Lawmakers flag capacity crisis in 11th Judicial District DA’s office; committee urged to review staffing and caseloads

Several lawmakers described persistent staffing and case-management problems in the Eleventh Judicial District district attorney’s office during the HB2 briefing, urging further review.

A member reported multiple staff departures, alleged refusals to allow overtime, and alleged instances where the office did not prosecute certain cases. The member said the office has “over 600 cases” and noted that the DA is the only prosecutor currently in the office. “We have 600 cases sitting in our district attorney’s office,” the member said, adding that contract attorneys had been used previously to cover hearings.

The member said the chief justice and the U.S. attorney general had been consulted about possible remedies but that removing an elected district attorney would require a violation of law and action by the attorney general or the governor. “There is no way to remove them. If they haven't violated the law, then there's no way to remove them,” the member said, and urged discussion of short-term assistance to avoid collapse of local prosecution services.

Presenters told members the budget office has tracked district-specific caseloads in quarterly performance reports and agreed to provide documentation if members requested it. A committee member asked the director to provide caseload-per-attorney comparisons. Presenters said the attorney general had been asked to assume certain cases but that in at least one instance the DA had refused to allow the AG to take cases.

Ending: Committee members requested staff follow up with documentation on caseloads per attorney and with any correspondence from the attorney general about assumed cases; presenters said they would provide the requested materials.