Major
Harris County Sheriff's Office
Houston, Texas
Patrick L. Dougherty, is currently a Major with the Harris County Sheriff’s Department assigned to the Justice Management Bureau. He has over 40 years of Law Enforcement and Correctional experience. In 2017 he retired after 36 years from the Houston Police Department (Houston Texas). During his tenure at HPD he spent time as a patrolman, FTO, sergeant and 24 years at the rank of Lieutenant running operations at the Houston Police Jail, one of the largest municipal jail systems in the nation.
In 2001, he was one of the original authors of a technical report recommending to the city and county that they build a joint inmate processing center and close the city jails. Major Dougherty, representing the city and his counterpart for the Sheriff Department worked through years of financial setbacks, political issues and numerous stakeholder changes to successfully make the project succeed. In February 2019, the 100 million dollar Joint Processing Center opened and the city closed its Jails. Major Dougherty also was successful in substantially changing city jail policies, increase training and developed more accountability leading to the end of a multiple decade federal consent decree over city jail conditions.
Major Dougherty has a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Mississippi. He has attended Southwestern Law Enforcement Institute and is a graduate of the National Institute of Corrections Jail Administrator School. Major Dougherty has a Jailers license and a Master Peace Officer License from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. Major Dougherty was also the recipient of the 100 Club’s 2016 Officer of the Year award for his contributions to the Harris County/City of Houston Joint Processing Center project.
He is a Certified Jail Manager (CJM) under the American Jail Association and has passed the Jail Administrator exam for the State of Texas.
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Monday, May 23, 2022
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM