Residents of north Harris County will face a stark choice in November when they cast a vote for Harris County Constable in Precinct 4: Republican incumbent Mark Herman or his Democrat challenger, Samantha Hutchison.
Hutchison, who is listed on the ballot as Sam “Hutch” Hutchison, is demanding improvement in the precinct and wants to change a “good-old-boy” culture she says has undercut transparency and accountability.
Precinct 4 is one of eight Harris County constable precincts, spanning more than 500 square miles in the northern and northwest part of the county, including Humble, Spring and Cypress. With a staff of nearly 700 and an operating budget north of $66 million, it is the largest constable precinct in Texas.
Constables are elected law enforcement positions who oversee deputy constables, licensed peace officers with the same authority as municipal police officers or county sheriff deputies. In most parts of Texas, constables handle minor law enforcement activity, such as serving warrants or eviction notices. Constables in Harris County enjoy better funding and operate large agencies with activities that vary from precinct to precinct.
In addition to patrols, Precinct 4 operates an extensive Criminal Investigations Division with units dedicated to domestic violence, environmental crimes and “high tech crimes.”
Critics, however, say the county constables are redundant and lack accountability. Another source of controversy is the contract deputy program, which allows neighborhoods to pay for additional law enforcement through deputies who patrol their area. The program, which is unique to Harris County, has proven popular: the seven participating precincts are collectively set to earn almost $80 million in contracts over the next year, according to the county Office of Management and Budget.
Supporters of the program say they appreciate the personalized service and quick response times they get from contract deputies. A 2018 study by the Kinder Institute of Urban Research at Rice University, however, called the program “boutique” policing that favors the rich, arguing that contract deputies rarely spend time policing non-contracted communities as expected.
Of the constable precincts that employ contract deputies, Precinct 4 has the most by far — about 426 deputies, 80 percent of its total force are contract deputies, according to the Harris County Office of Management and Budget.
Hutchison: Improvement needed
Hutchison has leveled many of the same criticisms against Herman that the incumbent has faced in the past – in particular, that the precinct prioritizes service in wealthier communities.
“There’s a lot of improvement that needs to be done,” she said. “And it’s going to have to start from the inside out.”
Hutchison, 38, brings more than 10 years of law enforcement experience to the race, much of it spent as a sergeant in Harris County Constable Precinct 6. That precinct terminated Hutchison’s employment in 2023. Hutchison said she was fired after announcing her intention to run for constable in Precinct 4.
“I had never been in trouble or anything in Precinct 6, ever, but the minute I decided I wanted to run, it became kind of a conflict of interests,” she said. “They just kind of tried to conjure up something.”
In a statement, Precinct 6 pushed back on Hutchison’s explanation.
“Samantha Hutchison was made aware of her reason for termination and she is aware that it was not related to her plan to run for constable in another precinct,” Trevor Motl, an agency spokesperson, wrote in an email.
Motl did not respond to a request for further information.
After this story was published, Hutchison provided a copy of a record indicating that a background check conducted by her current employer found she had been honorably discharged from Precinct 6.
Currently an officer at the San Jacinto College Police Department, Hutchison is a native of northeast Houston and lives in Humble.
There, she said, she has fielded complaints from residents that the constables’ service in areas that do not pay for contract deputies is comparatively slow.
“If you’re not paying an additional fee via contract, then you don’t get the same support and assistance that you should be allowed as a tax-paying citizen,” she said.
Hutchison also said personal experience has shown her Precinct 4 constables are in need of more robust training. On one occasion, she said, a Precinct 4 deputy constable “racially profiled” her during a traffic stop in her own neighborhood in Humble. Hutchison, who is Black, said the deputy accused her of loitering and did not follow appropriate traffic stop protocols, which could have put his own safety at risk.
Hutchison said elevated training requirements would reduce such encounters, boosting the deputy constables’ quality of service, safety and confidence on the job.
“It’s not always the deputies’ fault,” Hutchison said. “Those deputies could use a little more support from their command staff.”
Hutchison urged voters to make themselves heard and hold the constable’s office accountable by demanding better service.
“Pay attention to how you want to be treated, be familiar with what your expectations are, and push for those things,” she said. “We have a voice and I don’t feel like it’s heard enough.”
Herman: nine-year incumbent
Herman declined to be interviewed for this story and did not respond when invited to react to Hutchison’s comments.
Herman, 60, has worked in Precinct 4 since he first entered law enforcement in 1985. He took office as constable in May 2019, after his predecessor, Ron Hickman, became Harris County sheriff. Though initially appointed to the role, he won more than 57 percent of the vote in the 2020 election.
Herman’s time in office has been characterized in recent years by high-profile conflicts with Harris County Commissioners Court and criminal judges.
In 2022, Herman, along with Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap, complained directly to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that Harris County Commissioners Court had cut the constables’ funding in violation of a state law that forbids local governments from reducing law enforcement spending without approval by voters. Later that year, Herman accused Harris County criminal court judges of making crime worse by inappropriately dismissing thousands of cases.
Critics, including judges, noted that criminal cases usually are dismissed on a prosecutor’s motion, and said the dismissals reflected the constables’ failure to build adequate cases.
Herman also came under scrutiny after he argued with a Harris County sheriff’s deputy who stopped him for running a red light in 2018. Herman later told the Houston Chronicle he had “learned from this incident.”
During his previous run for reelection in 2020, Herman highlighted various achievements in office, including boosting the precinct’s social media presence and “understanding” all of his employees. He also pushed back against criticism that his office served wealthier communities with contracts better than others.
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