Brandon Theis and Eric Colwell told the commissioners that audiovisual systems in two courtrooms—an associate misdemeanor court and an associate family court—are failing and causing courtroom delays. The systems were installed around 2015 and have been repeatedly patched; staff said the work disrupts proceedings when technicians must restart equipment.

“...if there is multiple cases within those courtrooms, it just slows the whole day down,” Colwell said, explaining how audio and video must be reliably captured, piped back to the courtroom, and recorded while remote participants join. He described the courtroom AV as involving microphones, Crestron programming, encoders/decoders and projection screens that must function together for jurors, judges and the court reporter.

The packet Colwell provided included letters of support from Judge Hensarling and Judge Zachary. The two proposed projects are budgeted at about $230,000 and $233,000 for the respective courtrooms, figures that prompted commissioners to ask for clearer explanations of cost drivers. Project manager Trevor Lansdowne said a large portion of the cost is labor—new cable runs, new poles and installation programming—and that modernizing the systems would align them with prior upgrades done in district courtrooms.

Commissioners asked whether the county could “band-aid” the systems until a larger courthouse remodel is planned; IT said the courtrooms have been repeatedly patched for several years but agreed to continue temporary fixes while the county develops a longer-term plan. No formal vote was taken at the workshop.