District judges pitch Bee County pretrial services office to reduce jail stays and improve court appearance rates

District and multi-county judges and probation officials briefed the Bee County Commissioner's Court on a plan to establish a county pretrial services office that would assess defendants, supervise release conditions and help ensure people appear for hearings.

The presentation on Monday, May 12, was led by third-district Judge Jana Watley and included Judge Hardwick, Jason Woods (chief adult probation officer), and Kelly Adkins, director of the San Patricio County pretrial office. No formal action was taken; presenters urged the court to consider funding a position beginning Oct. 1 of the county’s next fiscal year.

Judges and probation staff described how a local pretrial office would check defendants’ eligibility for appointed counsel, track compliance with bond conditions such as interlock devices or no‑contact orders, and use electronic monitoring and collateral contact to improve court appearance rates. Judge Watley said the office “can gather information about an accused on whether they’ll be able to comply with any release bonds and report those findings to the court,” and added, “All I ever tell people, I just want somebody to come to court.”

Presenters emphasized jail-census and cost issues: the sheriff’s office provided an estimate on housing inmates and judges said securing counsel and supervising bonds faster can reduce jail days and county costs. Kelly Adkins described risk-assessment tools and monitoring options used in San Patricio County, and she noted the county already has kiosks, monitoring vendors and case-management software that could be leveraged if Bee County adopts the office.

Speakers discussed operational details: the proposed position would be run by the community supervision department (as in San Patricio), would likely use a tablet-based affidavit workflow, and would initially be housed with space arranged at the county jail so the officer could meet custodial needs and check defendants in person. A preliminary salary estimate of about $42,000 was mentioned; presenters said fringe benefits and other costs would be provided during budget discussions.

Judges and commissioners stressed the mental-health component: presenters said the county is seeing more defendants with serious mental-health needs and that pretrial staff could identify those defendants early and coordinate with local behavioral-health providers and the sheriff’s office. Judge Hardwick and other judges described situations where better communication between courts and custodial staff could have prevented eligible defendants from remaining jailed or being scheduled into inappropriate dockets.

The court did not vote on funding at the presentation. Commissioners and judges indicated support for the concept but said the item will be considered in the upcoming budget process; several commissioners asked that staff provide a formal budget attachment and a proposed resolution if the court wishes to authorize the position and an interlocal or service agreement. Presenters said they would aim to have a hire and operational start date of Oct. 1 if the court approves funding during the budget cycle.

Proponents framed the office as an administrative tool to improve compliance, reduce unnecessary jail time, and coordinate services across the judiciary, probation, and the sheriff’s office. The court accepted the presentation and asked staff and judges to return with more detailed budget numbers and a draft of how the office would be structured and supervised.