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Fort Bend / Southwest • Volume 46 • No. 25
County cracks down on illegal massage parlors By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Fort Bend County commissioners court last week approved new regulations aimed at stopping illegal massage parlors that offer sexual services. The move is part of a longstanding effort to
for Judge, Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3 in Fort Bend
Smith-Lawson
crack down on the illegal businesses – an effort that has led local law enforcement agencies to group together to arrest those that participate. While the state’s criminal laws already prohibit things like prostitution, sexual assault and other illegal massage parlor-related crimes,
making the businesses illegal in the county will give county leaders new civil remedies to deal with the organizations, according to County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson. “My office will use civil remedies to shut down these illicit establishments that encourage prostitution, human trafficking
Short court
SEE PARLORS PAGE 9
Stafford residents question local HOA over tennis court size
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Local deputies to use new body cameras
By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
After years of county-level law enforcement agencies operating under piecemeal policies about body cameras, all sheriff’s deputies and many constables’ office employees will receive the same body cameras in coming weeks as Fort Bend County shifts toward a more unified policy about the technology’s use. County Judge KP George last week held a news conference to announce the county would soon have more than 650 body cameras and additional cruiser cameras after the commissioners court last year approved a multimillion-dollar contract with Axon to provide the cameras. “It is about transparency,” George said. “And, ultimately, the goal of this policy is to improve officer safety, public transparency and accountability.” Before the commissioners court in May 2021 approved a new body camera policy, each of the county-level law enforcement agencies- including the sheriff’s office and constables’ offices – operated under slightly different rules and used somewhat different camera technology, according to county attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson. Now, deputies with the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office along with law enforcement officers with Constable Precincts 1, 3 and 4 will all wear the same Axon body cameras, Smith-Lawson said. “It will also include investigators with the (district attorney’s office), my office and the fire marshal’s office,” Smith-Lawson said. The county has purchased more than 650 new body cameras to outfit law enforcement and administrators will start equipping deputies as they receive shipments, Smith-Lawson said. The goal is to have about 50 percent of staff equipped within the next six to eight weeks, George said.
and promotion of prostitution in Fort Bend County,” she wrote. Essentially, before the new ordinances, law enforcement might arrest someone on prostitution charges, but now county attorneys will have the
Stafford resident George Balias looks at a tennis court in the Promenade subdivision. Residents and the HOA are clashing over the court's size. (Photo by Matt deGrood)
A new tennis court finished last year in Stafford’s Promenade subdivision has a group of residents questioning their local homeowners association, asking who’s to blame for designing a court that is too small to use. Essentially, the fence around the area runs so close to the baselines of the court that there’s no room to serve, said George Balias, a Stafford resident. “Normally, I wouldn’t think anything of it, but my wife and I like to play tennis,” he said. “Once it was complete, we took a trip there, and realized it was completely unusable as a tennis court. The slab is too small, and there’s fencing where the lines should be. It’s not constructed properly.” As Balias and other residents began to ask questions about the tennis court – including specifics about the contract signed to build it, who built it, what the design dimensions were, etc. – they had trouble getting quick responses from the management company charged with overseeing the association, they said. “During the tennis court process, did anyone from the board or Sterling ASI visit the construction site?” asked Constantine ‘Costa’ Thanos, in an email to the association’s board and management company that was provided to the Star. “Please advise.” As of Monday after-
noon, representatives for the management company, Houston-based Sterling ASI, had not responded to more than five emails and three phone calls over a weeklong period seeking comment about the ongoing dispute. In the mind of Balias and other residents, the issue is figuring out who is to blame and who can fix the tennis courts to be usable, or return to residents the money spent to build it, Balias said. After visiting the tennis court, Balias said he reached out to Sterling ASI via email in November, seeking a copy of the plans for the court; who was responsible for hiring the construction contractor; information about the contractor; an itemized invoice for the construction and an estimated date that the court was completed. Employees for the management company responded on Nov. 29, saying they had forwarded the request, according to emails provided by Balias. But residents didn’t receive any documents until they’d sent several more emails checking on the status, and the management company eventually responded by sending three documents on Dec. 14, Balias said. According to both state law and local homeowners association guidelines, homeowners within an association’s boundaries are legally entitled to receive any documents or information that they request,
SEE HOA PAGE 9
Legacy of Black cowboys lives on at local rodeo By Matt deGrood MDEGROOD@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Ramone Jackson has been working in rodeos for so long that he can’t even remember when he first learned to ride a horse. “I legitimately don’t know when I first learned,” he said. “Us Jacksons have always had an innate ability.” Jackson, who was born in Alvin and grew up in
Angleton, is essentially Black cowboy royalty. His parents are Robert and Catherine Jackson – organizers of the state’s first Black rodeo in 1953 and founders of the renowned McBeth Riding and Charity Club in 1960. He is also kin to Buster Jackson, who worked alongside Fort Bend County’s George family and was also the first Black man to obtain a trail riders permit, according to the George
Foundation. This month, Ramone Jackson will help honor his family when he works at the George Ranch’s third annual rodeo – an event dedicated this year to commemorating the legacy of Black cowboys in Fort Bend County. February is Black History Month, and the rodeo is set during the month
SEE COWBOYS PAGE 9
Ramone Jackson will work at the third annual George Ranch Rodeo, which commemorates the local legacy of Black cowboys. (Contributed photo)
JERRY FLOWERS
Real Estate Agent, MBA, CNE, ABE Army Veteran (RET) • 832-702-5241 Jerry@dreamhomesbyjerry.com
4500 Highway 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478