Nueces County Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to authorize the county judge to apply for the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) Indigent Defense Improvement Grant for fiscal 2026 and to designate Danis Lee Obregon as the grant program director and the county auditor as the financial officer. The resolution cites Texas Government Code section 79.037 and Title 1 of the Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 173, as the program authorities that permit the county to seek the funds.

County leaders and local judges told the court the grant would support an office they say has already changed how courts handle jailed people with serious mental illness. The county resolution states it will accept TIDC funds only after following the grant terms and that the county would be responsible to return any misused funds to the commission, language staff said is standard in TIDC contracts.

The county's public defender office and its oversight committee described how the office now handles criminal matters involving people with mental health needs and helps keep them from cycling through the jail. Judge Lisa Gonzales, Judge Galvan and other judges, along with Judge Stith and partners from the prosecutor's office and mental-health providers, described a newly expanded mental-health court process that brings multiple agencies together to plan reentry for people who have been jailed for a long time and have serious behavioral-health needs. Judge Galvan and Judge Stith said the public defender attorneys are key in identifying people in custody who might otherwise fall through the system.

Lisa Greenberg, chair of the public defender oversight committee, said the office is a "bright spot" that has used community resources to get clients medicated, reunified with supports and supervised in alternatives to incarceration. Greenberg and other committee members urged continued county support for the program.

County staff read the standard grant assurances included in the resolution. At one point a commissioner asked what would happen if the county misused funds; staff responded that the grant is primarily a reimbursement program, meaning the county must spend eligible funds first and then submit documentation for reimbursement by the TIDC, but the grant contract still includes the ordinary assurance to repay funds if they are misapplied.

After brief discussion, the commission voted to approve the resolution designating the county judge as the authorized official to apply for, accept, decline, modify or cancel the grant application and naming Danis Lee Obregon as program director. The court also recorded that the county auditor will serve as the grant financial officer. The motion passed unanimously.

Court members and presenters said the next steps are for staff to complete the formal application and return to the court if contract terms require further county action.