Posted 6:53 pm Thursday, May 29, 2008
Judge: New Court Would Clear Out Smith County Jail
By ROY MAYNARD
Staff Writer
State District Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent says adding one or more new courts would do more to solve Smith County’s jail overcrowding problem than adding ever-higher numbers of new jail beds.
Staff Writer
State District Judge Cynthia Stevens Kent says adding one or more new courts would do more to solve Smith County’s jail overcrowding problem than adding ever-higher numbers of new jail beds.
In a meeting of the Council of District Judges, she said Smith County should ask the Texas Legislature to create at least one — preferably two — new district courts for the county when lawmakers convene in January.
“We can’t build our way out of the jail overcrowding problem,” she said. “So let’s look at what we can do.”
With the regular session nearing, she said, Smith County commissioners should ask the Legislature to create the courts. The county currently has four district courts and three county courts-at-law.
Adding a court would help move cases through the county’s judicial system faster, she contends, and help clear out jail beds.
Smith County has the capacity to house a maximum of 755 prisoners, and a state remedial order to ship out all inmates above that number to other counties. As of Wednesday morning, 197 prisoners were housed in other facilities at a cost of $40 per day, per prisoner.
Voters rejected a bond proposal for a new jail and criminal justice complex last November, leaving officials scrambling to deal with the overcrowding and the remedial order. One new program judges offered even before the bond vote — the Alternative Incarceration Center — has shown good results.
But a second program, the Jail Expedited Case Court, showed disappointing results and was disbanded in March.
“I know that for many reasons, the JECC didn’t work,” Judge Kent said Wednesday. “There were some mechanical problems.”
But the principle was sound, she believes: a more efficient court system is an integral part of solving the jail overcrowding problem.
But Judge Kent added that a new court, without proper facilities, would be limited in its effectiveness.
“Let me be blunt,” she said. “We (the courts) have not had our facilities needs addressed for 30 years. This courthouse was built for two courts, and we now have seven.”
In a letter to judges, she elaborated with a call for a new courts building. That letter details the dockets and the statistics for each of the existing courts, and makes the case for a new facility.
“I would suggest that a new courts building with new courts is a better business and governmental judgment use of taxpayer funds than other building projects,” she wrote.
County Judge Joel Baker, who attended the meeting, was open to the idea of asking the Legislature to add a district court.
“I don’t disagree with you at all,” he said. “And that’s something we can discuss and put on a (Commissioners Court) agenda.”
But commissioners are already juggling needs, he added; long-range planning efforts are continuing, and an announcement could come soon on the purchase of property that would enable the county to clear out the crumbling Smith County Office Building (the old Carlton Hotel).
Baker is also continuing with informal meetings that are working toward a new jail bond proposition for the November ballot.
“We’ve also discussed and looked at plans for the courthouse,” he added.
Contacted late Wednesday, state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, said he could be willing to help the county win another court.
“If the judges come to me with a proposal and some stats, I would prepare the legislation,” Berman said. “I’d want to talk with the county judge and county commissioners, because there will be new yearly costs associated with a new court. But it’s something we could take a hard look at.”
The matter could next be discussed by Smith County commissioners when they meet on Monday.
