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Nearly 300 defendants in Texas were released from prison because of a computer glitch. The computer system that law enforcement agencies across Harris County use to file charges with prosecutors crashed last week.
The system was done for several days, leaving many defendants waiting behind bars for their initial court hearings. Texas law states that anybody facing misdemeanor charges can only be held for 24 hours before they are formally charged, while those facing felony charges can be detained for 48 hours.
Because of the delay, the public defender's office filed petitions to have 280 defendants released, and a judge granted the request.
"The latest Harris County Universal Services' computer-system failure has the full attention of the district attorney, police chief, and sheriff because it resulted in the temporary release of accused criminals," said Dane Schiller, spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office. "The safety of the public, security of our criminal justice system, and efficiency of our courts demand that the county give Universal Services the resources to fix this and ensure it never happens again."
KTRK received a list of the inmates who were released and reported that most were facing charges for non-violent crimes, including drunk driving and indecent exposure. The station noted that about a dozen inmates had a history of violent crimes.
The released defendants are not off the hook for their alleged crimes. The Harris County District Attorney's Office sent a letter to law enforcement agencies telling them that officers would have to refile the charges and that some of the individuals would have to be rearrested.