Rising population, heavier caseload prompt request
GEORGETOWN — Williamson County officials are waiting to hear from the Legislature whether another district court will be approved to help ease mounting criminal case filings.
In supporting the move, District Attorney Shawn Dick offers a historical reference by referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 – the last year Williamson County got a court to specifically handle felony criminal matters.
“In the most recent assessment they did of our county, they said we could use oneand- a-half courts – today,” he told the Press, referring to state Office of Court Administration officials’ last endorsement for the county’s 480th state District Court.
Dick said a bill at the Legislature – likely of the omnibus variety with other similar requests from elsewhere in the state – could be filed by week’s end.
Williamson County Commissioners Court members in December endorsed the idea of creating what would be dubbed the 7th state District Court. The next step now is in the hands of lawmakers, Dick said.
According to officials, both the state and county governments fund district courts, with Texas providing the $140,000 base salary for a judge in the new court and the county responsible for operating costs, supplements to jurists’ salaries and personnel costs – for instance a court reporter and administrator, Dick said.
All told, the total cost for a new court would be under $2 million, he said.
“In the grand scheme of things for the Legislature, what they’re voting on is not a lot of money,” Dick said. “It’s a local issue.”
The district attorney said a new court is needed to keep pace with population growth and a rise in homicide cases as Williamson County continues to expand. To illustrate, he noted in 1989 the county population totaled 135,718 and the number of inmates stood at 160.
Today, there are 722,109 Wilco inhabitants and the average inmate population is 683, he said.
According to local officials and other sources, Williamson County has six judicial districts, one county court and four county courts-at-law. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas has jurisdiction as well in Williamson County.
Appeals from the Western District go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
A new court could ease the workload while giving lawyers more flexibility in preparing for criminal cases, Dick said.
“Our prosecutors need time that’s not in the court researching the law,” Dick said.
“If we’re constantly in court all day long, we can never do that.”
The complexity and abundance of technology today looms large in the need for another district court, he noted.
“Think about the difference in how cases looked like in 1989 and how they look today,” Dick said. “What did a file look like in 1989? A thin folder with a couple of witness statements maybe with a 1-inch tape – a VHS tape.”
That is in stark contrast to trials today, he added.
“One of our more recent murders had 11,500 pieces of evidence submitted into our digital system,” Dick said. “The depth and volume we’re getting in cases is really significant and it’s overwhelming.”
Ring-door cameras weren’t a thing back in ‘89, the district attorney noted. Add to that the wide use of body cameras by police and an abundance of other surveillance devices at every turn and the evidence grows exponentially.
All told, he added, there are 1.15 million items in the digital evidence system with 26 lawyers to peruse and analyze.
In his presentation to commissioners, Dick pointed to potentially $10.75 million in cost savings with an additional court given an anticipated 25% in added efficiency.
More efficiency means less time on pretrial release – thus reducing pretrial costs – and reduction of wasted hours on appointments for coming to court repeatedly, officials said.
Given the growing need for another court, Dick said the effort has garnered early support from officials beyond the county’s perimeters – including state District 23 Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson representing Galveston and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick at the Capitol in Austin.
“Adding four more lawyers and a staff member will obviously help us handle that level of information,” he said of the envisioned court. “That really will make the difference in moving cases more efficiently.
“ “That really will make the difference in moving cases more efficiently.”
— Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick
