Houston voters will decide Proposition A in the November election, a measure that would formally prohibit the Houston Police Department from carrying out no-knock search warrants and would make enforcement of marijuana possession the department’s lowest priority, ABC13 Houston reported Thursday. Under the measure, officers would have to wait 15 seconds after announcing themselves before entering a home.
Kingwood sits inside Houston city limits, so Lake Houston area residents who live in the city will see Proposition A on their ballot. ABC13 reported that HPD says it has not executed a no-knock warrant since a 2020 executive order issued after the 2019 Harding Street raid that killed two homeowners, and that a raid on a Kingwood home in August was carried out under a no-knock warrant by the Gulf Coast Violent Offender Task Force rather than by HPD. Russ Gundrum, the Kingwood homeowner whose house was raided, told the station he plans to vote for the measure and hopes a similar restriction eventually reaches the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
The station also reported objections. Attorney Cordt Akers told ABC13 that the measure would keep officers from seeking a police chief’s permission for a no-knock warrant, cautioned that a 15 second wait could give someone inside time to hide evidence, and said he expects the Texas attorney general’s office to challenge the measure if voters approve it. ABC13 reported that the attorney general’s office had not responded to its inquiry.
Early voting in Harris County begins Monday, October 19, and runs through Friday, October 30.
