SAN MARCOS, Texas — New fallout from a deadly crash involving a former San Marcos police officer has an advocacy group one step closer to justice.
KVUE has been covering the case of San Marcos Police Department Sgt. Ryan Hartman for years, along with his victims' fight for justice and changes to police policy in San Marcos.
“This is a petition to remove civil service status for our law enforcement officers only,” Eric Martinez, the executive director of advocacy group Mano Amiga Safe Communities, said.
According to Chapter 143 of San Marcos' local government law, civil service status for police means there are certain procedures for hiring, firing and disciplining an officer. They say it's to keep them free from political influence.
“[Chapter] 143 helps prohibit law enforcement officers who break the law from being held accountable,” Martinez said.
According to Martinez, they're doing this work for Jennifer Miller and others like her. Miller was hit and killed by Hartman in 2020 when he ran a stop sign.
“He was recommended for charges of criminally negligent homicide by the local Lockhart law enforcement,” Martinez said. “He was not held accountable. He got just a traffic ticket and was able to get that off of his record as well."
According to Martinez, the now-San Marcos police chief said due to civil service status, the department could not hold Hartman accountable because it had been more than 180 days since the accident. There’s a statute of limitations on internal investigations for officers in the San Marcos.
Hartman returned to work the next year with no disciplinary action.
“We knew that we needed to remove it so that way our community could hold officers accountable for when law enforcement decides to break the law,” Martinez said.
He said Mano Amiga tried to take up this issue with the city council with five "Hartman Reforms," seen as a way to change the civil service law, including:
- End the 180-day rule to repeal the statute of limitations on investigating wrongdoing by officers
- End the delay of interviews for misconduct, which currently allows officers time to prepare their answers. They are provided an opportunity to review any videotape, photograph or other materials before giving an official statement
- Increasing public transparency for personnel files, saying documented misconduct should be available for supervising officers and the community
- End third-party arbitration
- End vacation forfeiture as a substitute for suspension, which lets officers preserve seniority and promotion advantages when they are disciplined for misconduct
However, Martinez said the council's response wasn't good enough.
“Rather than crumbs, we would take the whole loaf ... and the whole loaf is civil service removal,” Martinez said.
Mano Amiga has collected more than 700 signatures from the community to remove civil service over the last six months. Martinez said if they have 10% of registered voters from the most recent municipal election, they will have enough signatures for the city council to place the item on the ballot without approval.
RELATED: A former San Marcos police sergeant involved in a fatal 2020 crash is trying to get his job back
“[San Marcos City Clerk’s office has] a 45-day window to verify those signatures, and then it'll go to city council, who will call it for the ballot in November,” Martinez said. “We all deserve a say in how we are policed. We all deserve to have a truly safe community, and we all deserve to be able to not live under fear when those who are in law enforcement break the law."
KVUE reached out to the San Marcos Police Department, which said it will not comment on this matter.