KUHA-FM (Houston, TX)

1 day ago | houstonpublicmedia.org | Sarah Grunau

More than 300 people detained for low-level offenses in Harris County have been diverted away from incarceration and into mental health treatment programs since January, according to the district attorney’s office. About 80% of inmates in the Harris County Jail suffer from a mental health disorder, according to recent data from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, which says a third of the more than 1,800 inmates are taking psychotropic medications.

1 day ago | houstonpublicmedia.org | Sarah Grunau

Ongoing staffing shortages at the Polk County Jail are prompting the sheriff’s office to begin housing inmates in a Louisiana jail facility. The county northeast of Houston has failed to comply with Texas’ mandated ratio of one detention officer for every 48 inmates, Sheriff Byron Lyons wrote in a news release Wednesday. Several surrounding counties also have recently outsourced jail inmates to private facilities.

1 day ago | houstonpublicmedia.org | Sarah Grunau

A Houston home developer accused of faking his own disappearance as part of a scheme to defraud investors was sentenced Wednesday to serve 51 months in a federal prison. Brett Detamore, 40, was ordered by a U.S. district court judge to pay $2.3 million in restitution to more than 10 victims of the scheme. He was sentenced to 51 months followed by two years of supervised release. Detamore pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August last year.

1 day ago | houstonpublicmedia.org | Sarah Grunau

A well know Houston home developer who attempted to fake his own disappearance as part of a scheme to defraud investors was sentenced to serve 51 months in a federal prison Wednesday. 40-year-old Brett Detamore was ordered by a U.S. district judge to pay $2.3 million in restitution to more than 10 victims of the scheme. He was sentenced to 51 months followed by two years of supervised release. Detamore pleaded guilty to wire fraud in August last year.

1 day ago | houstonpublicmedia.org | Sarah Grunau

Harris County commissioners are in discussions about bridging a pay gap for sheriff’s office deputies, but a looming budget cycle is leaving officials questioning who will foot the bill. Talks about increasing deputies’ wages come on the heels of an announcement that Houston Police Department officers are in line for a 36.5% salary increase over the next five years — putting the sheriff’s office at risk of losing qualified deputies to other agencies in the region unless they increase pay as well.