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Harlingen resident urges county action after JPs fail to answer calls in emergencies
Summary
During public comment, Juan Ortega told the court he has encountered multiple Justice of the Peace offices that do not respond to hospital or police calls for signatures; he asked the court to consider reallocation of pay or other remedies.
Juan Ortega, a Harlingen resident, used his three-minute public comment at the May 19 Commissioners Court meeting to raise concerns about responsiveness of some Justice of the Peace (JP) offices.
"Some of those individuals are not answering the phone," Ortega said, citing instances where police or hospitals requested a JP signature to pronounce a death or commit an individual and received no answer. He asked the court to consider reducing pay for nonresponsive JPs and reallocating compensation to those who answer calls, and raised a separate concern about candidates running for positions while also practicing as attorneys who may be unable to serve in both capacities simultaneously.
The court thanked Ortega for his comments; no formal court motion to investigate or change JP compensation was recorded during the meeting. The comment was placed on the record during the public-comment portion of the agenda and did not result in an immediate county directive at that session.
