The Louie Minor Show
Texas politics from Killeen to Belton to Austin and beyond. Join the conservation with Bell County Commissioner Pct 4 Louie Minor as we dive deep into local government. Interviews with community leaders and the public.
The Louie Minor Show
Balancing County Resources: A Deep Dive into JP Court Workload
We're back from the National Association of Counties annual conference in Philadelphia, where we successfully passed several key resolutions including a non-discrimination resolution I helped spearhead.
• Reports of unnecessary euthanasia at Bell County Animal Shelter have caused public outcry
• Proposing Bell County become a no-kill shelter with 90% live placement rate
• Workshop scheduled for July 28th to discuss animal shelter reforms
• Commissioner Woodson made controversial comments about JP courts in Precinct 4
• Judge Coleman requested additional clerk to handle heavy caseload in Precinct 2 JP Court
• Police departments choosing to take cases to Precinct 2 instead of their local JP courts
• Workload disparities exist between JP precincts with uneven population distribution
• First day of special legislative session tomorrow addressing flood mitigation, redistricting, and property taxes
• New tentative redistricting map shows Bell County unified in one congressional district
welcome. You're listening to the louis minor show. I'm your host, Bell County C commissioner, Louie Minor. Today is july 20th, 2025 and we are back from naco national association of county annual conference that was held in philadelphia and had a great time over there, was able to pass some much needed resolutions that go into the platform for National Association of Counties. I'm a member of NACO, the National Association of Hispanic County Officials, and there were several resolutions that we were supporting and the one that I was spearheading helping spearhead was the non-discrimination resolution. So we had to take that to two committees and so we had to take that to two committees and luckily, that one passed and all of the other ones passed that Tanako was supporting. So, yay, shout out Tanako and all the members that supported and did all the hard work and, yeah, we did a good job over there, was excited, made a lot of uh, good information that able to bring, come back to the county and try to get some things happening. Uh. But next week next week, matter of tomorrow I'll be flying out to Atlanta for the Naleo Conference. That's the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. So this will be my second time going to Naleo. Last year was my first time, and this one is definitely much different because it's obviously Hispanic officials from all over the country, but it is city council members, it is state legislators, county officials obviously, then federal and appointed both state and so it's a really good opportunity network and see issues that are affecting the Hispanic community all over the United States. So I'm excited to go there and learn more and bring stuff back home. But I do want to touch a couple of things. I will play a video You'll be able to listen to it the audio from the commissioner's court.
Louie Minor:There are several things that came out in the news since our last show. One of them, obviously, was the animal shelter, and there were reports that a lot of animals have been euthanized unnecessarily and that got a lot of people upset, a lot of people mad. I got a lot of emails about it. I'm sure the other commissioners did as well. Commissioner Whitson is on the Animal Advisory Board and the sheriff is in control of the animal shelter and animal control, so that's his responsibility, but there is a board that's required by law to have, so they had a meeting this week about that.
Louie Minor:Now on the 28th we're going to have a workshop item. I'm putting it on there. I'd like Bell County to be a no-kill shelter and there is no certificate or anything like that, no designation for a no-kill shelter. The only thing that I'm aware of the metrics that people use for a no-kill shelter, the only thing that I'm aware of the metrics that people use for a no-kill shelter is that you have 90% live placement rate. So 90%. You know there are going to be times that a dog, a pet, an animal is dangerous or is, you know, sick beyond help and in those instances euthanasia will be appropriate. So the goal is 90% for a no-kill shelter and that's what I want to strive for in Bell County. So yeah, on the 28th that'll be an agenda item that people will come talk. On the 28th that'll be an agenda item that people will come talk, hear, discuss and advocate for stuff from the Commissioner's Court.
Louie Minor:But in today's paper, sunday's paper, we have a Remember I was gone. I was gone and they had a budget workshop on Monday. This Monday I was actually coming back on Monday and I missed the meeting. I wasn't to use an appropriate word, so I don't have to bleep myself out later, but it was some pretty bold comments. Interpretations of him from him on the JP courts in Precinct 4. So I want to play. It happened during a budget meeting where Justice of the Peace Coleman was asking for another clerk to help him out perform his duties. So I want to play that in its entirety and then I'll have my comments at the end of that. So listen to this. There is no Commissioner's Court meeting on Monday. We postponed it to the 28th, the following Monday, which happens to be my birthday as well. So, anyways, let's listen to this video from the workshop and then you can form your own opinion and I'll give you some more of the background information on that.
