Thread by @texasdaniel

Opinion Editorial: Time For Change at the #Courthouse
In the flurry of enthusiasm for top of the ticket candidates, in 2018 #Democrats voted overwhelmingly straight ticket in #HarrisCounty. Unfortunately, officeholders doing a good job were swept out in the wave—replaced by (1)

...less than optimum alternatives. Witness how quickly two separate County #Clerks resigned or did not seek reelection, mainly due to errors and incompetence regarding multiple elections under their charge. Witness the judges who fail to run timely dockets, leaving plaintiffs (2)

and defendants languishing for years to see justice—including several judges who haven’t held a single trial since taking office! Witness further the dramatic rise in crime due to a misapplication of the fundamentals to practical #criminaljustice reform and non-functioning (3)

...offices integral to criminal justice. A glaring and sad change brought by the 2018 wave is at the very heart of the courthouse: the “Clerk of Courts” or here in #Texas better known as the #DistrictClerk’s Office. The District Clerk is often forgotten until you have #jury (4)

...duty or need to look up a case personal to you. It is an office that is typically apolitical and out-of-sight-out-of-mind to most but the #lawyers who utilize the office daily. Then in comes a non-lawyer with minimal managerial experience or understanding of the office (5)

-to run a five hundred-plus person organization.By electing a non-lawyer with practically zero legal experience to run the largest court system in Texas, voters unintentionally invited cluster of problems, messes, legal concerns, & over all disaster to Harris County’s (6)

...#legalsystem. What did the new clerk do on day 1?—fire or demand the resignation of more than sixty veteran employees. More than a century of institutional knowledge left overnight, including key positions in training and quality control. What followed became a nightmare (7)

stemming from a flattened management structure with little accountability, whereby phones didn’t get answered, filings were vastly misfiled, the filing system ground to a halt, and necessary legal documents (like citations) were either lost or issued months beyond statutory (8)

...limits. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water! The most grievous complaint is the consistently down website that lawyers heavily rely upon--especially since #COVID19—to interact with the electronic filing system and the courthouse itself. It is a joke that (9)

...is relayed daily on lawyer forums and social media sites. But it is no joke to the #plaintiff or #defendant who cannot move forward with their case because the website is down yet again. The mismanagement of the taxpayers’ and #public #courtrecords and court processing (10)

...system must come to an end. Harris County should demand better of its public officials, & this includes the District Clerk's office. This election season, it is time we bring competency back to the courthouse. Changing the criminal justice system for the better starts at (11)

...the courthouse, and change at the courthouse starts with the District Clerk. This is not a party issue but a question of leadership and ability: the past two district clerks, a #democrat & a #republican, both lawyers, ran the office quite capably. The transition between (12)

...the two was nearly seamless. It was a prime example of public service above self or party. What the new District Clerk has done echoes what happened in the early 90s when a similar clerk gutted the office and set it back a decade. Let’s not make that mistake again. (13)

Tackling rising crime requires a functioning court, & the #DistrictClerk at the heart of every courthouse. We demand a working District Clerk office. After all, “justice delayed is #justice denied”. Bring back competency to the office & replace those who cannot handle it. (14)

Tagging #commissioners ahead of their meeting in case they can discuss during possible related agenda items: @RJackCagle @AdrianGarciaHTX @TomSRamsey2 @RodneyEllis @LinaHidalgoTX #commisionerscourt