Jeff Wentworth's Summer Tour

Talk about taking government to the people: Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, is taking the Senate Jurisprudence Committee on a trip beyond the committee chambers of the Legislature. The purpose, he said, is "To hear from people who might not otherwise be able to get to Austin to speak."

He's already set the locations were he will be taking discussions of the Lieutenant Governor's interim charges: Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Lubbock and … Edinburg? Is it any coincidence that the committee will be in the home of the Evins Regional Juvenile Center, the Texas Youth Commission facility that was at the heart of the terrible accuse scandal that rocked the juvenile justice system in the state? After all, Wentworth's committee vice-chair is Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-Mission, who has spearheaded the movement to shut down these distant rural facilities and move over to smaller sites nearer the big cities from which the young inmates come, and from which they can draw on a bigger pool of support staff and counselors.

Wentworth, when asked, was coy. "I'm sure we'll have some discussion," he said. "I'm not going to judge the outcome of those meeting before we have them."

Full dates for Wentworth's World-Wide Texas Tour after the jump.

Friday, May 23, 10am: University of Houston Hilton Hotel, Flamingo Room, 4800 Calhoun Street, Houston

Monday, June 16, 10am: Senate Committee on Jurisprudence Fort Worth City Council Chamber, 1000 Throckmorton Street, Fort Worth

Wednesday, July 16, 11am: University of Texas-Pan American, 1200 West University Drive, Edinburg

Tuesday, August 5, 11am: San Antonio City Council Chamber, 100 Military Plaza #4, San Antonio

Wednesday, September 17, 1pm: Texas Tech Law School, Hunt Court Room, 1802 Hartford Avenue, Lubbock