Counties Fail to Update Cases in Texas's Crime Databases

The state's criminal database, riddled with holes four years ago, has just as many gaps today.

Although officials in Dallas and other poorly reporting counties promised in 2004 to do better, the Department of Public Safety says counties in the most recent assessment submitted outcomes on just 69 percent of criminal charges – the same percentage as before.

"That's astonishing. That's leaving a substantial total number of criminals unreported in the system," said John Bradley, Williamson County district attorney. "That's the biggest threat to public safety that you can imagine, particularly in a post-9/11 time when we rely on databases to protect the public."

Angie Klein, manager of the DPS criminal history records bureau, attributed the counties' lack of progress to slow resolution of many felony cases, and glitches in big urban counties, which can bring down statewide compliance rates.

"It's hard to keep trained personnel," she said.

Austin Educator Background Checks Turn up 15 Felonies, 241 Misdemeanors

The Austin school district has fingerprinted about two-thirds of its approximately 6,600 certified educators, and criminal histories have popped up for 256 employees after a search of a national crime database.

Checks as of Feb. 20 found that 15 educators had felony criminal records, while the other 241 had misdemeanor criminal records, according to information released under the Texas Public Information Act.