Harris County Applicants

[ForTehNguyen]

wrote twice to Hubert Vo, no responses

[ProjectS15]

Best thing to see all morning besides some Advil and theraflu for my headache/soreness

Writing the Senator and Representative did help, so there is my advise for you guys.
just hold on a bit longer and you'll get yours soon

[KingOfDirk]

Good for you, Project, that rocks!!!

Glad to see some movement on the Harris County apps. I'm nearing 60 calendar days, but I don't know if they count holidays/weekends in the 60-day clock. Anyone have an opinion?

I don't want to bug my state rep 'til DPS has had the allotted time. He's sort of an anti 2nd Amend. guy anyway, but hey, I got outvoted.

Happy New Year, everyone.
-J

[ProjectS15]

Thanks man, I went home and immediately went for the UPS package since i knew it was coming.

Plastic in hand

[FAAPOD]

Here's where I am:

10/18: CHL Class
10/20: Sent application
UNK: Application received by DPS in Austin - Where are y'all finding information on when the Department received your Apps?
11/13: PIN Letter - Actually I have received not less than FOUR of these letters - the one I happen to have kept and have in front of me is dated November 13.
Ever since: Processing...
12/30: E-mails to Governor's Office, State Representative Crabb, State Senator Williams

FWIW - here is the language that I just used in an e-mail to my state representatives, and to the Governor's office on the online submission form:

Dear Representative Crabb:

I am writing to you this evening to express my concern over the time that it is taking the Department of Public Safety to turn around CHL applications, particularly for residents of Harris County.

I completed my CHL training course on October 18 and sent my completed application to Austin on October 20. The status of my application is listed online as "Processing Application", and this has been the status since early November. Even allowing for a couple of days to reach the DPS in Austin, it has been more than 60 days since my application was received by the department.

As I am sure that you already know, GC §411.177(b) states, "The department shall, not later than the 60th day after the date of the receipt by the director's designee of the completed application materials:"

(1) issue the license;
(2) notify the applicant in writing that the application was denied;
(3) notify the applicant in writing that the department is unable to make a determination regarding the issuance or denial of a license to the applicant within the 60-day period prescribed by this subsection and include in that notification an explanation of the reason for the inability and an estimation of the amount of time the department will need to make the determination.

As conservative and law-abiding citizen residing in District 127, I am asking you, as my state representative, to use your particular influence to ensure that my application is processed to completion and CHL issued in the most expeditious manner possible.

I would further urge you to use your best efforts and influence to identify and remove whatever bottlenecks exist in CHL applications processing in Harris County, such that all law-abiding and eligible Harris County applicants receive their CHLs in a timely manner.

I thank you in advance for your attention to this matter and would appreciate your response to this communication.

Kind Regards,

I'll let you know how it turns out...

[FAAPOD]

Good for you, Project, that rocks!!!

Glad to see some movement on the Harris County apps. I'm nearing 60 calendar days, but I don't know if they count holidays/weekends in the 60-day clock. Anyone have an opinion?

I don't want to bug my state rep 'til DPS has had the allotted time. He's sort of an anti 2nd Amend. guy anyway, but hey, I got outvoted.

Happy New Year, everyone.
-J

The Section says, "...not later than the 60th day..." It doesn't say "business days" or use any other qualifier. Therefore, it should be interpreted as calendar days.

[ForTehNguyen]

been waiting 6 months, wrote two emails to my state rep, no response

[FAAPOD]

All I got back so far is the standard 'CHL Form Letter' from the Governor's office and an auto-reply 'Thank you for your e-mail' from State Senator Tommy Williams' office. Nothing from State Representative Crabb. But it is the week between Christmas and New Year's, so we'll see what happens next week.

[ForTehNguyen]

sent a email to my state senator, hopefully something gets rolling there

[KingOfDirk]

FAAPOD, I sent my application materials in via certified mail, return receipt requested. I used the USPS tracking number and the green return receipt to determine when the manilla envelope was delivered (and subsequently signed for) in Austin. That's how (I think) I know when they got it. On the other hand, I'm tempted to start the 60-day clock on the day it showed up on the website as "processing application".

I've got a question for you guys, too: I plan to email/call my State Senator (Rodney Ellis) and State Rep (Garnet Coleman) at day 61, would you recommend any others (i.e. Governor's office, US House Rep, Cornyn/Kay Bailey in the Senate)?

I thought this was going to be a test of my patience. For once I was right.

-J

[wackjum]

Federal representatives are the wrong people to contact for this. This is a state issue.

The Governor's office has been, in my experience, not useful. I received a form letter that such and such Colonel was looking into it, and that was the end of that.

My State Representative was voted out of office and the new guy's office has not been established yet. So he was not very useful for me. From the boards, it seems others have been.

I contacted my State Senator, Dan Patrick, and his office got things moving. Within a week, I received a call from his office that I would be contacted by DPS shortly. Within 30 minutes, a DPS auditor called me and said she would jump on Harris County.

A week later (due to the holidays), I received another call from the DPS auditor, who said she had my license in hand and asked if I wanted it priority mailed. It would require a signature though, so I opted for regular postal mail. It should be here Monday.

So this post is basically a giant plug for Senator Patrick. But I would encourage you guys to contact your senators and reps if you haven't. Most seem to care.



I was starting to think I'd never see this.

[Morgan]

That's AWESOME man! I'm sure glad to hear that Harris County is moving along.

[KingOfDirk]

Wackjum,
Thanks for the advice on the Gov's office. I was pretty sure skipping the federal level folks was correct - I appreciate your input.

By the way, congrats on the newly issued license!!

[ForTehNguyen]

my status just changed from Processing Application to Application Complete

[SkinnyB78]

my status just changed from Processing Application to Application Complete

AWESOME!!! congrats