Texas’ Harris County has more than 700 open murder warrants, 25K open felony warrants: report

Texas’ most populous county, home to the city of Houston, has more than 700 open murder warrants and more than 25,000 open felony warrants, according to a report.

Records from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office show there are 50,672 open arrest warrants in total, KTRK reported.

“It’s a high number. It’s not good to have anyone on a violent crime running around, but there’s only so many investigators and officers who can run these warrants,” Harris County Lt. Kacey Haberland, who works in the criminal warrants division, told the outlet. “We are in the negative. We are in the red every time on the warrant count, more coming in than we are able to arrest.”

KTRK reported that fewer than 10% of people facing warrants were being arrested every month in 2021.

Even with arrests being conducted, between 4,000 and 6,000 new arrest warrants were issued each month. Meanwhile, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office has only 17 investigators and sergeants dedicated to the criminal warrant division, meaning just over a dozen law enforcement personnel are tasked with finding and bringing in tens of thousands of wanted offenders. Houston Police can also run warrants.

Haberland said deputies are prioritizing suspects who are charged with the most violent crimes.

“It should be a priority, I will be the first to say it, but there are not enough people,” Haberland told KTRK, of bringing in repeat offenders before crimes escalate. “We have so many murders in Harris County, unincorporated, or the city of Houston, that they focus predominately on murders.” – READ MORE