During a Tuesday meeting, Travis County employees raised grievances related to staff’s presentation of possible adjustments to the county’s pay scale in the FY25-26 budget, including a “modernization” proposal that would designate employees either exempt or non-exempt. Staff says this structural change is necessary to address the county’s issues retaining talent. The difference between exempt […]
Travis County Public Defenders Office
Posted inTravis County
New public defenders get pay bump but county struggles to retain experienced attorneys
At the beginning of the year, Travis County finally began offering a guaranteed lawyer to individuals who are arrested and can’t afford legal representation – a constitutional right known as counsel at first appearance, or CAFA. It took an ACLU lawsuit to urge the county to rectify its failure to offer CAFA to indigent constituents, […]
Posted inTravis County
County public defender office takes shape
The long process of unifying Travis County’s three separate public defender offices took another step forward last week. The Commissioners Court reviewed draft bylaws for the oversight board the first time Nov. 2 and agreed to another voting session to work through details. The unification of the separate offices for adult, juvenile and mental health […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Travis County’s program to provide lawyers at its downtown jail is (still) on hold
The first court hearing is often the most crucial for people accused of a crime in Travis County. When defendants are booked downtown, they’re charged and given options on how to get out of jail. In some cases, the first hearing determines whether someone spends a few hours locked up or days – even weeks. […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Travis County explores impact of legal representation during intake process
Travis County and Texas A&M are teaming up to administer a pilot study that will examine the effects of providing arrestees with legal counsel at first appearance. On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court received an update on the upcoming grant-funded pilot program, a partnership with the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M and […]
Posted inTravis County
Travis County hires law professor as its first-ever public defender
Travis County has hired University of Virginia law professor Adeola Ogunkeyede as the first person to lead its public defender office. Until last year, the county was the largest jurisdiction in the United States without an office to handle cases for poor adults accused of crimes. Travis County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to hire Ogunkeyede, […]
Posted inTravis County
Travis County’s public defender office is officially funded
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 […]