By the time the jail reported its first staffer with COVID-19, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo had spent days working on an executive order that would allow broad-scale compassionate releases of medically vulnerable, nonviolent inmates. But the effort has been complicated by an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, indicating to local officials the state may try to intervene.
![Exclusive: Lina Hidalgo seeking compassionate releases at Harris County Jail due to coronavirus](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_featured_image/public/articles/2021-08/Judge%2520Hidalgo.jpg?itok=0zIMBWHD)