Probate judges ask for staffing parity and investigators to meet rising guardianship caseloads

Five Harris County probate judges presented short statements and answered court questions about growing workload and the need for additional staff to meet statutory guardianship oversight.

Judge Jerry Simenow said his court currently oversees approximately 1,855 protected people under guardianship and stressed that guardianships are ongoing obligations that require annual inventories, audits and visits. “The court has to actively engage in these guardianships after they're created... It takes a lot of staff members to do that,” Simenow said, and asked for two additional staff: one to manage a visitation program and one to supervise the public probate administrator functions.

Judges across the bench described longer-term trends: population growth and an aging population with more dementia and complex needs, heavier interpreter demand, increasing self‑represented litigants (some aided by AI tools), and rising contested filings. Multiple judges asked for parity in staffing for the newly formed Probate Court 5 so that cases can be redistributed from older courts and statutory visitations can be completed. Judge Cox also reported that a newly implemented civil mental‑health filing fee generated roughly $700,000 in gross receipts in its first two months, with some reimbursements anticipated.

Precincts probed staffing mixes (auditors, court investigators, staff attorneys) and the courts said needs span administrative staff, auditors and a second court investigator for Court 5. Judges urged the commissioners to consider the long‑term nature of probate workloads and to restore or provide parity funding rather than impose cuts that would reduce oversight capacity.