A nice alternative look at the justice system in the state
- Click here for it.
- More useful stuff here too.
I found this well put:
Texas’s Criminal Justice System has three components. Those three stages consist of law enforcement and criminal prosecution, trial and appeals, and corrections. Each of these stages is comprised of multiple levels, organizations and many thousands of personnel.
1- The first, and most decentralized of the stages is that of law enforcement and prosecution. It includes the sheriffs departments that patrol the state’s 254 counties, and the police departments that enforce laws in Texas’s 1,202 municipalities. It also accounts for highway patrolman agencies that enforce laws on the state’s roadways.
2 - The court system is complex and decentralized at lower levels, but nonetheless are comprehensively regulated by the Texas Supreme Court. This means that they operate within a well-defined court hierarchy, despite their different approaches to criminal justice.
3 - The corrections system in Texas is sprawling and multi-layered, but arguably the most tightly organized of these stages. There are numerous municipal and county jail systems, but offenders that incur substantial jail time are often regulated to state jails and prisons.
Texas Law Enforcement Agencies all operate under an umbrella authority known as the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, or TCOLE. TCOLE includes sheriff's, deputies, constables, police officers, marshals, troopers, Texas Rangers, agents of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, investigators of the Attorney General, game wardens, and correctional officers. TCOLE itself operates under the Texas Legislature, which grants it authority under Chapter 1701 or the Texas Occupations Code. TCOLE’s Board of Commissioners forms the administrative body of the organization, and has several duties, including making recommendations to the Governor of Texas and the state’s legislature. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor of Texas, and confirmed by the state Senate. Each of the nine members of the TCOLE Board of Commissioners serves six years, and must consist of three sheriffs, constables, or police chiefs, three members who have been TCOLE licensees for at least five years, and three members of the general population.
I would make one correction - the first stage is legislative. This is the decision to make something a crime, and how severe.
