Justice for some: a collaborative investigation into the texas rangers

For decades, public corruption cases against state officials were investigated and prosecuted in Texas’ capital city. But in 2015, after a dustup at the highest levels of state government,

lawmakers instead moved those responsibilities to the Texas Rangers and local prosecutors. A new analysis of the cases from the past five years reveals few have been prosecuted and most

Ranger investigations focused on lower-level officials. In this investigative collaboration, we take a closer look at the Central Texas cases falling short and the legislative history that

led to a system critics claim does little to hold elected leaders accountable. ------------------------- PUBLIC INTEGRITY CASES INTERACTIVE MAP Click on a region to view the Texas Rangers

public integrity cases spanning 2015-2020, broken up by county. ------------------------- PART 1 The Texas Rangers are tasked with investigating corruption and crimes by public officials.

Those officials are rarely held accountable. by Lise Olsen ------------------------- REPORTER ROUNDTABLE Texas Observer’s Lise Digger, KXAN’s Josh Hinkle and David Barer, KTEP’s Angela

Kocherga, and Fort Worth Report’s Jessica Priest go live on Facebook to discuss their investigation. ------------------------- PART 2 ------------------------- KTEP INTERVIEW WITH REPORTER

LISE OLSEN ------------------------- PART 3 by Jessica Priest, ProPublica ------------------------- PART 4 A former Texas Ranger provides rare insights into the mostly secret system set up

to investigate complaints about public officials. by Lise Olsen