County Attorney Press Releases

October 2006 - Posts

High School Students to Receive Training on How to Prevent Dating Violence

Members of the El Paso County Attorney's Domestic Violence Unit will offer an educational awareness seminar about dating violence to more than 600 Americas High School students.

The seminar called "Dating Violence: Awareness, Prevention and Reporting" is offered through out the year to hundreds of local middle and high school students to raise awareness about this social problem. Teenagers can choose healthier relationships when they learn to identify the early warning signs of an abusive relationship, understand that they have choices, and know that they are valuable individuals who deserve to be treated with respect. 

According to a nation-wide study conducted in 2000 by the Bureau of Justice, one third of all high school students have been or will be involved in an abusive relationship. Other statistics also reveal the seriousness of the problem. For example, in1995 seven percent of all murder victims were young women who were killed by their boyfriends.

"Some teenagers are surprised when they hear that dating violence is a serious problem in our community. They assume that because El Paso is a small, mostly Hispanic community, the problem is not as serious as in other parts of the country. In reality about 20 % of all the domestic violence victims that request protective orders in our office, are teenagers," said El Paso County Attorney José R. Rodríguez.

The dating violence seminar will be offered to three groups of students on November 1, from 8:45 AM until 4:00 PM at Americas High School, 12101 Pellicano. Although the event is not open to the public, school officials will allow the members of the media to be present.

WHO:       County Attorney's Office-Family Violence Unit

WHAT:     Seminar on Preventing Dating Violence

WHEN:     Wednesday, November 1, 2006 at 8:45 AM

WHERE:  Americas High School

12101 Pellicano

INFO:       Christina Rodriguez (High School Counselor) 937-2842

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Dating Violence Seminar Press Release.pdf

Statements Made by El Paso County Attorney Jose R. Rodriguez Regarding the Case of the 16-year-old Girl Accused of Drug Trafficking

 

"I am very concerned about the problem of teens trying to bring drugs into the U.S.

I believe the best way to fight this problem is to balance education, through community outreach programs, with vigorous prosecution of serious juvenile cases. This is why our office has made strong efforts to educate the teens in their schools about the consequences of getting involved with drug trafficking. We have distributed to many of the local schools a 15-minute documentary, produced by our office, on the consequences of getting involved with drug trafficking; we have done public presentations about the issue, and we have been talking to parents in community meetings. If we don't do these things, we might as well entrust the future of our kids to the drug cartels."

"Since 2002 we have seen a downward trend in the number of juveniles accused of transporting illegal drugs at the ports of entry. However, we cannot let down our guard and relax our efforts which, I believe, contributed to the reduction of this type of crime."

"It is not appropriate or ethical to speculate about the severity of possible sentences in cases that have not even gone to trial because the accused juveniles have not yet been found delinquent. Furthermore, in any juvenile case the severity of the punishment is not decided by our office, but by either a jury or the court."

                                                                                                                                                                             - 30 -

 16-year-old girl Case Statements 10-27-2006.pdf

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Candlelight Vigil to Raise Awareness About Mentally Ill in El Paso

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The lack of sufficient, good quality, and affordable long-term housing in El Paso for people suffering from severe mental illness, along with the limited access to crisis centers, intermediate care facilities, and outpatient services, is creating a public health crisis in our community. However, not enough people and organizations seem to be concerned about the issue.

            To raise awareness about the needs of the mentally ill in our community, El Paso County Attorney José R. Rodríguez will join members of the El Paso chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and local residents, in the annual Bipolar Disorder Awareness Candlelight Vigil. The event is scheduled for tomorrow October 5, 2006 at 7 pm outside the El Paso Psychiatric Center, 4615 Alameda Ave.

            County Attorney José R. Rodríguez says that the lack of services for the mentally ill in our community is merely shifting costs from the state to the local level. In April he filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of State Health Services, the El Paso Psychiatric Center, and El Paso MHMR alleging they are failing to timely and adequately assess and treat mentally ill individuals who are in crisis.

            “Emergency room visits and hospitalizations of mental patients have been increasing in El Paso during the last couple of years. Also, police and sheriff’s officers have been responding to a greater number of psychiatric crises, and many of these patients end up in the Texas criminal justice system”, explained Rodríguez.

            “We all need to unite to find a solution to this problem. A community, who does not take care of its mentally ill citizens, is not a healthy community” finalized Rodríguez.

