Dallas County voters still haven't picked a new sheriff. That's because neither Sheriff Marian Brown nor Lupe Valdez — who was Brown's boss when she was sheriff — got more than half of the votes in the primary election.
Voters have another opportunity to choose between the two Democrats. Early voting for the runoff is May 20 to 24, and election day is May 28.
The winner will almost certainly become the sheriff since no Republican candidate ran in that primary.
Valdez was sheriff from 2005 to 2017.
She left to run for Texas governor in 2018, recommending and supporting Brown as her successor.
Brown’s been running the sheriff’s office and jail ever since.
The candidates debated at a Dallas Democratic Forum Sheriff Debate in April.
Valdez said she cleaned up the jail once before and she can do it again.
“There has been constant change in my 47 years of law enforcement,” she said. “Thank goodness there's been all kinds of changes and we have to continue the changes. We have to continue doing things that will make us a better department.”
Brown said COVID-19 challenged her leadership and she proved her capability.
“I had no earthly idea how to manage that, but I took my 36 years of experience and I used my common sense and I put those together and we came out as a leader not only in the state of Texas but also in the entire country," she said.
"The [state] jail commission adopted our processes our procedures our reporting processes and then they expanded it throughout the state of Texas.”
Valdez is the first woman and Hispanic elected sheriff in Dallas County, and the country’s first openly gay Hispanic sheriff.
Brown is Dallas County’s first African American sheriff.
She is also an assistant pastor at a church in Southern Dallas and recently gave the invocation at commissioners court.
During that same commissioners court meeting, settlements were finalized for two men who were held in the county jail longer than they were legally required.
The county paid a $100,000 federal civil rights lawsuit settlement after keeping a man jailed after a judge said he had served his time. Chris McDowell’s lawyer blamed the new software.
The county also settled for $60,000 with Ryan Harris, who’d been held in jail for too long after his release date last year. His lawyer said missing paperwork, not software, caused the problem.
The sheriff runs the jail at Lew Sterrett Justice Center. It’s the second-largest county jail in Texas, behind Harris County, and the 9th largest in the country, holding up to 7,100 people awaiting court processing or needing mental or behavioral health care.
The average cost per person held in the jail is about $85 a day — a total of $16-17 million dollars per month to operate.
Dallas County entirely operates, manages and funds the jail. Most others are outsourced or partially outsourced.
It’s more than 50 years old and its disrepair complicates securing more than 6,000 people daily and contributes to failing state inspections.
Commissioners are considering building a new, modern jail for about $3 billion dollars — $5 billion adjusted for the year 2032.
Voters will have to consider those issues when choosing the next sheriff.
Brown said an author who was writing a book about Valdez asked about how her former boss ran the department.
“She said, ‘I am hearing that the department was like latchkey kids. That the department was left to fend for itself while the sheriff went to the parties went to the celebrations went to the various events where they were partying, but everybody at the department had to figure it out for themselves.’ She asked me did I agree with that and I said yes, I do agree.”
Valdez disputed that narrative. She said she engaged with the community — a priority for a strong department.
“A person's first time seeing a law enforcement officer shouldn't be when the law enforcement officer is coming to perform one of their warrants or do one of the challenges that they have,” she said.
About 126,000 of 1.5 million Dallas County registered voters — fewer than 9 percent — participated in the March primary.
In the runoff, those voters can vote again for their preferred candidates. And residents who didn't vote in the primary can pick candidates in the runoff for the first time without affiliating with a specific party.
Early voters can cast a ballot at any voting location.
Election day voting must be at the voter’s designated location.
Got a tip? Email Marina Trahan Martinez atmmartinez@kera.org. You can follow Marina at@HisGirlHildy.
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