4 July 9 - 15, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents full length of their sentence at Dallas County Jail, yet were not subsequently released. Well-reported causes of the delays paint a pattern of disjointed administrative over- sight and clerical bottlenecks. Overdeten- tion has become increasingly visible since 2023, when Dallas County launched Odys- sey, a new software system for criminal courts that is incompatible with the jail’s program. The disconnect has made it more difficult for each entity to share the neces- sary paperwork required to release prison- ers, with clerks having to hand deliver documents and jail management sometimes in the dark. Communication between the county and state has also been an issue. Before releasing an individual or transferring a prisoner, the county must complete paperwork known as a pen packet. Often, delays or issues with pen packet submissions can lead an individ- ual to overstay their sentence in custody. It took more than three months for the packet for Kenneth Offutt, the man who stayed 108 days past his sentence in Dallas County Jail, to be submitted to TDCJ for approval. “Sometimes you have to wait for medical data from Parkland. Sometimes, sometimes the court makes a mistake,” McGowan said. “Occasionally, a pen packet will get submitted, and TDCJ will flag that pen packet and say, ‘Nope, there’s an area here, you’ve got to fix it.’” Improvement? The state and county have taken steps to address pen packet submissions. In March, the state launched a new online portal de- signed to provide streamlined processing and transparency for the roughly 1,250 pen packets TCDJ receives each monch, as re- ported by the Texas Tribune. Instead of be- ing emailed, as they were in the past, pen packets can now be submitted and tracked through the portal. McGowan said she noted on-time re- leases starting April and suggested that they could point to improvement, but wanted more data to confirm the trend. Dallas County has also created a jail pop- ulation management team who comb through records to identify bottlenecks and check inmate’s statuses. While the county has also said the issues from its software transition have been addressed, McGowen said her report points to lingering concerns. “I do want to say that it’s not one person’s fault,” she said. “It’s not fair to blame the sheriff’s department and say, “Hey, you guys should just work harder.” The county really needs to address it from a management level.” ▼ WORLD CUP BIG D(IASPORA) IN FRONT OF A DIVERSE WORLD CUP CROWD READY FOR ANYTHING, NORWAY ROWED ON BY EMMA RUBY A father and son from Shreveport who aren’t that into soccer. Four friends from Nepal who moved to Texas years ago but dream of visit- ing the fjords of Norway. A Dallasite who dreams of moving to Bra- zil, and takes the game seriously enough to wear a full suit, cowboy hat and yellow scarf to a game on a 90-degree gameday when his team isn’t playing. The Mexico fan wearing a homemade Norway-Ivory Coast cowboy hat. The June 30 crowd at Dallas Stadium had a little bit of everything. Of course there were the Norway fans — a tall (and sweaty) group clad in red jerseys and viking helmets and baby-blonde wigs in homage to their hero, Erling Braut Haaland, who scored the team’s winning goal in the game’s 86th min- ute. With the 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast, Norway punched their ticket to the Round of 16 to face off against Brazil at MetLife Sta- dium. The Ivory Coast in North Texas The Ivory Coast’s bold orange and green dotted the stands of Dallas Stadium too, ex- ploding when their own young, promising player, Amad Diallo, notched the country’s only goal. The Ivory Coast is one of several World Cup countries that have been caught in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s ongoing immigrant visa crack- down, which barred citizens from the coun- try from receiving the type of tourist visa that would typically allow one to attend a World Cup match. According to the BBC, the State Depart- ment required Ivorians who held a World Cup ticket to pay $15,000 for their visas, and visa rejection rates for the countries affected hovered around 40%. “It’s a form of segregation that doesn’t dare speak its name, but the proof is there,” Julien Kouadio Adonis, a leader of the Ivory Coast’s fan association, told the BBC. The fan group, the National Committee for the Support of the Elephants, ultimately did not try to send fans to the United States for the games. And so between the viking cosplayers and the determined spots of orange, there emerged a World Cup crowd totally differ- ent from what Dallas saw during the group stage games, when international fans flooded to North Texas and threw money at the in-demand tickets without blinking. The afternoon game was full of soccer fans of ev- ery credo; fans who were just happy to get inside. Mexico kits were as prevalent as jerseys for either team playing; fans of the U.S., Co- lombia, England, Germany and Argentina roamed the stadium. Nick Freeman of Shreveport bought tickets for himself and his son a week ago, succumbing to the World Cup hype despite knowing little about the sport. The duo wore Team USA shirts on Tuesday, and said they’d heard of the Nor- wegian superstar named Haaland, and were excited to see him in action. “This was a spur of the moment trip be- cause Dallas was our closest game,” said Freeman, who added that their tickets, which cost an arm and a leg a week ago, were still in the nosebleeds. “We’re not pre- dominantly soccer fans, but it’s a big event that I didn’t want to miss.” And for some lucky locals, holding out until the last minute paid off. According to Ticketdata.com, tickets for the Norway vs. Ivory Coast match dropped as low as $520 in the 24 hours before kickoff; get-in prices peaked at $1,400 on June 21. Ajit Thapa was one of the fortunate few who snapped up those discounted seats. He and three friends moved to Texas from Ne- pal several years ago, but wanted to support team Norway when they saw ticket prices fall because they admire the country’s natu- ral beauty. The group rush-printed a sign that said “From Everest to Valhalla” the eve- ning before the game. “We have two friends here who paid four times what we did,” Thapa said. “We just wanted to be here.” Emma Ruby The 2026 World Cup has turned North Texas into more of a melting pot than ever before Many Days Late from p3
