Every year, there are about one million bookings into Texas jails. Texas counties face significant expenses associated with pretrial detainees, who account for 60% of county jail inmates. Additionally, for any offense that carries the potential of jail time, such as possession of the smallest amounts of marijuana, counties are constitutionally required to bear the cost of providing counsel for indigent defendants.
Taxes & Spending
Hijacked: How the Bond Process is Being Used Against Taxpayers
School bonds are one of the main instruments contributing to Texas’s local government debt, which is currently over half a trillion dollars. Key points: As of 2026, school bond debt in Texas is over $236 billion. In May of 2023, Texas passed 79% of the 245 bond proposals put on the ballot, costing taxpayers $22.9...
April 7, 2026