Houston County Sheriff's Office & The Request for Open Records

 As a volunteer of The Legal Eagle we often times need to do a records request.  

On September 22, 2024 I made a formal request in writing by certified mail to the Houston County Sheriff's department.  I allowed the department time to receive my letter and I allowed them 10 business days to gather my request and have them mailed to my address that was provided.  In the following 10 business days I did not receive a reply letter, email or phone call from the Houston County Sheriff's department at all.  It is almost as if I was being completely ignored by the offices of the Houston County Sheriff's department in whole.  What is that old saying, if you don't see it then it's not there? Wrong.  It is not always out of sight out of mind!


In the state of Texas, there is a Public Information's Act.  You can read about it in detail at https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/open-government/members-public/overview-public-information-act.  This is a summary of the PIA directly from their website:

The Public Information Act (PIA) provides a mechanism for citizens to inspect or copy government records. It also provides that governmental bodies may withhold government records from the public in specific instances.

Clearly it states here that the PIA is a tool for the common citizens of Texas to be able to read over and to make copies of any governmental records.  So my question is, if I, as a citizen of Texas has the writes given to my by the PIA of Texas then why is the Houston County Sherriff's Office ignoring my request for public information and why has not even one of the many employees of HCSO, that my tax dollars go to pay wages for, why have they not even taken the time to call me in response to my formal request.

If this is the way that the Houston County Sherriff Office conducts business, then they need to be investigation for non compliance of our Texas rights.  It is because of this reason that I have placed the Houston County Sheriff Office on the top of my list, while investigating the entities that do business in our community.  

Here is a copy of the receipt that I received after paying some rather high fees to mail the certified request for PIA:


As you can see from the picture that the request was mailed on September 27, 2024.  If you go to the www.USPS.com website and enter in the tracking number this is what it shows:



According the United States Postal Service, my letter was picked up by the HCSO on September 26, 2024.  There is absolutely no way that they can deny that they didn't get my open records request.

Why is it that the HCSO is sworn in office to uphold the law but yet they do not want to follow the law.

According to our attorney, we are now to follow up with another letter, and to contact the Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton to make a complaint against the HCSO for failure to provide public records to a citizen of the state when requested.  


We as of October 24, 2024 have not heard back from the offices of the Attorney General but we will continue to call until we can open a formal investigation and complaint against the HCSO. 

It is my belief as a director of the Legal Eagle of East Texas that this organization not only makes it difficult for the citizens of Houston County to obtain records when requested but they may also be giving our citizens the run around when they go to put in a complaint against deputies and other official's there at the HCSO.  This leads me to believe that there are major discrepancies regarding a lot more of their policies.  We are going to go into investigations against the HCSO. 

It is our duty as tax payers in this county to voice our grievance's.  I understand that not everyone has the time to hold our officials accountable for non compliance of our constitutional rights and that is why our organization exists.  

Thank you for taking a deep dive into the world of a governmental watchdog. If you have a similar story we would love to hear from you too.  The easiest way to address issues like these are to voice our concerns with the community in hopes that our voice be heard.  Please contact us if you are also having difficulties with any governmental agency in East Texas.

We are looking for volunteers at the Legal Eagle of East Texas. If you think that you would like to be a good fit for our organization then contact us today.

If you would like to donate to the Legal Eagle of East Texas, we would more than likely enjoy your donation so that we can keep a bird's eye view on government corruption.

Thank you for reading!

Sincerly,
 

Tabitha Charanza, Director of Operations
The Legal Eagle of East Texas






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