New district court possible for Hays County

A new District Court will be coming to Hays County should an omnibus bill pass in the 87th regular session of the Texas Legislature.

The Hays County commissioners approved a resolution of support for the new district court after a presentation during its regular meeting Tuesday.

Hays County’s 428th Judicial District Judge Bill Henry explained a dire need for an additional district court due to judicial resourcing issues, an exploding population and as a result, a greatly expanded caseload. He said courts fell further behind in their caseload once COVID-19 hit, preventing jury trials from occurring as needed.

"The rapid growth in Hays County is reflected in our judicial system,” Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) said. “I’ve heard from constituents and attorneys of delays in cases being set and often being reset multiple times. An additional court and judge will speed the resolution of both our criminal and civil cases here in Hays County."

With 511 people in the Hays County Jail at the time of publication, 73% are being held, waiting for trial, and Henry says the idents outside the Hays County Jail, evidencing the magnitude of the backlog.

“Our people need better access to their courts,” Henry said. The Office of Court Administration (OCA), a statewide nonpartisan agency has done a complete study showing Hays County needs another District Court more than surrounding counties.

According to the OCA, there were 8,904 cases pending in Hays County District Courts at the end of February.

With the creation of a new district court, the state funds the Judge but there would be additional expenses to the county for facilities and court administration staff.

Henry estimated delaying the legislation to the next session in two years would cost the county $4.2 million in jail outsourcing costs.

“The expense is a drop in the bucket compared to what we spend on jail population day in and day out,” Henry said. “We ought to be working as hard as possible to save our people money.”

Commissioner Walt Smith was in favor of writing a resolution of support but wanted to ensure the District Court would only serve Hays County’s case log.

“I think every county in the state would be remiss if they did not want an additional judge coming out of COVID with a backlog that we know is going to exist,” Smith said.

The docket is about one third criminal cases and two thirds civil cases, however, the labor required is the opposite, Henry said — about two thirds criminal and one third civil.

Commissioner Lon Shell and Judge Ruben Becerra also offered support but wanted to be sure the county was prepared to find funding in the best budget process.

“Of course we have to move through our budget process to make intelligent fiscal decisions and I think we're all on record for being good fiscal stewards,” Becerra said. “But with that said, I also have the weekly bill from the Sheriff’s Office that I see, as a budget officer here, I see $50,000 a week in our inmates outsourcing and so I feel that this is a motion to support the state on this omnibus resolution.”