About the National Mental Illness Awareness Week: Established in 1990 by Congress, the first week of October is designated as "Mental Illness Awareness Week" (MIAW) in recognition of NAMI’s efforts to raise mental illness awareness. "Bipolar Disorder Awareness Day" (BDAD) is held each year on the Thursday of MIAW to encourage further understanding and promote early intervention and treatment for this mental illness. MIAW and BDAD are NAMI’s premiere public awareness and public education campaigns that link the organization nationally to the organization’s over 1100 local affiliates across the country.

WHO:       El Paso County Attorney José R. Rodríguez

WHAT:     NAMI’s Bipolar Disorder Awareness Candlelight Vigil

WHEN:     Thursday, October 5, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE:  El Paso Psychiatric Center

4615 Alameda Ave.

      - 30 -

For more information about the vigil and other events planned for tomorrow, please call Leo DiValentino, Executive Director NAMI – El Paso Chapter at 534-5476, or Victor Ortíz, President of El Paso NAMI at 534-5478.

NAMI Vigil Press Release.pdf 

 

County Attorney and Texas Border Coalition will request the Texas legislature to solve serious health care problems along the border

  Members of the Texas Border Coalition approved this morning in San Antonio the 2007-2008 Border Health Legislative Agenda drafted by El Paso County Attorney José R. Rodríguez, as Chair of the TBC's Border Health Committee. 

            The legislative agenda includes dozens of recommendations for solving the most serious health care problems along the Texas/Mexico border. A document that includes all the recommendations will be presented to the Texas Governor and leaders of the legislature during a special meeting in December.

            The 2007-2008 Border Health Legislative Agenda requests the State to restore CHIP and Medicaid funding to the levels that existed in 2003, prior to the cuts approved by the State Legislature. It also asks the legislature to do away with the changes implemented the same year that make it difficult for citizens to receive services, like the 90-day waiting period for new CHIP enrollments and the reduction of the coverage period from 12 months to six.

            To solve the shortage of health care professionals in the border area, the legislative agenda asks, among other things, to increase the number of guaranteed admissions of border applicants to state supported medical schools, to provide scholarships to financially disadvantaged border students, and to fix the Medicaid and CHIP reimbursement rate disparities.

            "The shortage of doctors and nurses in the border area is in reality a serious problem of access to health care. In most cases, patients need to wait weeks to see a doctor, and frequently they have to go to other cities to consult a specialist. Border residents have the most limited health care services in the state of Texas, and to a certain extent, the problem exists because the Medicaid and CHIP reimbursement rates in the border area are much lower than in the rest of the state," said County Attorney José Rodríguez. 

            With regard to mental health crisis services, the agenda calls for the legislature to appropriate $222.13 million dollars per biennium as recommended by DSHS Crisis Services Redesign Committee. The proposed agenda also calls for the creation of a housing program for the mentally ill.

"With its current funding, the Department of State Health Services has only been able to serve about 28% of the adults and children with serious mental problems in the state of Texas. The mental health crisis is even worse in the border area, because those communities lack the resources and health care institutions to close the gap in services not offered by the state. As a result, in border communities like El Paso, most mental patients are not receiving the appropriate services, and many end up in the emergency rooms of local hospitals or in jail after suffering a mental crisis," Rodríguez explained. 

            The Texas Border Coalition is comprised of mayors, county judges, and Chambers of Commerce from all the communities along the Texas/Mexico border, from El Paso to Brownsville. Its mission is to make legislative recommendations to help the Texas border region grow and prosper economically. The current Chairman of the Coalition is Eagle Pass Mayor Chad Foster.

WHO:       Texas Border Coalition

WHAT:     Border Health Legislative Agenda

WHEN:     Monday October 23, 2006 at 9:00 AM

WHERE:  IBC Bank Community Suite (5th Floor)

130 E. Travis Street, Suite 300

San Antonio, TX

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Health Legislative Agenda Press Release.pdf 

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COUNTY ATTORNEY WILL TESTIFY IN AUSTIN AGAINST WEAKENING COLONIAS REGULATIONS

The Texas Senate Committee on International Relations and Trade will conduct hearings aimed at strengthening state law that prevents the creation of new colonias lacking basic water/wastewater infrastructure. The hearings come in response to recent proposals to water down existing colonias legislation.

            The legislation, known as Economically Distressed Areas Program ("EDAP"), was originally enacted in 1989 and made it illegal for land owners to create residential sub-divisions without water and sewage service in the outlying areas of the counties. Among other requirements, land owners had to comply with a "build-it or bond-it" provision, which required them to either build the necessary infrastructure before the sale of the plots, or post a financial assurance to guarantee that they would build it within the time declared in their plans.

            Last year a bill was filed which would have limited developers' financial responsibility to install water supply or sewer facilities to no more than three years.          

