Tarrant County on track for new felony district court

So it appears the criminal courts of Tarrant County are about to grow my one.  

Senate Bill 1553, which has passed the full Senate and now sits in House Committee, calls for the creation of five new district courts in Texas.  In addition to the Tarrant County court, it calls for the creation of a general district court for Denton County and a new criminal district court, juvenile district court, and civil district court in Bexar County.

The Tarrant County court would be named the 432nd District Court.  It's creation of course raises some questions.

The first is that the bill, as worded, goes into effect on September 1, 2009 if passed.  If that's the case, that means the governor would be in a position to appoint someone to the bench until the next election.  As a result, the question becomes who get's the spot?  

There are certainly a number of people that would like to be on the bench.  However, the new court may not be the only felony court in play next year.  I have it on pretty good authority that at least one incumbent will not run again, and that number might increase by as many as two before it's all said and done.   Once I've got more info, of course I'll be back to handicap the field for not only the new court, but the other open benches that might be up.

The other question is where will this court go?  I assume the Auxiliary Court would be replaced by the new court on the Sixth Floor of the newly renamed Tim Curry Justice Center.  After that however, there's not a lot of room left in the courthouse.  

This raises another issue.  When will Tarrant County start discussing a new courthouse?  With the population of Tarrant County expected to double in the next ten years, the current courthouse will be hard-pressed to keep up in its current setup.  

All that is known for sure right now, however, is that it looks like I'll have one more court to run back and forth from in the near future.

Comments

[Joe]

So much to think about. But if the county grows, then so should the governing bodies that care for it.

[Health News]

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