HOUSTON, TX (Covering Katy News) - The wheels of justice move very slowly in Harris County, where it takes years for criminals to face trial.
At a news conference announcing a 21 percent reduction in the backlog of untried cases, Barbara Virappen said she waited five years for her son's killer to be convicted and sentenced.
"I don't want to see any family go through this," she said.
There were about 65,000 untried cases prior to Hurricane Harvey striking Houston in 2017. Flooding damaged the courthouse and postponed trials. Then came COVID-19 and many more cases were postponed starting in 2019. The backlog of untried criminal cases grew to more than 145,000 in 2021, but District Attorney Kim Ogg's office has reduced that number.
"As of April 10, the backlog has been cut to 114,242 cases, a reduction of nearly 31,000 from 2021," Ogg's office reported this week. "The numbers show the office's aggressive focus on reducing the case backlog has paid off."
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the backlog contributes to the county's high crime rates.
"It means that bad actors who can post bond will return to our community and continue to re-offend," Gonzalez told ABC 13 in a 2021 interview. "They have more time out on the streets."
To address the problem, Ogg created the Homicide Division in 2022, assigning 12 veteran prosecutors to a unit dedicated to trying languishing homicide cases. The team has aggressively pushed some of the most violent offenders' cases to plea or trial.
Ogg hopes to reduce the backlog to where it would have been without Harvey and COVID.
"We'll never get down to zero. What we are attempting to do is get down to pre-Harvey levels, and we're not there yet," Ogg said.
Ogg has 330 prosecutors serving a county with more than five million residents. She's asked for more prosecutors and been denied by Commissioner's Court.
"We are the lowest staffed office of the top 20 largest DAs offices in the country," Ogg said. "Our caseloads are terrible."
Unable to convince Harris County Commissioner's Court to fund more prosecutors, Ogg and her senior leadership secured funding to create an overtime program where prosecutors meet after hours and on weekends to review more than 30,000 nonviolent, mostly victimless misdemeanor and state jail felony cases.
"Those cases are then considered for solutions other than incarceration," the press release said. By doing so, the DA's office does not contribute to Harris County's overcrowded jail.
"This backlog reduction is a welcome reward for our unending focus and hard work on resolving these cases," Ogg said. "Most importantly, these successes lead to more victims getting resolution of their cases – and getting that resolution more quickly. And that's the best reward of all."