Clean your own house.

I ran across this article from Grits for Breakfast

Require criminal conviction for asset forfeiture
Sen. Konni Burton filed legislation that would void asset forfeiture proceedings if prosecutors failed to secure an underlying conviction.

It brought a couple of things to mind. While reading about William Wayne Justice I have often thought if the Texas Prison system had taken care of their business, the Ruiz decision might have gone differently. The very reason for the decision is TDC did not.
In an article by Radio Legendary People V. 2011 BMW 535-I details a seizure that fits both the proposed law and my thoughts on the Judge.

I believe asset forfeiture laws are an important tool to fight crime. History shows most of the bad laws come from failing to take care of business. In the BMW case, the stated reason for seizure alleged the vehicle was purchased with proceeds of a felony crime. The problem becomes evident on review of the court documents. Evidence to support the seizure details the vehicle was used in the commission of a felony offense with a total lack of any evidence to support the vehicle was purchased with proceeds of crime as alleged in the filing.

Close enough for government work? Apparently so. Consider though, when two Baylor University employees recently entered pleas in a DWI case, their attorney petitioned the court to dismiss charges due to double jeopardy after the court clerk discovered a date was missing from the court documents. Apparently the clerk was on vacation when the vehicle was awarded to the State.

The legislation offered by Senator Burton strikes a reasonable compromise, perhaps even a necessary one. While there are far more egregious cases involving asset forfeiture, the reality is, the system is responsible for greater restrictions on how the job is done.

2-16-15 Commissioners’ Court

How you got screwed this week.

First on the agenda was the Court met on Monday instead of their normal meeting day of Tuesday. They generally do not offer a reason because they assume the taxpayers are too ignorant to understand any way.

There is a budget amendment moving funds from the emergency fund to pay for fuel for the new Tradinghouse park manager. Not a big amount of money but it is not in the budget. The is the money Scott “Gruber” Felton said he was saving you by redistricting.

Much the same thing to buy a computer for the new Criminal Justice Analyst position. Not in the budget so rob the money from the emergency fund.

In the past, when an employee retired and had vacation time on the books, that person could not be replaced until they were paid from the budget. The incentive is for managers to stay on top of personnel management. The manager had  a responsibility. This year, a new trend started where rather than managing the human resources, they just shaft the taxpayers. The Commissioner only has a 6 figure compensation package, you can’t expect he would actually work for that meager sum.

So the generator at the Fairgrounds had a problem. The interesting thing about this one is the court already approved the repair and had no clue where the money was going to come from. I remember a story Don McCauley told about his A/C going out one year and the family had to choose between A/C and a family vacation. He would be rolling over in his grave over crap like this.

Discuss Here

About that lawsuit.

In a column published by Radio Legendary, details emerge related the the settlement of a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Documents responsive to a public information request further support early theories settlement of the lawsuit, contrary to reports by main-stream media, was not related to risk management but rooted in keeping the skeletons in the closet.

In one excerpt:

A public information request shows that Blossman’s evaluation after 6 months on the job showed a mediocre rating of 5.6 out of a possible 10 points, nothing unusual for a new hire still learning the tricks of the trade. When the documentation was changed over Eubank’s signature, he had received a glowing 7.75 points, complete with hyperbolic and superlative descriptive comments.

The speculation gained some steam after the Trib reported allegations of campaign finance violations:

Documents in a lawsuit claim McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara broke campaign finance laws and retaliated against a supporter of his political opponent by trying to block him from getting a job as a local police chief.

Further traction was attributed to the dismissal of a very similar lawsuit in Bell County just the day before the local suit was settled.

You will probably be much happier to take the word of the Waco Trib that your benevolent leadership was looking out for your best interest.

Cuss? Discuss? Debate? Go here.