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Harris County Sheriff's Office

{{Short description|Agency headquartered in Houston, Texas}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox law enforcement agency

| agencyname = Harris County Sheriff's Office

| abbreviation = HCSO

| patch = TX - Harris County Sheriff.jpg

| patchcaption = Patch of Harris County Sheriff's Office

| badge = TX - Harris County Sheriff Badge.png

| badgecaption = Badge of Harris County Sheriff's Office

| formedyear = {{start date and age|1837}}

| employees = 3,545

| budget = $717 m (2020){{cite web|url=http://budget.harriscountytx.gov/doc/Budget/fy2020/approved_budget/FY20_Organizational_Budgets.pdf|title=Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2019-2020|publisher=Harris County Government |access-date=7 June 2020}}

| country = United States

| divtype = State

| divname = Texas

| subdivtype = County (United States)

| subdivname = Harris County, Texas

| legaljuris = Harris County, Texas

| police = Yes

| local = Yes

| headquarters = 1200 Baker St. Houston, TX 77002

| sworntype = Deputies

| sworn = 2,545

| unsworntype = Civilian employees

| unsworn = 1,000

| electeetype = Sheriff

| minister1name = Ed Gonzalez

| chief1name = Mike Lee

| chief1position = Chief Deputy

| stationtype = Districts 1-7

| aircraft1type = 3 Helicopter

| aircraft1 = OH-58 Kiowa, Astar & Cirrus fixed wing

| website = [https://www.harriscountyso.org/ Harris County Sheriff's Office Website]

}}

The Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is a local law enforcement agency serving the over four million citizens of Harris County, Texas, United States. It is headquartered on the first and second floors in the 1200 Baker Street Jail in Downtown Houston.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090223163418/http://www.hcso.hctx.net/detentioncommand/detention/1200_jail.asp The 1200 Jail]." Harris County, Texas. Accessed September 12, 2008. "The Sheriff's Office and Administration including the Business Office, Central Patrol, Human Resources, Public Services, Support Services and the Sheriffs Special Assistant are housed on the first and second floors outside of the security perimeter."{{cite web|url=https://www.harriscountyso.org/AboutUs/ContactUs/Contact.aspx|title=Contact|publisher=Harris County Sheriff's Office|access-date=2019-07-12|quote=Harris County Sheriff's Office 1200 Baker Street Houston, TX 77002 }}

As of the 2010 U.S. census, the county had a population of 4.1 million, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston. The Harris County Sheriff's Office has approximately 3,500 employees and is the largest sheriff's office in the state of Texas and the sixth largest in the nation. The number one and two largest sheriff's offices in the nation are respectively the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in California and the Cook County Sheriff's Office in Illinois. The third, fourth, and fifth are the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in Florida, and the San Diego County Sheriff's Office in California.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency in the {{convert|1118|sqmi|km2}} of unincorporated area of Harris County, serving as the equivalent of the county police for the approximately 1,071,485 people living in the unincorporated areas of the county. In Texas, sheriffs and their deputies are fully empowered peace officers with county-wide jurisdiction and thus, may legally exercise their authority in unincorporated and incorporated areas of their county; they primarily provide law enforcement services for only the unincorporated areas of a county, while yielding to municipal police or city marshals to provide law enforcement services for the incorporated areas. Sheriffs and their deputies also have statewide warrantless arrest powers for any criminal offense (except certain traffic offenses) committed within their presence or view.{{cite web | url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/CR/htm/CR.14.htm#14.03 | title=Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 14. Arrest Without Warrant }} They also may make arrests with a warrant anywhere in the state.{{Cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/CR/htm/CR.15.htm#15.06|title = Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 15. Arrest Under Warrant}} In an emergency, sheriffs along with mayors and district judges are empowered by state law to call forth the National Guard to preserve the peace.{{Cite web|url=http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/GV/htm/GV.431.htm#431.112|title = Government Code Chapter 431. State Militia}}

The jurisdiction of the Harris County Sheriff's Office often overlaps with several other law enforcement agencies, among them the Texas Highway Patrol, the eight Harris County Constable Precincts, and several municipal police agencies including the city of Houston Police Department. The duties of a Texas sheriff generally include keeping the county jail, providing bailiffs for the county and district courts within his county and serving process issued by said courts, and providing general law enforcement services to residents. The current sheriff of Harris County is Ed Gonzalez, elected in 2016 and has been in office since January 1, 2017.

