Abilene in Jones County. The prison for males, classified as a "prison," is operated by the Correctional Institutions Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, administered as within Region VI.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in the State of Texas, United States. The Court, which is based in the Supreme Court Building in Downtown Austin, is composed of a Presiding Judge and eight judges.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) is a conservative think tank based in Austin, Texas. The organization was founded in 1989 by James R. Leininger, who sought intellectual support for his education reform ideas, including public school vouchers. Projects of the organization include Right on Crime, which is focused on criminal justice reform, and Fueling Freedom, which seeks to "explain the forgotten moral case for fossil fuels" by expressing views skeptical of the scientific consensus on climate change.
The Texas Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Texas. Republican Ken Paxton has served in this position since January 5, 2015.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails, and private correctional facilities, funding and certain oversight of community supervision, and supervision of offenders released from prison on parole or mandatory supervision. The TDCJ operates the largest prison system in the United States.
The Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) was a state agency of Texas, headquartered in the Brown-Heatley Building in Austin. As of December 1, 2011, the agency was replaced by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
Carol S. Vance Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison located in unincorporated central Fort Bend County, Texas. The unit, located in flatlands, is along U.S. Highway 90A, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of central Richmond. The facility is in proximity to Sugar Land, and it is about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Downtown Houston. The unit, with about 940 acres (380 ha) of land, is co-located with Jester I Unit, Jester III Unit, and Jester IV Unit. The unit consists of four steel buildings and two brick buildings. The prison is the home of the InnerChange Freedom Initiative's Christian prison program. It is located on the Jester State Prison Farm property.
The Beauford H. Jester III Unit (J3) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prison farm located in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. The unit is along U.S. Highway 90A, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of central Richmond. The unit, which opened in July 1982 with about 940 acres (380 ha) of land, is co-located with Jester I Unit, Carol Vance Unit, and Jester IV Unit. Together with its trusty camp, it houses 1,131 inmates.
The Dalhart Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men located in unincorporated Hartley County, Texas. The unit is along Farm to Market Road 998 and near U.S. Highway 54, 4 miles (6.4 km) west and 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Dalhart. It is located next to Dalhart Municipal Airport. As of 2000 Dalhart serves minimum and medium security inmates.
The Beauford H. Jester I Unit (J1) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice substance abuse felony punishment facility (SAFPF) located in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas. The unit is situated at Harlem Road and Ken Drive, on about 940 acres (380 ha) of land, co-located with Carol Vance Unit, Jester III Unit, and Jester IV Unit which lie a little to its southeast. It is situated on the Jester State Prison Farm property. The current Warden is Monty Hudspeth, installed May 2012.
The Jester State Prison Farm refers to a complex of Texas Department of Criminal Justice prisons for men in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas. Individually they are Jester I Unit, Carol Vance Unit, Jester III Unit, and Jester IV Unit.
Cathleen Cochran Herasimchuk, known as Cathy Cochran, is a former judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. A resident of Austin, Texas, she was initially appointed to the court in 2001 by Governor Rick Perry and elected by Texas voters in 2002 and 2008. She did not seek reelection to the bench in 2014 and was succeeded in her Place 9 seat by her fellow Republican, David Newell of Houston.
The Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) is a state agency in Texas, headquartered in the Braker H Complex in Austin.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) is a state agency of Texas, with a central office in Austin. In making parole and clemency decisions, the board seeks to preserve public safety while restoring human potential through the supervised reintegration of offenders into society.
Elsa R. Alcala, also known as Elsa Spjut, has been since May 2011 one of the nine judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the court of last resort for state criminal appeals. A Republican, she was appointed to the Place 8 on the bench by then Governor Rick Perry, when Charles Holcomb stepped down to run unsuccessfully in 2012 for the United States Senate.
Cannabis in Texas is illegal for medical and recreational purposes, though low-THC CBD oil is allowed for the treatment of epilepsy since 2015. In 1919 cannabis was restricted to prescription-only in Texas, prohibited in 1923, and was declared a "narcotic" with potential life-sentences from 1931–1973.
