Harris County Justice of the Peace Court Judge throws out all outstanding warrants
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - If you've got a pending criminal case at 1302 Preston, you don't need to worry about it anymore, and you won't get arrested.
"I've never seen this happen in the 37 years I've been doing this," said FOX 26 Senior Legal Analyst, Chris Tritico.
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"My reaction was this is nuts," said State Senator Paul Bettencourt.
Judge Steven Duble became Harris County Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 in 2023.
What appears to be an unprecedented move on his part could mean no fines or jail time for an untold number of defendants facing class C misdemeanors traffic citations and evictions.
"It's exactly what shouldn't happen by a judge in the 21st Century," Bettencourt said.
In a letter dated August 22 to Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen's staff, Judge Duble writes, "After extensive research and thoughtful consideration, I have decided to recall each and every outstanding warrant from this court."
This includes arrest warrants bad check warrants and the list goes on and on.
"It's strange that you have a situation where a judge is issuing a blanket order that affects every warrant in his court with no explanation," Tritico said.
That's right, Judge Duble gives no reason for basically throwing out cases from constables, the sheriff's office, DPS, and school districts.
"They may all have cases pending in there that have now been let go," said Tritico.
While judges can recall warrants, it's not clear if Judge Duble can throw them all out in one swoop.
"The law may not be as clear, because no one's been quite frankly crazy enough to do this until now," Bettencourt said.
In a statement to FOX 26, the Harris County District Attorney's Office said, ""We only recently were made aware of Judge Duble’s inexplicable decision to grant fugitives a free pass in his courtroom. This decision can endanger the lives of the public and of our law-enforcement officers. Accountability is fundamental to justice, and without it, the public loses faith in our entire judicial system."
Judge Duble sent FOX 26 a prepared response seven minutes after Wednesday night's 9pm newscast began. You can view the statement below or by clicking here.