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Kendall County district attorney urges court to review public defender pay, oversight and leasing
Summary
Criminal District Attorney Nicole Bishop told commissioners she has repeatedly raised concerns about pay disparities between prosecutors and attorneys in the Hill Country Regional Public Defender27s Office, alleged Open Meetings Act compliance issues by the oversight board, and questioned a large office lease.
Nicole Bishop, Kendall County Criminal District Attorney, used the meetings public-comment period to ask the commissioners to address pay differences between county prosecutors and attorneys employed by the Hill Country Regional Public Defender's Office.
Bishop told the court she had been raising the issue for five years and that, after county prosecutors received step increases this budget year, the public defender's office later received additional raises mid-fiscal cycle. "Do you believe people of Kendall County would be alright with the fact that the attorneys representing the criminally accused who have less experience and less work are getting paid more than the prosecutors representing the citizens of the county to keep us safe?" Bishop asked.
Bishop also alleged the oversight board that approves the public defender budget had not complied with the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) and asked for proof of posted notices. "It is my belief that this oversight board meetings have occurred in violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act," she said. She said previous requests for proof had gone unanswered and that prior county counsel had advised the county judge not to attend oversight-board meetings to avoid a potential TOMA violation.
Bishop asked the court to: place the matter on a future agenda for discussion, remove Richard Elkins as Kendall Countys representative to the oversight board, demand the oversight board come into compliance with TOMA, and further consider pay decisions by the oversight board, including a lease she said was for a 5,700-square-foot office at $13,699 per month (capped at $15,888 per month under a reported seven-year lease). "That is more than double the size of what my office has," Bishop said, and she urged commissioners to scrutinize those costs.
The court did not take action on Bishops requests at the meeting but the judge and commissioners acknowledged the request to place it on a future agenda for discussion and follow-up.
Ending: Bishop asked the court to investigate pay, oversight-board compliance with TOMA and lease costs; staff were asked to add the item to a future agenda so the court can examine the matters in detail.
