The Travis County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to move forward on implementing a program to provide legal representation to arrested individuals during magistration, when a judge determines probable cause for arrest and sets bail.
Commissioners will first need to authorize funding for the program, called “counsel at first appearance,” or CAFA, which a panel of elected and appointed officials estimates will cost $6 million to $6.5 million during the first phase of implementation.
Commissioners directed the panel to work with the county budget office and stakeholder advocates to finalize details of the program and return to the Commissioners Court Aug. 27. Up to an estimated 65 full-time employees, including attorneys and administrative staff, will need to be hired and trained before the program begins.
The county first tried to pilot a CAFA program in 2022, but lacked the space and other infrastructure to ensure its success. County officials revived the endeavor in April, about the time that the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit against the county for failing to provide legal counsel to arrestees without the means to retain an attorney.
Since renewing its efforts to get CAFA off the ground, the county has conducted a series of operational test runs, providing legal counsel to 655 individuals, 608 of whom were magistrated.
The program will have one shift during its first phase of implementation, with attorneys working 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. Officials estimate the fully implemented CAFA program will cost $12 million to $12.5 million to operate two shifts.
Social justice advocates who have been calling on the county to implement a CAFA program spoke at Tuesday’s meeting. Rachel Gunner, a social worker and a member of Advocates for Social Justice Reform, told commissioners that the longer a person stays in jail, the greater the socioeconomic impact on the individual, which can include the loss of a job or home.
“There’s been a great deal of collaboration between elected appointed officials and the community to get to this point,” Gunner said. “Now it’s time to move from these test shifts to full implementation, although the recommendation to begin providing CAFA one shift per day seven days a week is not enough. We need 100 percent coverage at all times.”
Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.
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Travis County Commissioners Court: The legislative body for Travis County. It includes representatives from the four Travis County Precincts, as well as the County Judge. The County Judge serves as the chair of the Court.
