Commissioners adopt local recognitions and approve Domestic Relations Office and law-library fees

The El Paso County Commissioner's Court on July 21 adopted three resolutions recognizing local achievements and observances and approved updated service fees for the Domestic Relations Office and the county law library.

The court unanimously approved a resolution recognizing Annabelle Rosiles for “exceptional achievements, leadership and positive impact in the El Paso community.” Judge Ricardo Samaniego moved the resolution; Commissioner Veronica Olguin seconded. Commissioners Stout, Olguin and Coronado and Judge Samaniego voted aye; Commissioner Butler was absent.

The court also adopted a resolution recognizing July 20–26, 2025, as Pretrial, Probation and Parole Supervision Week in El Paso County. The motion to adopt was made by Judge Samaniego and seconded by Commissioner Coronado; the resolution passed by recorded voice vote with commissioners Stout, Olguin and Coronado and Judge Samaniego voting aye. County criminal-justice officials, probation and supervision officers, and juvenile-probation staff attended and several staff members spoke about services and the theme “Heroes Behind the Mission, Transforming Lives and Enhancing Public Safety.” Catherine Jones, criminal justice director for the county’s Criminal Justice Coordination Department, and Magdalena Morales (director, El Paso County Community Supervision and Corrections Department) each introduced department staff who explained supervision, treatment referrals, electronic monitoring and specialty courts.

The court adopted a resolution declaring July 2025 Disability Pride Month. Commissioner Stout moved the resolution and Judge Samaniego seconded; the motion carried. The resolution and a series of remarks cited local disability-advocacy groups and programs, including The Arc of El Paso, Desert ADAPT, Volar Central (Center for Independent Living), Down Syndrome Coalition for El Paso and others. Advocates and the county ADA coordinator (Amanda Manning) addressed accessibility improvements such as all-abilities playgrounds, ongoing use of sign-language interpreters and county efforts to improve social-media accessibility.

Service-fee changes approved: The court held a public hearing on proposed fee updates for the Domestic Relations Office (DRO) and the county law library and then voted to adopt the new schedule. The DRO explained some items are currently covered by grants and that the office has not provided paternity testing in roughly 25 years and recommended removing a $125 paternity-testing fee. The court approved establishing a new “supportive supervised visits” service with a $50 application fee and a $75 fee for a two‑hour visit conducted by DRO social workers (intended as a bridge to supervised and then unsupervised visits). The law-library copy fee, set at $0.10 since 1984, was raised to $0.20 per copy. Family-court services (adoption evaluations, consultations, limited investigations) were updated to reflect higher staff costs; the DRO told the court the adjusted adoption-evaluation fee remains lower than comparable counties (Harris and Tarrant were cited as higher).

Motions and votes recorded in the transcript match the court’s roll calls: where recorded, Commissioners Stout, Olguin and Coronado and Judge Samaniego voted aye; Commissioner Butler was listed as absent for votes taken in open session.

Other actions: The court postponed selection of two commissioners to an MPO International Border Crossing Strategic Plan Steering Committee for one week, deleted one executive-session item, and took no action on an interlocal amendment for the Pelicano Drive project (staff requested no action at this time).

Provenance: The resolutions are recorded under agenda item 5; the public hearing and fee-adoption are recorded under item 7 and appear in the transcript sections that include the DRO presentation and the roll-call vote to adopt the fees.