- Tommy Thomas (sheriff)
Tommy Thomas is the Republican
sheriff of Harris County,Texas .Biography
Sheriff Tommy Thomas was sworn in as the 27th Sheriff of Harris County on June 28, 1995. He was elected to his 3rd four-year term in November 2004. Sheriff Thomas started his public services career as a member of the United States Army. After being honorably discharged in 1968, he joined the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. By 1982, he was promoted to the rank of Major. In 1988, he was promoted to Chief Deputy under Sheriff Johnny Klevenhagen, where he remained until his appointment as Sheriff. He is the first Sheriff in modern history to hold every rank within the department including Detective.Sheriff Tommy Thomas has approved raises for employees and has done many other things to improve the department since he was elected in 1995.
Career
Controversy erupted in January, 2008, when the sheriff's office announced that all e-mails would be deleted automatically after 14 days. State law requires record retention for two to five years. [ [http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5465569.html Sheriff's office e-mail purge catches some deputies off guard] ]
Following media investigation of the department's e-mails, the
Houston [http://www.houstontx.gov/police/vip/vip_mac.htm Ministers Against Crime] said Sheriff Tommy Thomas should step down after a cartoon about theRev. Al Sharpton and theRev. Jesse Jackson was found in his e-mails. [ [http://www.click2houston.com/news/15128713/detail.html Ministers Against Crime Want Sheriff To Resign] ] The group said they are worried about the mindset of Harris County leaders after learning Thomas sent that e-mail and finding out about racial e-mails sent byDistrict Attorney Chuck Rosenthal.On 15-Feb-2008, a lawsuit was filed calling for the removal from office of Thomas, as well as
District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal, who resigned almost immediately. [ [http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=5960360 DA Chuck Rosenthal steps down] ]The sheriff's office is under investigation for the surveillance of two brothers who successfully sued Harris County for civil rights violations.cite news |first=Wayne |last=Dolcefino |title=Bombshell in probe of sheriff's office |url=http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/13_undercover&id=6157597 |publisher=abc13.com |date=2008-05-21 |accessdate=2008-05-21 ] About 100 people conducted a protest in front of Sheriff Thomas' offices, during which they publicly called for his resignation. [cite news |first=Ted |last=Oberg |title=Protestors call for sheriff to step down . Sheriff.|url=http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6223482 |work=KTRK-TV/DT |publisher=abc13.com |date=2008-06-24 |accessdate=2008-06-24 ]
ee also
References
External links
* [http://www.hcso.hctx.net/ Welcome to the Harris County Sheriff's Office Website]
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