TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas — More people in Travis County are one step closer to getting legal representation at their first court appearances, thanks to some new resolutions passed by the city of Austin and Travis County this week.
It's something advocacy groups have been fighting for the past few months.
"It's a constitutional right and a matter of basic fairness that you should have access to a lawyer before a judge decides to lock you in jail," Nick Hudson, a policy and advocacy strategist with the ACLU of Texas, said.
On Tuesday, Travis County commissioners approved the creation of 39 new positions to represent and assist defendants at their first court appearances, which are often bail hearings. They set aside millions in the upcoming budget cycle, which starts on Oct. 1, to pay for the new positions.
The positions span 10 different county departments. Staff are still working on what individual shifts would look like, but the goal is to start hiring as soon as possible.
"It's lots of people. It's people-intensive. But when you're making the decision to lock someone up or not, to deny their liberty or not, it's worth every penny," Commissioner Ann Howard (Precinct 3) said.
According to the ACLU of Texas, "counsel at first appearance" is a constitutional right that has taken a while for defendants to be able to fully exercise in Travis County. County officiails say they've heard of similar issues across the country where, because it takes a lot of resources to make counsel available at every single first appearance, it's taken a while to provide for people.
"We all understand that constitutional right to legal counsel, but that comes, for some people, after months of sitting in jail, waiting for their day in court," Howard said. "What we're realizing [is] this is a solid reform to how justice is delivered across the county and the country."
The ACLU of Texas filed a lawsuit against the county back in April for not providing counsel at first appearance to everyone. The organization claims because of that, people can sit in jail longer than they should, receive higher bond amounts they are not able to pay and it can sometimes even cause defendants to say information that could hurt their case later on because they did not have an attorney to confer with.
"They could be pressured to plead guilty even if they are innocent, just to go home," Hudson said.
Since April, the county has been testing out trial runs of a counsel at first appearance program. The ACLU of Texas said it has already heard it's been having major effects.
"We've already seen from some of the test shifts that defense attorneys have testified to the major impacts that counsel at first appearance is having on their cases," Hudson said.
This week, the city of Austin also voted to prioritize counsel at first appearance, ensuring municipal judges are available to Travis County for first appearances. The resolution that passed unanimously also makes sure those hearings happen in-person and with language translation available.
"It contains measures to ensure that the city is holding itself accountable for being a good partner," Hudson said. "We're really grateful and optimistic that that will make a difference."
The county said it is hoping to recruit new staff for counsel at first appearance at a job fair on Wednesday, Sept. 4. That fair will be held on the first floor of the Travis County Administrative Building, located at 700 Lavaca St. in Downtown Austin.
Then Travis County commissioners plan to give a final budget update for these newly created positions on Sept. 17.