Travis County is in the home stretch of its yearslong effort to establish a public defender office for low-income adult defendants. On Thursday the Texas Indigent Defense Commission OK’d a four-year grant to establish the office in the county – the largest jurisdiction in the country without such an office. All told, the state and […]
County Judge Sarah Eckhardt
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: County Judge Sarah Eckhardt
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt joins Austin Monitor reporter Jack Craver at KOOP this week to talk about how pending state legislation could impact the county, development regulations and why Travis County might soon have a public defender’s office. For all that and more, tune in to the show, embedded here. Austin Monitor Radio is […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Group forms to mediate conflict over sexual assault cases
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and former Texas state Senator Wendy Davis held a press conference Tuesday announcing their partnership in the creation of a Travis County Sexual Assault Prevention and Healing Work Group. Eckhardt and Davis were joined in support by Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gómez and SAFE Alliance co-CEO Kelly White. Eckhardt said […]
Posted inTravis County
Eckhardt welcomes wave of political momentum in Travis County
For years, when County Judge Sarah Eckhardt would try to talk to the community about the justice system, someone would quickly change the subject to transportation or other unrelated issues. Although it accounts for 50 percent of the overall county budget, Eckhardt said only recently are people beginning to see the relevance of the justice […]
Posted inTravis County
In State of the County address, Eckhardt looks forward to future term
With no credible threat to her re-election in November, Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt delivered a State of the County address on Thursday night that had the luxury of looking a full five years into the future. Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, her tightly packed address raked across the broader yard of county […]