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Commissioner Price urges audits of court performance as jail population, wait lists for state hospitals rise
Summary
Commissioner John Wiley Price used Tuesday’s Commissioners Court session to press for audits and greater oversight of court workloads and judicial performance as the county’s jail population and waits for state psychiatric hospitalization rise; county staff agreed to review authorities and reporting requirements under recent legislation.
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price on Tuesday pressed for a systematic review of judicial performance and case processing after citing high jail population numbers, long wait times for state hospital placements and what he described as uneven courtroom productivity.
"We are booking in record high numbers," Price told the court, and then read statistics he said staff had compiled: "Over 54 percent of the individuals booking in have a suspected behavioral health flag," he said, and described state‑hospital wait lists that include 65 people waiting for maximum‑security hospital placement and 181 waiting for non‑maximum placements in the regional queue.
Price criticized the case-processing rate in some criminal dockets and flagged new reporting and auditing powers created by recent legislation. He cited Senate Bill 293 and related Office of Court Administration (OCA) reporting requirements that, he said, allow new performance measures and potential audits of judicial workloads. "The new reporting requirements for judges due January 20 and July 20 to the administrative judicial region... Failure to make this report meet deadlines...is considered 'willful or persistent conduct' that is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of a judge's duty and can result in a public reprimand or suspension," he said.
County legal and budget staff told the court they would look into the county's ability to review and validate judicial self‑reporting and to incorporate the new measures into local oversight. "Staff's already working on, based on previous direction, judicial performance measures," a county staffer said; the staff committed to return with options for how the court might use newly available data and reporting.
Price also pressed for operational changes to reduce jail backlogs: he cited average preassigned felony caseload sizes, the number of cases pending in particular county criminal courts, and called for faster filing and processing of indictments and other time‑sensitive case steps. He reported that Dallas County was processing more jail bookings than releases and said the total jail population in morning counts was above 7,000 on the day of the meeting.
County staff noted that some challenges stem from state-level capacity constraints — for example, the shortage of vacancies at state psychiatric hospitals and regional parole staffing gaps — and said the county is using contingency funds and system workarounds while pursuing longer-term fixes.
No formal policy was adopted Tuesday; commissioners asked staff to prepare a more formal memo on the scope of available auditing and reporting options under state law, and to return with recommended next steps that would not exceed the county’s legal authority over the judiciary.
Why it matters: a persistent jail population rise, long waits for state hospital placement and backlogs in case processing have operational, fiscal and public-safety consequences for the county. Commissioner Price framed the issue as both an operational backlog and a matter of judicial accountability.
What happens next: county staff will analyze the new statutory reporting rules, assess options for local validation/audit of judicial performance data, and return to the court with recommendations. Price signaled he will pursue those options vigorously and requested staff follow-through.
Key quotes: Commissioner John Wiley Price: "We are booking in record high numbers." "Over 54 percent of the individuals booking in have a suspected behavioral health flag."
