HOUSTON, Texas – On Monday, KPRC 2 Investigates revealed at least nine criminal complaints filed with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office concerning Houston Independent School District’s taxpayer-funded rollout of last year’s massive $4.4-billion election.
This all follows KPRC 2 reporter Mario Diaz’s series of reports from February, in which he uncovered a key action item buried in HISD’s budget.
A year ago, the district allocated $2 million for what it said at the time was the cost “related to putting the plan together and hiring a consulting group to support.” Legal experts took issue with this action.
“That support word, that’s a big problem,” said former U.S. Attorney Ryan Patrick.
We also found videos the district posted on social media related to the bond election. At the end of the highly produced videos, HISD prominently proclaims in capital letters, “RENEW HISD.”
State Senator Mayes Middleton called it “electioneering” during our initial set of reports.
KPRC 2 Investigates obtained a legal opinion from the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas for HISD. The 16-page letter, dated March 12, was sent to HISD’s lawyers after they asked for an opinion following a request for public information made to the district last fall.
An opinion is a formal, written legal interpretation of a specific law or legal question provided by the AG’s office to designated public officials, not the general public, to guide their actions and ensure compliance with the law.
On page 10 of the letter, the AG’s office writes to HISD, “The district revealed a letter from the attorney general office alleging that the district engaged in electioneering and threatening legal action if this is not addressed.”
The admission of a letter sent from AG Ken Paxton’s office to HISD alleging “electioneering” did not include a date as to when the letter was sent.
Jessi Heiner, a Digital Organizer for the Houston Federation of Teachers, confirmed that she was the original requestor.
“This is a clear indicator that they know that something was at least strong enough for them to have to write a letter,” Heiner wrote. “I just never thought we would be in a situation like this.”
On Monday, we emailed HISD Superintendent Mike Miles’ communications team a request for the referenced letter from the AG’s office to the district where the original allegation of electioneering was revealed.
The district’s communications team, led by Alexandra Elizondo, Chief of Public Affairs and Communications, has yet to reply. In fact, Elizondo and her team still have not answered questions we have sent on three occasions, dating back to Feb. 28.
It should also be noted that Miles has not been willing to sit down and answer KPRC 2′s questions in a formal interview.
We also talked with HISD’s in-house attorney, Katherine Ellison, regarding the AG’s letter, who informed us we had to ask HISD for it officially through a records request.
We did that on Tuesday, April 1. The district’s “IT Service Desk” reply informed us that it had been assigned to Ellison.
All this is because the DA’s office confirmed on Monday that at least two criminal complaints have been filed, and they are investigating.
As for comment on the investigation? A spokesperson for DA Sean Teare made it clear: “We do not discuss details about open investigations.”
