Staff Report
Officials have delayed the implementation of the Cite & Divert policy past the original Sept. 1 date in order to better comply with the latest COVID-19 related guidelines from Gov. Greg Abbott.
Abbott pushed back to Oct. 1 guidelines concerning in-person out functions and, Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau, the start of the policy at most county law enforcement agencies was changed “to coincide” with the relaxation of those guidelines.
The policy was announced in early July by Mau and Sheriff Gary Cutler and would apply within the HCSO and the police departments of Kyle, Buda, San Marcos and Texas State University.
The move is a step beyond the Cite & Release policy adopted by San Marcos PD earlier this year in that it gives officers the discretion to allow certain offenders the chance to avoid the criminal justice system entirely and keep their record clean.
“We also have some work to do coordinating the process with our pretrial services office, and with the defense bar to address issues raised by the defense counsel representative” during the most recent meeting of the count’s Criminal Justice Commission, a subcommittee of which met this week.
