A judge has partially granted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to intervene in a controversial federal consent decree governing misdemeanor bail in Harris County, clearing the way for either modifying or eliminating the decree altogether, but a final determination may not come for nearly a year.
In August, Paxton notified the federal court that he would seek to lift the ODonnell consent decree, alleging it violates recently enacted Texas law by mandating the release of most misdemeanor suspects without a judicial review.
