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Harris County adopts FY2025 budget after hours of public pleas over policing and DA cuts
Summary
After hours of public testimony urging shifts from policing to social services, Harris County Commissioners Court approved the FY2025 budget and related precinct funding adjustments; speakers and DA officials warned that a $6 million reduction risked staffing and homicide-prosecution capacity.
Harris County Commissioners Court voted Sept. 19 to adopt its FY2025 budget after a daylong public hearing that drew more than 100 speakers, many of them urging the court to trim proposed increases for law enforcement and instead invest in social services.
The adopted package includes the county general fund appropriation presented by the Office of Management & Budget and several amendments agreed at the dais. David Mitchum, first assistant district attorney, told the court the proposed cuts would be “a moral statement” that could jeopardize public safety and urged the commissioners to fund newly created felony courts and prosecutorial staffing. "If you cut our budget in the manner that's been proposed, it will jeopardize public safety," Mitchum said during a one-minute public comment.
Public commenters repeatedly pressed the court to freeze or reduce sheriff and district attorney funding and redirect resources to programs such as HEART (a community crisis response), language access, eviction prevention and flood recovery. “We need care, not cages,” said one speaker referencing a local case where a person awaiting trial died after being sent out of county.
Prosecutors including John Jordan and Sarah Seeley, the homicide division chief, described the division’s caseload and clearance rates—Seeley said the division has tried more than 45 capital cases since it was created in 2022 and has clearance rates above 100% for new capital-murder filings. The district attorney’s office had been told earlier in the budget process to hire new staff to staff three new felony courts; court testimony said a later instruction to cut $6,000,000 would leave 54 employees unfunded and could force staffing changes.
In response the court voted to adopt the budget and approved an administrative motion that directed OMB and the county auditor to work with the DA to avoid layoffs between October and December 2024; commissioners also agreed to revisit certain ARPA-funded position allocations to reduce immediate operational risk. County budget director Daniel Ramos and County Auditor Mike Post confirmed work would continue to identify vacancies and funding moves that would avoid immediate workforce disruptions.
The court also adopted an internal adjustment that split certain precinct mobility funds evenly among all four precincts after debate—an amendment supporters said was intended to improve perceived fairness in capital/distribution decisions. The budget passed on a 4–1 vote.
