OPINION AND COMMENTARY
There is an old joke about County Commissioners Courts in Texas. The whole point is that they’re designed to not work. On Tuesday, the Tom Green County Commissioners demonstrated that saying is more of a truism, than a joke.
The 119th District Attorney came to Court for what seemed a rather mundane request. He was asking to be allowed to use state grant funds awarded to his office, to help recruit and retain prosecutors, to keep a key prosecutor from leaving to take another job.
Tom Green Co. Judge Lane Carter, and Commissioners Bacon and Nanny found every excuse they could possibly think of to not allow the District Attorney office to do just that.
The Problem With Prosecutors
The DA’s office has been hemorrhaging prosecutors to Midland and other jurisdictions that offer better pay. There is a shortage of prosecutors all over the state. Many DAs in other jurisdictions have been poaching the best prosecutors they can find from other offices.
The Tom Green County District Attorneys’ Office recently lost two seasoned prosecutors to the Midland/Odessa area. Now they are facing the loss of another one.
This attorney is willing to stay in San Angelo, but would like to be paid an additional $4,900 in salary. The District Attorneys believe the retention of this lawyer is “critical” to the proper functioning of their office.
Commissioners as Arm-Chair Quarterbacks
But the County Commissioners Court believes it knows better. They expressed that they would prefer to use those funds another way than to retain this prosecutor.
They balked, raising concerns about what the impact would be on the need to raise salaries for other prosecutors and the public defenders. Commissioners also worried whether they would have to raise salaries across the county’s 26 department if they approved the request. They were worried about who else might be coming for a raise mid-year, outside of the regular budget cycle.
While that may be their concern, it does not detract from the fact that by inaction they are putting at risk the already overworked prosecutors we do have. This also threatens the ability of the State to provide the speedy and fair trial to which all of the accused are entitled by the US and Texas Constitutions.
The Commissioners Court’s conversation about whether this person would really leave if they did not get this raise; and “we can’t be chasing after every employee who gets a better offer,” sounds vaguely familiar,
It reminded me of another county commissioner decades ago who, when county employees were griping they were the lowest-paid employees in the state, flippantly replied, “Well, someone has to be at the bottom.”
The Court seemed to believe that it not only has oversight over grant funds to ensure they are used properly, but that it has veto power over how other elected officials use those grant funds to run their offices.
Commissioners Court’s Discretion Ends With the County Budget
Commissioners courts have no authority under state law to micromanage the running of the offices of other elected officials. True, the commissioners court sets the budget for the county, but their authority over the decisions of other elected officials ends there.
Best was not asking to add a new position or pay the prosecutor outside the salary ranges already approved by the Commissioners Court. He was only seeking the approval to use the grant funds awarded to his office in the way he thought best to ensure the proper functioning of his office.
If the DAs wanted to use the funds for something not authorized by the grant, a commissioners court would be within its authority to not approve such an expenditure.
But when District Attorneys request approval to use grant funds for the purpose the legislature intended, it is improper for the commissioners court to deny that request just because they have other goals or concerns — or because they think the D.A. should do something different with those funds.
Table Politics
Commissioners tabled the request, which is a most effective way to kill something without actually voting against it. Maybe they will change their minds in a few weeks, but it may be too late by then.
There is great irony in the commissioners court’s inaction. The county judge and every commissioner will campaign on how much they support law enforcement. Yet, when asked to do something very simple to support it they would not give it fair consideration.
Anyone who has tried can tell you how hard its is to recruit professionals, like doctors and lawyers to San Angelo.
There are few home-grown lawyers, and fewer prosecutors who want or decide to return. They go where there are better jobs and better pay in the larger cities.
In Best’s opinion, if the Commissioners did not approve the request, he would lose another senior prosecutor. Other prosecutors were likely to follow.
If that happens, detainees may have to be released from jail because they can’t get a speedy trial. The guilty may go free because there are not enough experienced prosecutors to try their cases. If that happens, voters should remember who warned us, and who ignored that warning come election day.
