Texas has the sixth highest incarceration rate in the nation and the most prisoners (147,000) of any state, about half of whom are nonviolent offenders. However, since 2005 when the state began strengthening probation and other alternatives to incarceration, the state’s incarceration rate has fallen more than 14%. During this same period, Texas’ crime rate has dropped more than 29%, reaching its lowest level since 1968.
Will Voters Decide to Leave Austin?
Last year, the Texas Legislature passed a limited disannexation measure, House Bill 3053, that allows people unfairly captured by large cities during a particular time period to hold an election on the question of staying or leaving municipal control. The law was passed after concerns were raised that some cities had accelerated their involuntary annexation...