History

File:HarrisCountySheriffTrafficDiv.JPG

John Moore was sworn in as the first sheriff of what was then called Harrisburg County (later renamed Harris County) in February 1837. Among the oldest law enforcement agencies in Texas, the department has grown from a single man on horseback to a modern agency with 3500 employees, including over 2500 sworn officers.

On May 31, 2017, John Hernandez died after being placed in a choke hold after a fight by officers Terry Thompson and Chauna Thompson, a married couple.{{Cite news|url=http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/State-federal-officials-to-probe-Denny-s-death-11192931.php|title=State, federal officials to probe death at diner|work=Houston Chronicle |date=June 4, 2017|access-date=2017-06-07}} The death was ruled a homicide by the Harris County medical examiner on June 6, 2017, and both Thompsons were charged with murder.{{Cite news|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/news/me-says-john-hernandez-was-strangled-to-death-9502266|title=M.E. Declares Death of John Hernandez a Homicide By Strangulation|last=Despart|first=Zach|date=2017-06-06|work=Houston Press|access-date=2017-06-06}}

In 2025, four of the department's deputies committed suicide in the space of four weeks, prompting national coverage.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-27 |title=Texas sheriff's office hit by 4 suicides in 6 weeks |url=https://www.newsweek.com/texas-sheriff-office-hit-4-suicides-6-weeks-2051396 |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-03-27 |title=Tragedy rocks Texas sheriff’s office after four deputies die by suicide in six weeks |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/harris-county-sheriff-texas-suicide-b2721535.html |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=The Independent |language=en}}

Sheriffs

Harris County sheriffs:

class="wikitable"
Name

!Dates

style="text-align:center;"John W. Moore1837-1841
style="text-align:center;"John Fitzgerald1841-1843
style="text-align:center;"Mangus T. Rodgers1844-1846
style="text-align:center;"David Russell1846-1850
style="text-align:center;"James B. Hogan1850-1854
style="text-align:center;"Thomas M. Hogan1854-1856
style="text-align:center;"John R. Grymes1856-1858
style="text-align:center;"George W. Frazier1858-1861
style="text-align:center;"B.P. Lanham1861-1865
style="text-align:center;"John Proudfoot1866
style="text-align:center;"Irvin Capters Lord1866
style="text-align:center;"A.B. Hall1866-1873
style="text-align:center;"Sam S. Ashe1873-1875
style="text-align:center;"Cornelius M. Noble1876-1883
style="text-align:center;"John J. Fant1884-1886
style="text-align:center;"George W. Ellis1887-1895
style="text-align:center;"Albert Erichson1896
style="text-align:center;"W. M. Baugh1897-1898
style="text-align:center;"Archie Anderson1899-1912
style="text-align:center;"Marion F. Hammond1913-1918
style="text-align:center;"Thomas A. Binford1919-1936
style="text-align:center;"Norfleet Hill1937-1942
style="text-align:center;"Neal Polk1942-1948
style="text-align:center;"Clairville "Buster" Kern1949-1972
style="text-align:center;"Jack Heard1973-1984
style="text-align:center;"Johnny Klevenhagen1985-1995
style="text-align:center;"Tommy Thomas1995-2009
style="text-align:center;"Adrian Garcia2009–2015
style="text-align:center;"Ron Hickman2015-2017
style="text-align:center;"Ed Gonzalez2017-

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Harris County Sheriff's Department, 45 officers have died in the line of duty.{{Cite web|url=http://odmp.org/agency/1604-harris-county-sheriffs-department-texas|title = Harris County Sheriff's Office, TX}}

class="wikitable"
Officer

! Date of death

! Details

{{center|Carl F. Courts}}

| {{center|November 30, 1895}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|James A. Reed}}

| {{center|September 6, 1905}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Arthur Taylor}}

| {{center|May 24, 1914}}

| {{center|Accidental gunfire}}

{{center|William C. Williams Jr.}}

| {{center|April 16, 1930}}

| {{center|Accidental gunfire}}

{{center|Joe Trapolino}}

| {{center|May 23, 1936}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Theron Eldridge (Eddie) Shofner}}

