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Judges flag indigent defense, interpreter coverage and step‑plan pay ceiling in FY2026 discussion
Summary
Rockwall judges told the county on June 16 that court-appointed attorney funding, interpreter coverage for Spanish‑speaking defendants and step‑plan pay caps for long-tenured staff require attention; they also warned capital-murder trials can generate extraordinary legal costs.
Multiple Rockwall County judges reviewed stable baseline court budgets for FY2026 and raised three recurring pressures: indigent‑defense costs, interpreter coverage and pay ceilings under the county step plan.
Judge Hall said court-appointed attorney fees — a major operations line — were roughly $395,000 in the prior fiscal year for two judges and that creating a third district court required revisiting how those fees and related investigative costs are divided. He told the court that splitting workload among three district-level courts reduces the per-court projection but advised commissioners to expect routine upward pressure on hourly indigent-defense costs.
Several judges also…
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