San Marcos City Council Creates Council Criminal Justice Committee

By, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor

On Tuesday, the San Marcos City Council discussed the creation of a council Criminal Justice committee.

Council Members Ed Mihalkanin, Lisa Prewitt and Jocabed Marquez sponsored the item to allow council to discuss creating a small committee to improve the way the city’s criminal justice system works.

“There has been a substantial conservation not only in Texas but throughout the United States concerning arrests versus ticketing, bail amounts, incarceration, its effects on lower income people, budget effects on municipalities and other local governments,” Mihalkanin said. “What we were hoping was you all would be supportive of us having the council create a committee to explore different possibilities for action, and that we would work as quickly as we could to get something back to City Council as an action item this summer.”

Prewitt said she couldn’t talk about criminal justice reform without acknowledging the County’s renewed efforts to reform the Hays County Criminal Justice system. Prewitt shared the story of Hays County resident and Texas State Graduate, who spoke during Tuesday morning’s commissioner court meeting about her struggles to get a job despite having a master’s degree.

Faylita Hicks spent 45 days in jail for writing a bad check to purchase groceries and was unable to pay her bail; she took the deal offered to her by the counsel appointed to her at her pre-trial hearing. Hicks now is unable to get a well-paying job in her field in Hays County because she has a record. 

“There are so many stories like that that we are hearing about,” Prewitt said, “And there are so many new programs happening nationwide. Law enforcement assisted diversion is a big one that’s going on right now.”

Prewitt said if a person is picked up for stealing because they have a drug or alcohol problem, “Let’s treat the alcohol and the drug problem and not put them in prison, where their life becomes even more frustrating and more difficult.”

According to Prewitt, one of her greatest concerns is, “Once we start discussions again, if the council wants to go ahead and approve this commission, is how we interact with the county, so we’re working with them and not in two different silos.”

Prewitt said she felt the local municipalities getting on board and establishing these other committees to work with the county’s commission and bringing city law enforcement into the conversation would further help improve the criminal justice system in Hays County.   

Dr. Marquez said some of the things they are looking at are cite and release programs for low level offenses and possibly expanding forms of ID, not only for the immigrant population but with the homeless.

Mihalkanin said the committee would review the city’s ordinances and procedures.

“I can guarantee you no one on this dais has had more experience with law enforcement on the other side of it than I have,” Council member Mark Rockeymoore said. “All of these statistics you guys are bouncing around is abstract; it’s not abstract to me. That has been my life, and that we’re in this particular location and at this time as everyone up here knows the subtext of my run for city council had to do with law enforcement, my encounters with law enforcement in the past.”

The council voted 7-0 to create a council criminal justice committee and appoint Mihalkanin, Rockeymoore and Prewitt to said committee.

The committee is expected to return with a definitive charge for the new committee in the next few weeks.