AUSTIN — The 51st State District Court in Tom Green County on April 15 sentenced Lehi Barlow Jeffs of Eldorado to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting a child.

The court, in San Angelo, rendered its prison sentence after the defendant entered a plea and the judge found that the defendant perpetrated both sexual assault and bigamy.

The court also sentenced Michael George Emack of Eldorado to seven years in prison for violating Texas bigamy laws.

The sentence will run concurrently with the seven-year sentence he received in January for sexually assaulting a 16-yearold girl.

Twelve YFZ Ranch defendants have been indicted on sexual assault of a child, bigamy or other charges; five defendants have been convicted on felony charges and sentenced to prison; the other seven defendants are awaiting trial.

All prosecutions are being handled by the Office of the Attorney General, working in cooperation with District Attorney Steve Lupton of the 51st Judicial District.

The charges stem from a spring 2009 raid on Yearning for Zion Ranch, a spread near Eldorado owned and operated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Smoking ban funds available

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs on April 12 announced the availability of grant money for schools and local law enforcement agencies to bolster their tobacco abatement efforts.

Grants of $1,000 to $150,000 can be used for tobacco education for kids, tobacco retailers and court personnel; keeping schools and school events tobacco-free; and sting operations to catch retailers selling tobacco products to minors.

“Consistent education efforts show kids and retailers that Texas is serious about preventing young people from taking up an extremely costly habit — in terms of money spent on tobacco and the high cost of tobacco related illnesses,” Combs said.

The deadline to apply for a grant is May 7 for schools with on-campus law enforcement and May 14 for police departments, sheriffs, constables and district attorneys.

See http://www.texasahead.org for information and application forms.

Reporting fugitives pays more

Thanks to additional state funding, Texas Crime Stoppers and the Texas Department of Public Safety plan to increase rewards for citizen who help track down fugitives on the Texas Top 10 Most Wanted list to $5,000, with some rewards reaching up to $50,000.

Gov. Rick Perry said, “These rewards will encourage Texans who may have details about these offenders to speak up and help bring these criminals to justice.”

In the past, Texas Crime Stoppers paid a $1,000 cash reward to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of these fugitives.

Rewards may vary for each fugitive, although all Top 10 rewards currently stand at $5,000.

“The higher rewards will provide additional incentive to assist in apprehending these dangerous criminals, who are generally wanted for violent crimes such as murder, rape and robbery and are often gang members who pose a significant threat to public safety,” DPS Director Steven McCraw said.

Calls have led to the arrests of 114,000 criminals, recovered $182 million in stolen property, and led to the seizure of $800 million in narcotics, according to the DPS.

Call 1-800-252-TIPS to make a report.

Unemployment remains same

Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March remained at 8.2 percent for the fifth consecutive month.

The March U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.7 percent.

While Texas has a civilian labor force of a little over 12 million workers, about 1 million Texans are out of work.

2 House members lose runoffs

In their respective party primary runoffs, State Rep. Delwin Jones, R-Lubbock lost to challenger Charles Perry and State Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, lost to challenger Naomi R. Gonzalez.

Jones, 86, is one of the thirdmost senior member of the Legislature, with 14 two-year sessions to his credit.

Chavez has served for six sessions.

Both Gonzalez and Perry will run unopposed in the Nov. 2 election. Jones’ and Chavez’ terms expire in January.

Capitol to increase surveillance

The State Preservation Board voted last week to add metal detectors and X-ray machines to the state Capitol’s four public entrances.

The machines and extra security cameras will cost an estimated $3 million.

On Jan. 21, Fausto Cardenas, 24, was arrested by state troopers on the south steps of the Capitol immediately after he fired several shots from a handgun into the air.