Waller County indigent defense unchanged

Establishing a public defender’s office seen as unnecessary for small, rural community

After Sandra Bland died in a Waller County jail cell last year when she was unable to post the $500 needed for bail, some state lawmakers urged county leaders to review indigent defense practices and consider starting a public defender’s office.

But 16 months later, leaders of this rural county are not rushing to establish an office to provide legal counsel to those who can’t afford it.

Commissioners on Wednesday cleared the way for the county again to apply a grant from the Texas Indigent Defense Commission for the county’s programs, which they’ve been getting since 2003 and which last year amounted to $49,439, but they made no mention of starting a public defender office. The county relies on private attorneys to serve those without the financial means to get their own lawyer.

“We’re nowhere close to being large enough to justify that type of expense,” said Waller County Judge Trey Duhon. He noted by phone Wednesday that an audit of the rural county’s practices “came out very positive for the county.” Area judges subsequently met to review the results and developed some changes, he said.

A chance for reform

Bland, a 28-year-old AfricanAmerican woman, was found hanged in her jail cell in July, 2015, a death that was ruled a suicide. Her death came three days after she was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation, then arrested and jailed following a heated exchange with a Department of Public Safety trooper. That officer was subsequently fired and is facing a perjury charge, which he denies.

On Tuesday, a federal judge formally dismissed the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Bland’s family. Their attorneys had disclosed a $1.9 million settlement with the Texas Department of Public Safety, former trooper Brian Encinia and Waller County.

Two months after Bland’s death, state Sen. Rodney Ellis and state Reps. Senfronia Thompson and Ron Reynolds wrote county commissioners asking them to review Waller County’s indigent defense practices, as well as to “assess whether alternative approaches, such as a public defender office, would be feasible and cost-effective for Waller County.”

In a December letter, Waller County Commissioner Jeron Barnett also called for a review of the indigent defense program.

The state commission’s executive director traveled to Waller County in February to discuss opportunities, including the possibility for discretionary funding to get a public defender office off the ground.

Ellis spoke then, too, urging commissioners to take the opportunity as a chance for reform following Bland’s death.

Several county commissioners previously had voiced skepticism about the idea of establishing a public defender office, citing the costs associated with it and the small size of the county — a sentiment that seems to have remained unchanged even as more information has been released.

The commission conducted its review of the county’s program and finalized the results in late August. Its findings included that magistrate judges were not handling requests for attorneys in the same way and that not all magistrates were providing defendants with “reasonable assistance” in completing the necessary paperwork at their hearings.

‘Lone Ranger’ support

Earlier, the commission also had drawn up a feasibility report on whether a public defender office should be launched, explaining that doing so could “create an institutional resource valuable to the bench, the bar, county officials and the community.”

The county’s written response to the report, dated Oct. 28, outlined the policy tweaks. It reiterated a belief that “Waller County is and has been largely in compliance with not only the letter of the law, but the spirit of the laws and regulations dealing with indigent defense.”

Barnett, who is up for re-election in November, said he may be a “lone ranger” on the commission pushing for a public defender office.

“When it comes down to our indigent defense, I feel we need to take a stronger approach,” Barnett said in a phone interview. “I just feel that there’s more we can do.”

Decisions on the routine grant funding resolved by commissioners Wednesday will be made in December, said Edwin Colfax, grant program manager for the Texas Indigent Defense Commission. Requests for applications for the discretionary funding will be released in January. The first component of the application would be due in March and the final one is due in May.

So far, the commission has heard no indication that Waller County plans to pursue such a grant.

As Colfax said, the Austinbased commission aimed simply for commissioners to be aware and informed about the option.

Said Colfax, “It’s a local decision whether they want to proceed.”