Bobby Whitson:Coach, how are you doing today? Everything's alright.
Cliff Coleman:This is my second chance, because I had come in here previously and had a temporary, a full-time temporary employee, with the understanding at least from what was said in Commissioner's Court or possibly workshop and then went into agenda is that, yes, the full-time spot will be handled in budget. So I went into that thinking, okay, we're going to. You know, this is a full-time deal, you know, sign on for October. I did have somebody in mind that I wanted that temporary position. That didn't work out, and so it came to a point where basically for at that time, maybe eight weeks, nine weeks I don't want to. It's difficult to hire somebody, or it's not beneficial to hire somebody just for that amount of time Just can't even really answer the phones, there's nothing really for them to be able to do in the office, there's a significant amount of training that has to take place before this person becomes an asset for the office, and so I haven't hired anybody. So I still have that, whatever that. Nine weeks or 10 weeks, whatever that.
Bobby Whitson:That we agreed to do that Remember remember last month.
Cliff Coleman:Yeah, In the last month it was six weeks ago, maybe. Yeah, maybe six weeks ago, cause I remember the eight weeks is when when started thinking Whoa, this is.
Bobby Whitson:this may be a lot out of September, so he's going to have a person for three months.
April Metcalf:Yeah, while somebody's on FMLA.
Cliff Coleman:Right One person's on FMLA, Whether they come back or not. I don't know Whether they're coming back or not, but regardless of that it doesn't matter. I mean, this is still something with the numbers that my court has. April spoke to that at workshop. About that she spoke with at a meeting. Also, Jim Nichols and David Baucham are here regarding to kind of explain the workload of my office in comparison to some of the other courts.
Bobby Whitson:So right now you have how many? Three, four, you have four One's out, so you have three and we're going to hire a temporary, so you have that fourth and, as you're understanding, if the fourth comes back, you have that fourth and it was your understanding. If the fourth come back and keep that fifth for the next budget cycle, and that's the way you request it in your budget, right?
Cliff Coleman:okay, but then it got when the budget came out that was not there. So here I am saying you know, this is, this is much needed. Uh, people that have been in my office being April and Mr Baucom quite a bit has seen what staff basically just phone calls that we can't answer because everybody else is on the phone, or people in line waiting to speak with clerks and that's great, we're busy but nothing gets done. We're not doing our civil processing, we're not getting things scheduled like we're supposed to be doing. We need I've got to have some more help. I need more hands at that office and really one more is a band-aid. It's really two more, but I, you know.
Bobby Whitson:I just When's your fourth person's schedule to come back? There is no schedule. Six weeks First, september 1st.
April Metcalf:Yeah, six more weeks. The other thing I want to add is just speaking with his employees, and not to put you on the judge, but just speaking with the employees in his office, without going into detail in great detail. Office without going into detail in great detail because of what they really showed me. A lot of it is driven from stress as to why they look at other positions, why they're looking to leave, why they're looking for leave, things like that because of the workload in the office, and so and these are people that have been there for a while he, he's got one that returned. I think that she's really kind of probably the only one I have talked to that's been stressed or negative as to why they're begging for more help.
Bobby Whitson:Well, I've told you every year I'm not sitting in that seat. So if you're saying you need another person, you need another person and I don't question that, I will not question that at all. It's just then. We've also discussed once we get the revenues in and what we have to spend, we have to prioritize down and go from there. So we're talking about we're probably talking about what 50?, 60?, all in?
April Metcalf:57, 503. Yeah.
Bobby Whitson:How much?
April Metcalf:57, 503. Almost 60. That's what that is. Also in comparison he has four people in his office, three deputy clerks and one assistant to the judge, whereas comparison on, I'm not going to even compare it to the two in Temple because they have even less, but compared to the two in Colleen they have four in one. So I mean the workload based on what I saw in the numbers and it's just complete glance. Some of the numbers that do run through his office are very comparable to what's running manually.
