Judges say jail kiosks cut detention time and costs; commissioners debate linking pay supplements to performance

Two Dallas County judges described to the Commissioners Court on Aug. 5 how remote "kiosk" hearings (CourtCall) for jailed defendants have reduced time in custody and eased security burdens. County criminal court judge Shaquita Kelly, who has used the kiosks for years and reported seeing more than 7,300 defendants on CourtCall, told the court the system allows prosecutors and defense counsel to complete plea and bond hearings without moving detainees across campus. "It allows me to work faster," Kelly said. She gave an example of resolving two matters in the time it takes to return a defendant to holdover when hearings are conducted in person and estimated one week's use could save thousands of dollars in detention costs. Kelly and other commissioners also noted a safety benefit: mentally ill or agitated defendants can be handled at the kiosk rather than being brought into a courtroom. The discussion shifted to judicial supplemental pay. Commissioner John Wiley Price said performance-based criteria should determine eligibility for the $25,000 supplemental pay the county has distributed historically (an $18,000 supplement plus a new $7,000 from the state). Price proposed that the court define objective performance metricsincluding kiosk utilization, speed of dispositions and case-processing measuresand tie part of the supplement to meeting those standards. Other commissioners and court staff discussed training, inertia among some lawyers, and steps to expand kiosk adoption; Judge Kelly offered to share training materials and to work with IT and court administration on rollout and measurement. No immediate change to compensation was voted at the meeting; commissioners asked staff to draft measurable standards for supplement eligibility to consider before the next budget year.