Missed deadlines leading to 100+ suspects being released, charges dropped in Travis County

AUSTIN (KXAN) — More than 100 felony cases since 2021 had bonds modified or charges dropped as a result of the Travis County District Attorney's Office missing indictment deadlines, a KXAN investigation found so far. It comes as Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a new rule that enhances reporting requirements for District and County Attorneys "to ensure accountability and promote public safety," according to a press release issued Monday.

KXAN began its investigation following reports of two murder suspects released from the Travis County Jail in recent months after bonds in the amounts of $800,000 and $1 million were reduced to $100 and $1 respectively, according to court documents.

The substantial bond reductions in these two cases were a result of the district attorney's office not meeting the 90-day indictment deadline for felony offenses outlined in Art. 17.151 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.

Missed indictment deadlines

With no uniform, statewide system in Texas to track how often defendants are released or cases are dismissed because of missed indictment deadlines, KXAN instead obtained Travis County criminal case data specific to modified or reduced bonds and dispositions for felony offenses since 2021, totaling nearly 120,000 cases. So far, we've reviewed fewer than 2,000 cases and are continuing to comb through the others.

In addition to Art. 17.151 cases resulting in bond modifications and the release of defendants facing felony charges, KXAN also found felony charges dismissed or rejected because of missed indictment deadlines per Art. 32.01 and Art. 12.01 of the state's criminal code.

• Art. 17.151 states a defendant who has been detained and is in custody for a felony offense must either be released on a personal bond or a reduced bond if the state has not produced an indictment on the charges on or before 90 days.
• Art. 32.01 dismissals apply to cases where a defendant has been detained in custody without being presented an indictment within 180 days or by the last day of the next grand jury term.
• Art. 12.01 outlines the statute of limitations for different degrees of felony offenses. At a minimum, the State has three years from the date the offense occurred to present an indictment on a felony charge.

So far, KXAN has identified nearly 150 felony cases where missed indictment deadlines due to one of these three categories have been a factor in the process or outcome of the case. Many of those were first degree felonies, violent offenses or both.

'Conducting a review'

While there hasn't been a uniform system to track these kind of cases, Paxton announced a new rule Monday aimed at improving transparency by requiring County and District Attorneys to submit detailed performance reports in an effort to "hold rogue DAs accountable."

"The information collected under the adopted rule will assist citizens in determining whether their local elected officials are inadequately prosecuting certain categories of crime, releasing dangerous criminals back into the community, engaging in selective prosecution, or otherwise failing to uphold their obligations," the release stated.

This move and KXAN's review follows widespread publicity about the two cases and recent questions raised by Texas State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, about how District Attorney José Garza handled them.

In February, Eckhardt's office told KXAN reporter Nabil Remadna she has unresolved concerns about fairness, integrity and public accountability and is continuing to gather information about the situation.

"She has sought clarity about the number of times deadlines have been missed, as well as wanting to know how the district attorney plans to remedy the issue moving forward," Eckhardt's office told KXAN in February.

Responding in a statement to KXAN at the time, Garza’s office said it “rejects any suggestion from the State Senator and others that our office does not take equity, fairness, or accountability seriously,” further acknowledging lingering “questions about (its) indictment process.”

The statement continued, in part, “Our office is currently conducting a review of all of our in-custody cases to ensure that prosecutors are working to secure indictments both quickly and also responsibly. While there are reasons a case may take longer than 90 days to present to the grand jury, including because of a lack of evidence, it is unacceptable for a case to remain unindicted due to a lack of care.”

Garza’s office has blamed “management problems” surrounding the two cases, namely their handling by a prosecutor with around 20 years of experience who resigned the day after issues came to light. Officials claimed they have identified no other similar cases, despite KXAN’s latest discovery.

“However, we take this seriously and will continue our review while putting more systems in place to ensure this does not happen again,” the statement from February added.

KXAN awaits a response after asking the district attorney’s office what its review has found and what specific “systems” are being implemented. We will update this story when we receive the information.

Violent and first-degree felonies

With the volume of felony crime data and the absence of a uniform tracking system in Texas, KXAN focused its review on first degree felony offenses and violent charges since 2021.

Among the cases KXAN found, so far, more than 40% involved violent offenses — like eight murder cases, including the pair initiating this investigation.

More than 90 of the remaining felony cases KXAN found specific to 17.151 and 32.01 involve various crimes related to the following charges:

• Aggravated offenses:
  • Sexual assault (adult and child)
  • Robbery
  • Assault
  • Kidnapping
• Burglary of a Residence
• Felony Driving While Intoxicated
• Felony Drug-Related offenses

The majority of the cases KXAN found "Rejected - Statute of Limitations has Run" since 2021 were drug and property-related offenses that went unindicted within their three-year statute of limitations, according to Travis County data.

KXAN provided the district attorney’s office with the number of cases referenced in this story and, again, awaits a response.

KXAN spoke with multiple attorneys who have decades of combined experience working as assistant district attorneys in Travis County, as well as other jurisdictions, to get context about the indictment process and what we found. They told KXAN missing indictment deadlines was something that rarely occurred, in their experiences, and said there were always systems or processes in place to ensure this didn't happen.