Judge finds violation true in Flores supervision case; orders in-custody referral to felony drug court and evaluations

The 187th District Court found that Jennifer Ann Flores violated a condition of her community supervision but directed treatment-focused responses rather than immediate long-term incarceration.

Judge Stephanie Boyd asked Flores how she pleaded to an alleged failure to report to supervision; Flores pleaded "true," and the court found the violation true. "If you want, what I can do is I will revoke you, and I will sentence you to 4 years. Or either I will continue you and follow the recommendation for you to be in inpatient treatment," Boyd told Flores, laying out available options.

After discussion among the judge, defense counsel (Alfonso Otero), and probation, the court denied the state's motion to revoke and instead ordered an in-custody referral to felony drug court and a TAP evaluation. "The court is finding violation of condition number 4 true. The court will deny the motion. Alternate conditions, and these are to happen in custody. So, there's to be a referral to felony drug court," Boyd said. The judge also told Flores the wait time for an inpatient treatment bed could be several weeks, and that probation and custody staff would complete an intake and TAP evaluation in custody.

Probation recommended continued supervision and available treatment services; the judge emphasized that waiting for placement would not avoid the passage of time and urged Flores to choose treatment over incarceration. The court directed custody staff and probation to arrange the evaluations in custody and to notify the court when a placement decision was made. Probation indicated the wait time for inpatient placement could be about four to six weeks; earlier the judge referenced two- to six-week estimates for admission depending on program availability.

Flores raised a personal request with the court regarding attendance at a recent family service; Judge Boyd told her to notify probation so the court could consider the request. The court instructed probation to perform the TAP evaluation and proceed with felony drug court referral; if the defendant is not accepted into felony drug court, the court directed that SADF (a fallback treatment option referenced on the record) and other in-custody evaluations be considered.

The court declined to immediately impose a prison sentence and instead put treatment referral and in-custody evaluation as the next steps pending program acceptance and availability.