Jury trials back at full capacity at Travis County District Court

TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - More than two months after jury trials resumed in Travis County following a COVID hiatus, there is still a major backlog in criminal cases waiting for trial. But officials insist they are making progress in reducing that backlog.

"We are working hard to make sure everyone has their day in court. We are up. We are running," said Travis County 147th District Court Judge Cliff Brown.

Jury trials are now back at full capacity in Travis County District Court after initially resuming in late February with an abbreviated schedule, and a COVID-modified courtroom configuration.

"The city kind of lifted all the COVID requirements, so we rapidly went back to a normal schedule," said Brown. "Now we’re back to a place where we can really get to the grind of getting rid of the entire backlog.

What does that backlog look like? At the end of February, right before jury trials resumed, there were 245 pending cases in District Court waiting to go to trial. At the end of April, that number was 232, and now it’s dropped to 196. That’s a 20% reduction in the backlog since trials resumed.

"It took us two years to get here. Hopefully it’s not going to take us two years to get back where we are, but we are working at it very deliberately," said Brown.

Judge Brown says right now his focus is on the cases where defendants have been behind bars for more than a year.

"That’s very easy. It is the oldest jail cases. Those cases get priority. Oldest jail cases, period," said Brown.

In addition, Travis County has applied for a state grant with the hopes of bringing on an extra judge to help the wheels of justice turn a little faster.

"The way we would use those funds if we are granted them is to have a dedicated judge to hear specifically family violence cases out of the district courts," said Brown. "It would allow us to focus on other cases."

Judge Brown says if nothing else, COVID was a huge learning experience on how court could be done more efficiently. Despite the gap in jury trials, many cases were still able to be resolved through virtual dockets, something that may turn out to be the new normal.

"Requiring 90 people to come to court every day to come before me for five minutes, really doesn’t accomplish much. So we’re only making persons come to court when something significant is going to happen in their case, said Brown.

Judge Brown points out that with the return of jury trials comes the return of juries. So if you get that notice in the mail, he encourages you not to ignore it: exercise your democratic duty and be part of a jury, to make sure justice is served.