El Paso County Attorney José Rodríguez believes the proposed amendment would have opened the door for the development of new colonias, creating new problems that will later have to be resolved by the intervention of individual homeowners and taxpayers' money. 

"The Model Rules and the EDAP program have efficiently stopped the development of new colonias in El Paso County for over a decade. The State needs to be informed that the proposed changes will endanger the viability of the program", said County Attorney José Rodríguez. 

"The State needs to not only continue with the current program, but to also approve new legislation which gives county government legal authority to regulate land development and enact basic plumbing, fire and building codes".

Under current Texas law, county governments do not have land use powers to secure the orderly and healthy development of residential areas outside city limits.

"Some of the most severe problems El Paso County residents suffer, like flooding in the Mowad and Sparks sub-divisions, and the establishment of environmentally dangerous businesses next to residential areas, arise from the County Commissioner's inability to enact appropriate rules", explained Rodríguez.

"I will request that the Texas Legislature give county government more legal powers to guarantee its residents the quality of life that every citizen in the United States deserves", concluded Rodríguez.

El Paso County Attorney José Rodríguez, along with Assistant County Attorney Erich Morales, will testify in front of the Senate Committee on International Relations and Trade in Austin on Tuesday October 24, 2006 at 9:00 AM.

WHO:       El Paso County Attorney José R. Rodríguez

WHAT:     Colonias Regulation Testimony

WHEN:     Tuesday October 24, 2006 at 9:00 AM

WHERE:  Capitol Extension, Room E1.012

Austin, TX.

      - 30 -

For those interested members of the media, County Attorney José Rodríguez will be available for interviews all day Friday October 20, 2006. He will be out of town next week until Wednesday. To schedule an interview, please call Elhiu Dominguez at 546-2016.  

 Colonias Regulation Revised Press Release.pdf

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Thousands of Students will Learn how to Dispose of Hi-Tech Trash

High-tech trash, including old computers, televisions and cellular phones, might be causing environmental problems in El Paso. According to the EPA, circuit boards and batteries contain toxic materials such as mercury and hexavalent chromium. Despite that, there are very few federal and state regulations regarding the disposal of household electronic equipment, and because of that, much of it is improperly dumped in municipal landfills, creating a danger of contaminating the soil and the water underneath the site.

            With the purpose of teaching students from elementary to high school about the dangers of hi-tech trash and how to protect the environment in general, El Paso County Attorney's Office is helping Keep El Paso Beautiful to organize the Border City Recycles Day on November 15, 2006 at Tobin Park Recreation Center, 8831 Railroad Drive. This year the recycling theme is "E-Waste".

            This daylong event is sort of a fair with over 25 environmental educational booths, recycled materials fashion show contests for middle and high school students, recycled materials toy contests for elementary students, and a recycling relay game contest for a class prize. County Attorney José R. Rodríguez will give the opening remarks and explain the rules of the game.

            More than 2,000 students are expected to participate, along with several agencies and organizations, among them the City Environmental Services, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the El Paso Water Utilities, Fort Bliss Department of Environment, and the Environmental Prosecutor for the El Paso County Attorney's Office.

WHO:       County Attorney's Environmental Unit

WHAT:     Border City Recycles Day "E-Waste"

WHEN:     Wednesday November 15, 2006 from 9 AM to 2 PM

WHERE:  Nations Tobin Park Recreation Center

8831 Railroad Drive

INFO:       Cristina Viesca-Santos 546-2050 Ext. 3054

                   Cristina.viesca@ca.epcounty.com

      - 30 -

Members of the media interested in finding out more about high-tech waste in the El Paso area, please call the Clint Landfill Superintendent for the City of El Paso Environmental Services, Richards Adams, at 851-0089.

 Border City Recycles Day Press Release.pdf

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STATEMENTS FROM EL PASO COUNTY ATTORNEY JOSÉ R. RODRÍGUEZ REGARDING THE VOTING MACHINES COMPLAINTS

STATEMENTS FROM EL PASO COUNTY ATTORNEY JOSÉ R. RODRÍGUEZ REGARDING THE VOTING MACHINES COMPLAINTS 

"Up until this moment, all we have are allegations of voting problems. We are investigating the complaints our office received to determine if indeed there is a problem with the Diebold electronic voting machines. At this time there is no reason to believe the election has been compromised in any way."

"El Paso residents should not feel discouraged by these complaints. They should go out and vote on Tuesday. Our community needs high voter participation. Just be extra-careful when voting to make sure the ballot reflects your candidate choices.

                                                                                                                                                                                               -30-

 Voting Machines Statements.pdf