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District court judge urges probation officers in jail to cut overcrowding and costs
Summary
District Court Judge Watts presented a non-interview pretrial risk assessment pilot, saying the approach helped lower the jail population and asking the commissioners to reimburse two probation officers (estimated $121,000—$125,000) to perform immediate assessments and reduce days in custody.
Judge Watts, speaking to the Nueces County Commissioners Court during a budget workshop, urged the court to fund two probation officers to perform a non-interview pretrial risk assessment in the county jail, saying the pilot reduced the jail population and could save the county money.
The judge told commissioners that justice functions now account for roughly 51.03 percent of operating appropriations and that chronic overcrowding has driven up costs and threatened defendants' due-process rights. "The law enforcement corrections and the administration of judge justice eats up 51.03%," the judge said, and described a two-month tracking effort that, he said, brought the jail population down from…
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