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Sheriff Marian Brown announced Monday that she’s in the race to keep her seat as the top law enforcement officer in Dallas County.
Brown will face off against her former boss, Lupe Valdez, and newcomer Rodney Thomas in next year’s Democratic primary in the race to remain the top elected official overseeing the sheriff’s department and county jail.
Brown was first appointed to the position in 2017 after Valdez resigned to run for governor. Brown is the first Black woman to hold the position, winning elections in 2018 and 2020. Valdez is running for her fifth term as sheriff. Thomas’ experience includes 24 years in federal law enforcement. Thomas said this is his first run for office.
Brown steered the county’s law enforcement branch during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under her oversight, the county jail passed its state inspection this year, after previously failing in 2021 and 2022.
“I am proud of the work we have done, especially during the difficult days of COVID-19. We are daily focused on our jail operations, and we are doing all we can to make Dallas County safer,” Brown said in a statement. “I am honored to have strong support from those who know my work and commitment to serve.”
The jail has struggled with staffing shortages, leading to $230 million in overtime last year. Some officials worry that an aging jail guard population could lead to large-scale vacancies within the next decade. Brown previously tol that her department is looking to attract more high school graduates for jobs.
“We have to step up our game to reach out to those young people,” Brown said in May. “And we do that by piquing their curiosity, bringing them in.”
The jail has also been a focal point of countywide technical plagues this year. Sheriff’s department employees were the first to voice concerns about countywide payroll software changes that left them with inaccurate pay and time off. Some filed complaints with the federal government, sparking an investigation.
The district attorney’s office, public defenders and judges say the county’s criminal database migration to Odyssey has left inmates languishing in jail longer than before. On Monday, the county reported that the jail has reached 98% capacity.
Officials said in an August Jail Population Committee meeting that some inmates have been released because the software problems are making it difficult, if not impossible, for prosecutors to file cases against them by the 90-day state deadline.
The sheriff’s department also announced in March that a data breach had exposed private information on potentially thousands of county computers. Surplus computers used by the sheriff’s department contained criminal justice information from a database used by prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges.
Brown’s spokesperson Jasmyn Carter previously told The News that keeping the department compliant with federal standards on criminal justice information is a priority for the sheriff.