Former Democratic Harris County District Legal professional Kim Ogg has joined Republican Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey’s workplace as an advisor.
In a press release to Houston Public Media, a spokesperson for Ramsey’s workplace confirmed that Ogg had been employed as a senior coverage advisor.
“Commissioner Ramsey is wanting ahead to the wealth of information she’ll carry to the precinct,” the spokesperson mentioned.
Ogg served as district lawyer from January 2017 till December of 2024. In March 2024, Ogg was defeated by Sean Teare within the Democratic major by a margin of greater than 55 share factors. Teare narrowly defeated Republican Dan Simons within the November common election for district lawyer and was sworn into workplace on Jan. 1.
Shortly after taking workplace in 2017, Ogg introduced a diversion program for minor marijuana possession instances in Harris County. Beneath this system, these caught with 4 ounces or much less of marijuana could be given the choice to take a $150 “decision-making” class to have the fees dropped. By 2019, the DA’s workplace had diminished its convictions for marijuana misdemeanor possession by 80%.
Regardless of this early success, Ogg quickly confronted tensions together with her fellow county Democrats. After County Choose Luna Hidalgo took workplace, she and Ogg typically clashed over the funding for the DA’s workplace.
One other supply of friction between Hidalgo and Ogg got here when Ogg’s workplace investigated three of Hidalgo’s then-staffers for allegedly collaborating within the bid-rigging of an $11 million county contract. The contract was ultimately canceled by the county, and three of Hidalgo’s former staffers had been indicted by a grand jury in 2022.
Earlier than leaving workplace, Ogg handed the prison investigation into the three staffers over to the Texas Legal professional Common’s Workplace
Ogg defended her choice on the time and mentioned she needed to make sure that the current major outcomes wouldn’t have an effect on the investigation.
“With the outcomes of the election, and the uncertainty about when the case will likely be tried, I felt it was my responsibility to get it to an workplace that I knew wouldn’t permit this case to be swept beneath the rug,” Ogg mentioned in March.
Ogg additionally took purpose at Teare and accused him of getting a battle of curiosity within the case since he was working with the Cogdell Regulation Agency, which represents Triantaphyllis. Teare had additionally acquired an endorsement from Hidalgo through the major.
As considered one of his first acts as DA, Teare recused himself and his new workplace from the investigation. Throughout her last months in workplace, Ogg additional separated herself from her fellow Democrats by endorsing incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz towards Democratic challenger U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.
