Caldwell/Hays Examiner

During their January 7 meeting, Hays County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve letters from three elected officials (Commissioner Dr. Cohen, District Attorney Kelly Higgins, & Sheriff Anthony Hipolito) in support of the Hill Country MHDD moving forward with establishing a Jail Based Competency Restoration Program (JBCR). Commissioners attempted to begin the RFP (request for proposal) process for the program back in March, but brought efforts to a halt after local advocates vocalized opposition to the program. Statewide, advocates for compassionate approaches to addressing the criminalization of mental health have been pushing back against JBCR for years. On Tuesday, only two individuals spoke out against the program. One of those advocates was local civil rights attorney Karen Muñoz: “Competency restoration is narrowly focused on stabilization, symptom management and required legal education,” she said during public comment. “In effect, this means that competency restoration exists so that the state can punish people for their disabilities or for the behaviors that are a result of their mental illness.” “There's nothing humanitarian about jail-based competency restoration,” she said. “If liberty is indeed our most fundamental value, as our district attorney's letter states, then we should seek alternatives that do not involve keeping someone in jail in the first place, things like outpatient competency restoration, so that a person's competency can be restored outside of the jail.” Muñoz & colleagues will continue pushing back against the establishment of JBCR in Hays County. Stay tuned for more information on our February edition release event, where we will hold a public forum to discuss the criminalization of mental health in Hays County & what meaningful treatment can look like for our neighbors.

I Made It: poem by Myles Martin, images from Caldwell/Hays Examiner

Today marks the lamentable two-year anniversary of Hays County jailer Isaiah Garcia fatally shooting Joshua Wright in the back, as his feet were shackled, at a hospital in Kyle. Our thoughts are with Joshua & his family. "I Made It" was written by poet & activist Myles Martin, a 2023 Visions After Violence Community Fellow at Texas After Violence Project, who spent 30 months, pretrial, in Hays County jail on a bogus charge. The Examiner provided images to his poem for a screening at Lost River Film Fest last year.

One year ago today, DeVonte “DJ” Amerson was finally released from the Hays County Jail after facing almost 6 years of pretrial incarceration. Today, countless court resets later, in which dozens of family and community members have shown up in support of Amerson time and time again, the case has still not been resolved. However, in the hearing scheduled exactly one week from today, Amerson’s legal team is expected, at long last, to make their arguments for their motion to dismiss the case. Will the charges against Amerson finally be dropped after nearly 7 years? Join us on the 3rd Floor of the Hays County Government Center next Wednesday at 1:30 pm to accompany him & his family to find out; Facebook event with more details can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/share/12F2Ps8Rrc2/?mibextid=9l3rBW

EXCLUSIVE: New, Misleading Commercials Hide Caldwell Co Commissioner Ed Theriot's Astounding Conflicts of Interest An ad now circulating on TV laughably tells voters they should re-elect Theriot because he “drives hard bargains with developers” to make them “pay for the cost of growth”... Meanwhile, Theriot has been at the center of a stunning conflict of interest for the vast majority of his time as Commissioner: from 2018 until recently, he worked as a Senior Project Manager for Doucet & Associates, Caldwell County’s main engineering contractor. According to public information requests, Doucet made millions of dollars from Caldwell County during the period in which Theriot worked at both places at the same time. All of this creates more questions than answers. For instance, how can Theriot be ‘tough’ if he has recused himself from dozens of votes because of his conflict of interest? How can someone with this massive conflict of interest be Caldwell County’s sole representative to CAMPO, the regional transportation planning authority for Central Texas? According to a LinkedIn post from last year, Doucet publicly referred to Theriot in the possessive form while referencing his work at Caldwell County. Did they own him from 2018 until just recently? https://www.linkedin.com/posts/doucet-engineers_regional-mobility-summit-activity-7051615746392539136-OWBU?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop According to LinkedIn, Theriot left Doucet at the beginning of the year, and then voted to pay his former employer on March 26 & June 26. How is this not still a major conflict of interest? Theriot left Doucet shortly after Margarito "Mickey" Zapata announced a serious challenge to his seat on the court with a campaign message of “No Conflicts of Interest”. Did Theriot leave Doucet because he knew the jig was up? Finally, Theriot’s 10/7/24 campaign finance report details thousands of dollars coming in from developer PACs like HNTB, Quidd

EXCLUSIVE: New Footage from the Night Malachi Williams was Shot to Death Shows San Marcos Police Officer Pull Weapon from Holster, Prompting Young Man to Flee A crucial detail that Chief Standridge somehow omitted from his carefully sculpted press briefing: that his officer, Alcides Ventura, in fact escalated a tense scene by drawing a weapon, causing Malachi to run... This past weekend, the family of Malachi Williams held a press conference as they honored his life on the 6-month mark since his killing by SMPD. After distributing dozens of meals for unhoused residents – a cause for which Malachi cared deeply – his family revealed the never-before-seen convenience-store footage of Officer Ventura pulling a weapon on their loved one, demonstrating that Malachi ran out of a rightful fear for his life. The Examiner has added a red box to this security footage to make Ventura's drawing of his weapon more visible.

Update on our lawsuit again Caldwell County for their policy banning public access to magistration proceedings!

Tomorrow our joint lawsuit against Caldwell County for their policy banning the public from attending magistration proceedings, of which we are co-plaintiffs with the Texas Tribune and Mano Amiga, will be heard in the 5th Circuit of Appeals, located in New Orleans! Watch to learn more about the lawsuit & the importance of allowing community and press access to magistration proceedings, where bail is set. We are sending all our good wishes to our remarkable counsel, Camilla Hsu of the Deason Center, and Scott Wilkens of the Knight Institute, who will make their arguments before the 5th Court Appeals tomorrow.