Dallas County could lose $50 million in criminal justice grants from the state if the county’s case disposition rate does not significantly increase.
The state requires counties to have an average five-year case disposition of 90% by August 1. Failure to reach that 90% threshold disqualifies the county from receiving the state grants.
Currently, Dallas County’s case disposition rate is 87%. The criminal courts would have to clear 566 cases a week between now and the August 1 deadline to reach the 90% threshold.
County commissioners blame criminal court judges for taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to take off work.
“The Judges hid behind the COVID restrictions to take what for many of them was an extended vacation,” Dallas County Commissioner J.J. Koch told The Dallas Express. “The adjacent counties, Collin, Tarrant, and Denton, are not facing this trouble. Their judges came to work in 2021.”
The Commissioners Court held a May 3 meeting and spoke about the issue. Commissioner John Wiley Price presented spreadsheets showing which judges were working on the fewest cases.
“For those judges that said, ‘You’re just painting us all with the same brush.’ Well, here you are by name. Here you are by court,” he said. “This shows exactly your work product and your work performance.”
Price said at least 1,700 people are currently in jail that have been indicted on misdemeanor and felony charges from three or four years ago but whose cases have not been dispositioned.
“There are cases that could be called to trial this week, next week, the beginning of next month. Every instance that is not done, it’s jeopardizing that $50 million,” Koch said at the May 3 meeting. “We’re at the point now of a crisis, and the judges have to be the ones responsible for alleviating that crisis.”
Koch told The Dallas Express that the Commissioners Court has given the judges “every resource they have asked for,” but they cannot force them to do their job. “Since they are elected by the people, only elections can keep them accountable,” Koch added.
Koch posted a May 4 video on Facebook in which he spoke of the attendance of criminal court judges. He named what he called the top four offenders of missing work. They were Judge Tammy Kemp of the 204th District Court, Judge Amber Givens of the 282nd District Court, Judge Lela Lawrence Mays of the 283rd District Court, and Judge Stephanie Huff of the 291st District Court.
Additionally, Koch claimed that Judges Jeanine Howard and Chika Anyiam of Criminal Court Districts No.6 and 7 only work two days a week.
“You can only imagine how bad that is for the efficient running of courts,” he said.
Koch did praise Judges Hector Garza (195th District Court), Brandon Birmingham (292nd District), and Carter Thompson (Criminal District Court No.5) for working every day.
Judge Huff spoke with Fox 4 about the issue and claimed the numbers are being misconstrued.
“You can’t assume because the jury trial numbers are low that it means dispositions are down. That’s a misstatement of the numbers and the facts,” said Huff. “We dispose of most cases on any given year prior to COVID and after through plea bargain agreements, and we’re still doing that.”
“There are a number of things that goes into what is considered a disposition for purposes of this 90% we need,” Huff continued. “That can be dismissals. That can be plea bargain agreements. That can also be jury trials.”
Huff expressed a belief that the Dallas County Criminal Courts will reach the 90% threshold by the August 1 deadline.
“There are a number of ways that we can do it, and we are working to get it done,” Huff said. “And I do believe wholeheartedly we’ll make it.”
However, county staff projections show that at the current pace, Dallas County will not reach the 90% threshold until August 12, after the deadline. Koch says he is not confident the county will reach the 90% disposition rate by the deadline.
“The judges have consistently deflected responsibility and have decided to blame the District Attorney’s office,” said Koch. “Early in the pandemic, the DA prioritized cases in such a way that many cases were dismissed. The judges are implying that the DA needs to dismiss more cases, which is not in the best interests of public safety and our citizens that are victims of those crimes.”
Commissioner Price also said people should not just focus on the potential $50 million in funding the county could lose but on the individuals in jail waiting for their day in court and the victims of crimes waiting for justice to be served.
“These are individuals who are sitting in jail who have not been adjudicated,” Price said. “There are victims on a lot of these individuals who are waiting. They’re in limbo.”
