Assistant City Manager Rey Arellano Letter To County Attorney Delia Garza
Assistant City Manager Rey Arellano Letter To County Attorney Delia Garza
March 8, 2021
Delia Garza
Travis County Attorney
314 West 11th Street
Room 300
Austin, TX 78701
I write regarding the recent changes to the process your offices have implemented for handling and
reviewing misdemeanor arrests in Travis County. In particular, I am concerned about recent
communications from the Travis County Sherriff’s Office (TCSO) that all probable cause (PC)
affidavits must be presented to TCSO officials in the jail before the arresting officer or agency
presents the PC affidavit to a magistrate. Moreover, I have learned that an on-call Travis County
Attorney will review these PC affidavits after presentation to TCSO, and the prosecutor may choose
to reject the charges prior to their presentation to a magistrate. In short, this new process permits
prosecutors to reject charges even before officers are able to take the person arrested before a
magistrate.
I understand that these changes have been made for reasons that include reducing the burden on
courts and keeping people with low level offenses out of jail. These reasons are consistent with City
Council policy goals as well. However, these changes have been implemented without any
consultation with the Austin Police Department or City management. These changes should have
been brought forward and discussed as part of the Coordinating Committee established by section 12
of the Interlocal Cooperation Agreement between Travis County and the City of Austin for Booking
and Related Services. One of the chief purposes of the Interlocal Agreement is for the TCSO to
keep custody of APD arrestees until they can be brought before a magistrate. The Interlocal
Agreement does not require all PC affidavits to be held by TCSO before being presented to a
magistrate, nor does it contemplate that prosecutors will review and reject PC affidavits prior to
magistration. While it is not entirely clear to me at this time how these new processes will be
implemented, they have the potential to fundamentally disrupt the Interlocal Agreement, which
requires the County to receive, hold, and house all city prisoners tendered by APD and accepted by
the TCSO.
The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act.
Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request.
I also believe that these changes undermine the ability of APD (or TCSO officers who have custody
of the arrestee) to fulfill their obligations under Article 14.06 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. As
you know, article 14.06 obligates the officer making a warrantless arrest or the person having custody
of the arrested person to bring that arrested person before a magistrate. In turn, the magistrate is
required to provide that person with the necessary admonishments under article 15.17. See Tex.
Atty. Gen. Op. GA-0426. Texas law does not require prosecutors to review charges prior to
magistration, nor does it assign them a specific role in the process of presenting arrestees for
magistration.
Accordingly, I am requesting these changes be suspended until a meeting can be convened pursuant
to the Interlocal to discuss how best to achieve our common interests.
Sincerely,
Rey Arellano
Assistant City Manager