Government
BY KELLY SCHAFLER
Fort Bend County’s district court sta have out tted several spaces in the county’s Justice Center into temporary courtrooms to address a rising amount of court cases. But some of the spaces lack important courtroom features, such as a holding cell for criminal cases and sometimes even a ceiling. On Jan. 9, Fort Bend County Commissioners Court approved a $7 million project to add three additional courtrooms to the Justice Center in Richmond. Judge Tameika Carter of the 400th District Court said civil cases have increased, sparking a need of more courtrooms for associate judges and visiting associate judges to preside over cases. Civil cases can cover anything from business disputes, car accidents and personal injuries. New courtrooms to help case growth
Why it matters
In the meantime, associate judges rotate to open meeting spaces; the ceiling is exposed in one of the makeshift courtrooms, as it wasn’t cost-e ective to nish the ceiling in a temporary space, Carter said. “When you come into court, you really should be in a courtroom—a room that’s actually a court- room,” she said. “So we’ve tried to improvise the best we can, but it’s just time for us to actually complete the project.” Design for the $7 million project will begin in February and take four months to complete. Con- struction is set to begin this fall and be completed roughly by early summer 2025, county o cials said. Upon completion, the three new courtrooms will feature: • A holdover cell for criminal cases where the client is in custody • An o ce suite • Courtroom technology
The ceiling is exposed in one of the makeshift courtrooms due to cost constraints, county o cials said.
KELLY SCHAFLER COMMUNITY IMPACT
Fort Bend County cases on the docket Cases have risen since the last district court was added in 2015.
Looking forward
Total cases on docket*
last year’s legislative session. If approved in the next session, the new judge would have space to preside over cases with the three new courtrooms, Carter said. “If we don’t have e cient run courts, if we don’t have the court sta that we need, if we don’t have the court space that we need, then we cannot move these cases through as quickly as we need to,” Carter said.
In addition to courtroom space, Carter said county sta hopes to add at least one new district court in the next several years, which would require approval from Commissioners Court then the state in the 2025 legislative session. The county last created a district court in 2015, bringing the county’s total to eight. Fort Bend County’s larger neighbor, Harris County, was granted three additional courts in
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*INCLUDES CRIMINAL, CIVIL AND FAMILY CASES SOURCE: TEXAS OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION COMMUNITY IMPACT
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