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Judge Hidalgo embraces a Harris County resident while visiting
communities after Hurricane Beryl
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| It’s been a busy year, Harris County! As we look forward to all of the great things to come in 2025, we wanted first to take a look back at some of our top accomplishments of 2024. Here are some achievements that we’re most proud of: |
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1. Making Harris County more disaster resilient
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Judge Hidalgo surveys the community with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and other local officials after Hurricane Beryl in July
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| Whether it was the April floods, the derecho in May, Hurricane Beryl in July, the Deer Park Pipeline fire in September, or any of the other disasters our community experienced in 2024, Harris County worked together and came out stronger. Judge Hidalgo was proud to work together with all of the precincts as well as the federal government to deliver critical disaster relief aid for our community.
Voters did their part too by passing Proposition A, which is a historic step toward making Harris County fully flood resilient. Over the past six years, our investment in building new flood infrastructure has grown by leaps and bounds, but our investments in maintenance have not grown at the same pace. The proposition that Harris County voters approved will allow us to invest in maintaining all of the flood projects we’re building so we can turn the page on flooding in our community. |
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2. Delivering critical tax cuts for early childcare providers
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Judge Hidalgo visits Cradles 2 Crayons, an early childcare center in Harris County, after Proposition 2 passes in April
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| Since 2018, Harris County has invested a historic $149 million in American Rescue Plan funding toward early childhood initiatives, the largest known investment out of any jurisdiction that received ARPA dollars. Under Judge Hidalgo’s leadership, Harris County has created more than 5,000 high-quality early childcare slots and that number is still growing.
This year, Judge Hidalgo was proud to continue her work to make early childhood care more accessible by passing Proposition 2, a major tax exemption for qualifying child care providers. The property tax exemptions are expected to save the average Harris County childcare provider $2,800 per year in county property taxes. These savings will help childcare facilities keep their doors open so they can continue providing critical services to Harris County families. |
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3. Securing federal funds for clean energy and green jobs in Texas, continuing Harris County’s leadership in the clean energy transition
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| Judge Hidalgo’s office led the charge in delivering Solar for All funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the entire state of Texas. Harris County and other jurisdictions in Texas will use these funds to invest in solar power and green jobs. This historic funding will help us expand access to residential and community solar power, especially in lower income areas. Solar for All will help our community and our economy become more resilient. |
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4. Achieving the biggest government ethics reform in 50 years
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Judge Hidalgo demonstrates at a press conference in April how Harris County’s procurement process previously did not meet basic standards
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| In April, Judge Hidalgo pushed for Commissioners Court to make the most significant government ethics reform in Harris County in over 50 years. After learning that Harris County was not following basic standards when it came to our procurement process, Judge Hidalgo called for more objectivity and transparency in the procurement process. As a result, the Flood Control District and Engineering Department are now required to have written procedures for selecting a winning vendor, maintain documentation of the process, and require conflict of interest forms for department employees involved in awarding contracts. |
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5. Improving conditions at the Harris County jail
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| In June, Harris County Commissioners voted to improve the jail’s physical infrastructure by investing $15 million to address immediate repairs and maintenance needs. In August, the Harris County jail passed a state safety inspection for the first time in two years. While complying with state requirements should be the bare minimum, Judge Hidalgo and Commissioners Court are committed to continuing their work to improve conditions for both residents and staff at the Harris County Jail in 2025.
Commissioners Court also worked on programs to address overcrowding by reducing the jail population. One issue that contributes to overcrowding is people who are stuck in jail while waiting to be restored to mental competency to withstand trial. With this year’s budget, Commissioners Court voted to invest $1 million to support the Jail Based Competency Restoration program, which has restored around 330 people to competency and was nationally recognized by the National Association of Counties (NACo) last year for its innovation. |
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6. Expanding apprenticeship programs and strengthening Harris County’s economy
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Judge Hidalgo celebrates National Apprenticeship Week during a backstage tour of IATSE Local 51’s stagehand apprenticeship program at the Wortham Theater Center in November
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| Since 2023, Harris County has invested more than $17 million in our Apprenticeship Advantage program, which helps train residents in high-paying, fast-growing jobs of the future like IT, construction, public transportation, technology, and live entertainment industries. Apprenticeship Advantage has become one of Harris County’s most impactful ARPA-funded programs, even earning recognition from the White House for its success. |
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7. Continuing Harris County’s historic progress to reduce homelessness
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| Since Judge Hidalgo took office in 2019, Harris County, in collaboration with the City of Houston, has reduced homelessness by 18 percent, even during the pandemic, and turned Harris County and Houston into a national model for reducing homelessness. Harris County has invested $95 million in housing-first initiatives to reduce homelessness including funding for more permanent and rapid re-housing, a diversion program to mitigate the root causes of homelessness, and support services including substance abuse support and employment services.
This year, Harris County continued its historic progress to reduce homelessness and lowered the number of people experiencing homelessness since 2023. Right now Harris County has about 3,000 people experiencing homelessness at any given time, which is much lower than other similar metro areas. Judge Hidalgo and Harris County will work to continue this progress in 2025 by working with the City of Houston and other stakeholders to identify new funding sources to reduce homelessness even further. |
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8. Setting Harris County government’s ‘North Star’ by passing the first-ever countywide strategic plan
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Judge Hidalgo meets with residents at a community listening session in April to hear feedback from residents on the county’s strategic plan
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| Harris County Commissioners Court approved the County’s first strategic plan in October. Passing the countywide strategic plan is a long overdue step in bringing Harris County government into the 21st century. Over the last year, Harris County worked with community residents, experts and our department heads to create a plan to address the issues most important to our community, including continuing our work to improve early childhood care access in Harris County. This strategic plan will be the ‘North Star’ that will guide Commissioners Court’s work for years to come.
Thank you to all of the community members who gave us critical feedback as Harris County developed this plan! As we look toward 2025, the county’s next step is creating an implementation plan to ensure the county sticks to these goals so they can tackle the issues and priorities that residents care most about. |
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9. Adding more than 1300 new units of multifamily affordable housing in Harris County
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| In 2024, Harris County created or preserved thousands of affordable housing units, so that the families and workers who are coming to Harris County can actually afford to live here. In total, the county completed construction on 1,345 units of multifamily affordable housing using American Rescue Plan dollars and funding from the federal government’s Community Development Block Grant program. While the need is still much greater than the affordable housing currently available, Commissioners Court is committed to continuing this work in 2025. |
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10. Improving public safety by investing in programs that are not just tough on crime, but smart on crime
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| Data shows that violent crime is down in Harris County and nationwide. As part of passing this year’s budget, Harris County Commissioners voted to invest $9.5M in programs like the Holistic Assistance Response Team (HART). HART dispatches interdisciplinary, unarmed first responders to non-violent 911 calls to assist residents and connect them to appropriate resources. This is as opposed to sending armed first responders, to avoid escalating the situation and free up law enforcement’s capacity to respond to violent crimes. Since launching in March 2022, HART has responded to 14,636 calls from the community with 62% of calls being resolved on scene. |
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And we can’t forget a special personal accomplishment: Judge Hidalgo’s wedding! She married her husband, David James, at a destination wedding in the Philippines. We wish the happy couple many years of love and happiness.
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We can’t wait to keep the great work going in 2025! The County Judge’s Office wishes Harris County happy holidays and a Happy New Year.
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