{"id":3589,"date":"2026-06-05T04:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3589"},"modified":"2026-06-05T04:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:01:09","slug":"harris-county-electronic-monitoring-program-doesnt-track-defendants-who-become-fugitives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3589","title":{"rendered":"Harris County electronic monitoring program doesn’t track defendants who become fugitives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HOUSTON<\/strong> – <\/span>The number of Harris County defendants placed on GPS or curfew-based electronic monitoring more than doubled between 2021 and 2024, according to Harris County Pretrial Services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Galveston families face another housing deadline, police review complaints tied to Beacons of Light Solutions<\/a><\/p>\n

Pretrial Services says it does not track how many monitored defendants become fugitives<\/h2>\n

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What we know:<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

Based on Pre-Trial Services own numbers, more than 10,000 defendants in 2024 were tethered by an electronic monitoring device GPS or curfew. Figures for 2025 aren’t available.<\/p>\n

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When asked how many of those defendants have ditched the device to avoid trial, the tax-funded agency told us they don’t keep track.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“I’m kind of dumbfounded that the agency that’s in charge of monitoring defendants out on bond, who have a GPS curfew or monitoring device as their bond condition, hasn’t a clue of how many of them are now wanted fugitives,” said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers.<\/p>\n

Read more Texas lawmaker vows to name highway after Trump as Cornyn retreats from his own effort<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There’s no 24-hour surveillance with someone watching or reacting to a defendant who removes or tampers with a monitoring device.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It can take days before the court is even aware of violations.<\/p>\n

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“What was really disturbing to me, which should be more disturbing to the public, especially law enforcement, was pre-trial services saying if an ankle monitor gets removed on a Friday, we’ll report the violation the next business day, which is Monday,” said Kahan. “You’ve just sent notice to all defendants you want to go ahead and do that on Friday, it’s your best bet because it will take two days before we even notifying any entity.’<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In a statement, Commissioner Adrian Garcia says he plans to further strengthen the county’s electronic monitoring program, specifically when it comes to violent offenders.<\/p>\n

Read more Waymo blocks Dallas first responders after explosion<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The number of Harris County defendants placed on GPS or curfew-based electronic monitoring more than doubled between 2021 and 2024, according to Harris County Pretrial Services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,6,8,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-bond","category-houston","category-news","category-top-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nHarris County electronic monitoring program doesn't track defendants who become fugitives - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3589\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harris County electronic monitoring program doesn't track defendants who become fugitives - 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