Bobby Whitson:Again, I don't question the numbers because they all take different times and I can't answer that. I don't need to answer because I'm not sitting in that seat.
Cliff Coleman:Again, it's just where would we find the? I mean we'd have to find the $60,000. And also, just real quick, I do want. Mr Baucom will let you know that he handles all the criminal side of all the courts of Bell County and he will tell you that. Well, let him tell you. But he does. About 40 or 50 percent of his docket comes out of my court. That's for all six JPs. Why is that? Why do they go to?
Bobby Whitson:your court Because they can go to any court. They want Pretty much and you have in your precinct. You have about 20,000 people that live there, so a lot of half of the cases.
Cliff Coleman:Yes, yes, but the people that come through there is a lot more than 20,000.
Bobby Whitson:I understand, they go through Belton, they go through Temple. I mean, you're on the same I-35 corridor. I get it Sure, but again, why do they come to your court? You gonna answer that, come on, you gonna answer that.
Cliff Coleman:We treat it's efficient. The court is efficient. It is treated with respect. Law enforcement is treated with respect in the court. Mr Buckham, anything else you want to add? Why law enforcement?
Bobby Whitson:would come to Precinct 2? Sure, sure, cool.
David Baqum:Gentlemen, my name is David Buckham. I don't think I've mentioned Mr Rills. Yes, sir, but I'm in my fifth decade of practice in law. It is an honor and a privilege to serve in this gentleman's court, just like it is an honor and a privilege to serve in the other courts, but they are different. When I started out, it was explained to me that I would be doing two days in each judge's court. That's sort of the way we started. But it quickly became apparent to me that I'm doing four and five days a month. So I'm up to sundown sometimes in this gentleman's court.
David Baqum:That's not the only day that I'm there, because I'm constantly stopping by to handle this, that and the other. In other courts I'm averaging a half day twice a month. In other courts I'm averaging a half day once a month. Other courts in Temple I'm there two days a month. Another court I'm averaging a half day once a month. Other courts in Temple I'm there two days a month. Nobody has the volume. Nobody pushes the volume that we do in 2-1. It got so bad last week when we only had two people there that I was answering phones.
Bobby Whitson:That's how stressful it is, not very well.
David Baqum:But, I'm sorry Better than me.
David Baqum:But it gets so bad, it gets so stressful. We have so many people coming in. They're treated well. Everybody that I see Unless they clearly are looking for a fight gets treated with empathy and respect, and I try to be as restorative with them as I can be, given my role in the criminal justice system. I walk out, I get cards from defendants saying thank you for how you treated me. That's how we do it. That's how I do it in every court, and that does not exclude Judge Coleman's court.
David Baqum:We have a lovely court there. I love going there. I love the people there. They are stressed out, though, and they are handling more than any other court with less people there, and that's the problem. That's the real problem, and they're trying to do a fantastic job too.
David Baqum:That takes extra effort, and I am here to support Judge Coleman in asking this court for another staff member there, because it is desperately needed. Mental health, as April told you, is an issue with these ladies. I've seen the judge go above and beyond to try to do everything he can to make that not an issue, but at the end of the day, when you've got lines four or five people deep at each station, when the phones are ringing off the hook. I have been in cultures. I've served for years and years as the chief legal officer for banks manufacturers. I've been department head for criminal justice in a university. I've been on boards, I have looked at culture and I've looked at staffing and my wife is an HR person. April and I have discussed that for all of our marriage. We talk about culture and staffing at the house and I see a great need in this court for another person.
Bobby Whitson:Yes, sir, thank you, and it happens to be the truth, right it is?
David Baqum:It is the truth. Thank you very much.
