Crime Stoppers of Houston, the local branch of a nationwide tip-based crime fighting hotline offering rewards for information, has begun attacking so-called activist judges who they claim are letting “dangerous criminals” out of jail, reports the New York Times. The organization, which has condemned more than a dozen elected Democrat judges while praising Republican Tex. Gov. Greg Abbott, has become reliant on state grants backed by Abbott.

Many of the Democratic judges Crime Stoppers is slamming have cut into the organization’s revenue by curb- ing a common practice requiring many people sentenced to probation to pay a $50 fee that goes to Crime Stoppers. The organization insists it remains nonpartisan and denies that its financial situation influenced its public policies.

“What we’re seeing is an assault against the community” by the judges, Rania Mankarious, the organization’s chief executive, said this year on a national Fox News broadcast.

The group’s aggressive posture on the issue followed shifts in Houston’s approach to prosecuting low-level crimes and setting bail. The changes helped prompt a political backlash fed in part by the Crime Stoppers campaign and a rising murder rate.