| {{center|July 14, 1948}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Leo Busby}}

| {{center|September 10, 1953}}

| {{center|Automobile accident}}

{{center|Donald E. Knowlton}}

| {{center|August 22, 1960}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Walter Howard Harvey}}

| {{center|November 5, 1962}}

| {{center|Automobile accident}}

{{center|Fred B. Peebles}}

| {{center|September 23, 1965}}

| {{center|Vehicular assault}}

{{center|Edd Williams}}

| {{center|January 12, 1974}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Rodney Scott Morgan}}

| {{center|February 26, 1974}}

| {{center|Accidental gunfire}}

{{center|Jimmie Howard McKay Sr.}}

| {{center|March 22, 1974}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|James A. Wier}}

| {{center|August 18, 1978}}

| {{center|Vehicle pursuit}}

{{center|Joe Mason Westbrook}}

| {{center|July 1, 1979}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Albert Ochoa Garza}}

| {{center|July 30, 1979}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Royce Melvin Anderson}}

| {{center|October 26, 1981}}

| {{center|Accidental gunfire}}

{{center|Reginald Floyd Norwood}}

| {{center|September 3, 1985}}

| {{center|Vehicle pursuit}}

{{center|Haskell Junior McCoy}}

| {{center|February 2, 1987}}

| {{center|Automobile accident}}

{{center|Clark Harold Henry}}

| {{center|July 25, 1988}}

| {{center|Automobile accident}}

{{center|Richard Maurice Blackwell}}

| {{center|September 6, 1989}}

| {{center|Motorcycle accident}}

{{center|Jeffery Scott Sanford}}

| {{center|September 14, 1991}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Ricky A. Yates}}

| {{center|January 25, 1994}}

| {{center|Motorcycle collision}}

{{center|Harvey Davis}}

| {{center|May 21, 1996}}

| {{center|Heart attack}}

{{center|Douglas John Noll}}

| {{center|July 22, 1996}}

| {{center|Vehicle pursuit}}

{{center|Randolph Michael Eng}}

| {{center|December 21, 1996}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Keith Alan Fricke}}

| {{center|June 4, 1997}}

| {{center|Motorcycle accident}}

{{center|Rebecca Ann Shaw}}

| {{center|February 13, 1998}}

| {{center|Struck by train}}

{{center|Oscar Clarence Hill IV}}

| {{center|July 22, 2000}}

| {{center|Vehicular assault}}

{{center|John Charles Risley}}

| {{center|October 23, 2000}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Barrett Travis Hill}}

| {{center|December 4, 2000}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Joseph Norman Dennis}}

| {{center|May 22, 2001}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Shane Ronald Bennett}}

| {{center|June 12, 2002}}

| {{center|Accidental gunfire}}

{{center|Thomas Flores Douglas}}

| {{center|Wednesday, March 10, 2004}}

| {{center|Heart attack}}

{{center|Tommy L. Keen}}

| {{center|September 15, 2008}}

| {{center|Accidental}}

{{center|Dionicio M. Camacho}}

| {{center|October 23, 2009}}

| {{center|Heart attack}}

{{center|Eddie L. Wotipka}}

| {{center|June 10, 2010}}

| {{center|Drowned}}

{{center|Jesse "Trey" Valdez, III}}

| {{center|October 29, 2014}}

| {{center|Automobile; Narcotics involved}}

{{center|Tronoski Jones}}

| {{center|August 20, 2015}}

| {{center|Heart attack}}

{{center|Darren H. Goforth}}

| {{center|August 28, 2015}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Omar Diaz}}

| {{center|July 6, 2019}}

| {{center|Duty related illness}}

{{center|Sandeep S. Dhaliwal}}

| {{center|September 27, 2019}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

{{center|Cornelius Anderson}}

| {{center|July 12, 2020}}

| {{center|Duty related illness}}

{{center|Bruce Watson}}

| {{center|January 2, 2021}}

| {{center|Motorcycle accident}}

{{center|Darren Almendarez}}

| {{center|March 31, 2022}}

| {{center|Gunfire}}

Correction facilities

{{main|Harris County, Texas jails}}

File:1200JailHoustonTX.JPG

The Harris County Sheriff's Office's correction facilities are located in Downtown Houston, all within a block of one another."[http://www.hcso.hctx.net/detention/visitation.asp Inmate Visitation Policies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209011231/http://www.hcso.hctx.net/detention/visitation.asp |date=2010-02-09 }}." Harris County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved on May 28, 2010. They include the 1200 Jail (located at 1200 Baker Street),"[http://www.hcso.hctx.net/SupportSvcs/medical/default.asp Medical] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201235524/http://www.hcso.hctx.net/SupportSvcs/medical/default.asp |date=2010-02-01 }}." Harris County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved on May 28, 2010. the 701 Jail,"[https://web.archive.org/web/20030222132009/http://www.co.harris.tx.us/so/ih_701.htm 701 North San Jacinto]." Harris County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved on May 28, 2010. and the 1307 Jail."[http://www.hcso.hctx.net/detention/1307.asp The 1307 Jail] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110213060608/http://www.hcso.hctx.net/detention/1307.asp |date=2011-02-13 }}," Harris County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved on May 28, 2010. Previously 1301 Franklin and 301 San Jacinto were jails."[https://web.archive.org/web/20030222131407/http://www.co.harris.tx.us/so/ih_1301.htm 1301 Franklin facility]." Harris County Sheriff's Office. February 22, 2003. Retrieved on May 28, 2010."[https://web.archive.org/web/20030222131554/http://www.co.harris.tx.us/so/ih_301.htm 301 San Jacinto]." Harris County Sheriff's Office. Retrieved on May 28, 2010.

{{As of|2012}} the Harris County jail facilities together have a capacity for 9,434 inmates; at time they have held over 12,000. Due to the excess number of prisoners, the HCSO had to ship inmates to other jails, including some in Louisiana; in June 2010 1,600 Harris County inmates were serving time at other jails. By January 2012 the Harris County jails had 8,573, a decrease by 31% from 2008 to 2012, and there were only 21 inmates serving time in other jail facilities, all in Texas.{{cite news|author=Morris, Mike|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Thanks-to-less-crowding-overflow-inmates-staying-2447136.php|title=Thanks to less crowding, overflow inmates staying in Harris|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2012-01-06|access-date=2018-09-11}}

The county opened the Atascocita boot camp in 1991, but it closed in September 2004 as the county decided that its rehabilitation value was questionable.{{cite web|author=Tilghman, Andrew|url=https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harris-County-turns-away-from-boot-camps-1478743.php|title=Harris County turns away from boot camps|work=Houston Chronicle|date=2004-08-29|access-date=2019-08-11}} The vocational programs, once at the camp, were transferred to the Downtown area.{{cite web|author=Blakinger, Keri|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Changing-times-Harris-County-jail-expands-14290603.php|title=Changing times: Harris County jail expands vocational classes to include women|work=Houston Chronicle|date=2019-08-08|access-date=2019-08-11}}

On February 15, 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened a federal civil rights investigation into the jail after dozens of inmate deaths in the past few years: 21 in 2021, 28 in 2022, and 4 in the first two months of 2023.{{Cite news |last=Heyward |first=Giulia |date=February 15, 2023 |title=Dozens of inmates have died in a Houston jail since 2021. Now the FBI is investigating |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2023/02/15/1157215405/fbi-jail-deaths-harris-county-houston-civil-rights-investigations |access-date=February 16, 2023}}

See also

{{Portal|Texas|Law}}

{{Clear}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Collier, Kiah. "[http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/houston/article/Sheriff-s-LGBT-jail-policy-draws-praise-questions-5008684.php Sheriff's LGBT jail policy draws praise, questions]." Houston Chronicle. November 25, 2013.

External links

  • [http://www.harriscountyso.org Harris County Sheriff's Office Website]
  • {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.hcso.hctx.net/|title=Harris County Sheriff's Office Website}}
  • {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.co.harris.tx.us/so/|title=Harris County Sheriff's Office Website}}
  • [http://www.hcsojobs.com/ Recruiting Video]

{{Harris County, Texas}}

{{Texas police departments}}

{{Authority control}}

Sheriff's Office

Category:Sheriffs' departments of Texas