Bobby Whitson:I don't disagree with any of that. What our job is to do up here is make sure that we put to the commissioner's point is make sure that we are efficient and effective with the services that we provide. And my concern with JPs overall not with yours necessarily, but overall is that we're not as efficient as we could be. And so if I've got 50% of the cases happening in your precinct, when you have what 5% of the population, that tells me that other courts maybe not all of them, but some of them aren't handling their fair share and those can be filed anywhere you want to file them in the county. Belton and Temple are not far apart. Belton and Slater are not far apart. On the I-35 court, for a fact, we've got a lot of folks from Killeen coming to your court and that's a pretty good drive from Killeen to go to your court. They're going out of their way to go to your court. So when I look at that and I'm looking at your numbers and your numbers, while your numbers are solid and higher than some of the other courts along I-35, they're certainly not compatible with numbers in Precinct 4, but they're different types of cases You're doing criminal cases take more time more trouble than doing evictions one after the other all day long, and I understand that too. But what I would be looking at more, rather than adding more people, is maybe shuffling some people around. And so I'm not certain that if we're going to load up in one court or the other, that we don't need to pull some personnel or at least the spots from some of those other places and add to your court, not necessarily just add another body or two or maybe three in your court. When I got five over in another court or three over another court, not doing as many as those or five or six in your court, and so when I was going through this last time, when I went through all the OCA numbers, I wasn't going through based on how many judges we had. I was going through based on how many clerks we had for those and by clerk number. You have one of the highest case per clerk numbers in the county even though you have 20,000 people in your precinct, which is again I keep saying that because it just doesn't seem right.
Bobby Whitson:But I understand and the reason I wanted you to answer that question and thank you, mr Baugh, for answering that question. I know the reason I'm not asking the question. I don't know the answer to that. I want people publicly to understand and I know you don't want to get into any risk with any of the JPs anywhere. You've got to work together and I get that. But I want people to understand publicly the volumes that we're doing because their own police departments don't want to go to their own JP courts. And I will say that here and again and again and again until we get something worked out on the JP in Precinct 4. And it's not necessarily both of them.
Bobby Whitson:But bottom line is we have got to this JP problem that we've got is a big problem. We have got to this JP problem that we've got is a big problem. I mean magistration. We're going to spend a ton more money on that. We're probably going to have to do something with the inquest at some point in time because that's about to fall over too. And we've got all these criminal cases coming to Little Obsoleto, texas. For what? Because somebody else won't talk to a police officer. That's not my point. I want to make sure everybody understands this. And we're talking about this because I think you're right and I think you need personnel. But I'm not willing to continue to write checks because some other JPs don't do their job. That's what I have a problem with, because that's every taxpayer in the county and I will say that loudly Some JPs don't do their job in Bell County, texas. Commissioner, I don't know how to fix that, other than move some clerks somewhere.
Cliff Coleman:Commissioner, any time that Bell County, whether it be any one of these commissioners and Judge has needed something. At my level, I'm the first and last phone call and Judge, Wilkie and Judge.
Cliff Coleman:Wilkie too'm the first and last phone call and Judge Wilkie, and Judge Wilkie, we have stepped up, to the peril of my staff, for the last eight weeks, seven, eight weeks, and what I've done and what he has done over there, and it has put more stress on my staff. So then in that midst of time, when you sit there and then you know, and I'm thinking I'm getting another clerk and then I get budget coming in and you know, no, we're not doing another clerk.
Cliff Coleman:I mean it's devastating. Okay, we are looking forward to that, that relief that we have. It's not going to be easy. This is not like snap your fingers, it's fixed. It's going to take several months, if not a year, to train somebody, to make them an asset, that they're productive A little production here at a time. But that education level at the justice level is much different and much greater than at the county court law or district level. They are specialized, whether it be civil or whether it be criminal, in what they do. This is the whole, this is everything, as Henry Garson would say the whole banana.
Bobby Whitson:So I say all that to say would you be willing to take another clerk from another?
Cliff Coleman:That is not my call. Commission, you're not making the call.
Bobby Whitson:Both I'm saying if I put a call out to clerks in other areas I have to interview somebody somebody that works.
Cliff Coleman:That person has to match and mesh with my staff Absolutely and when we interview people, that is very important and just you deciding who that person is not gonna work.
Bobby Whitson:I'm not moving the person, I'm saying if I were to put a call out and say, hey, we need somebody over here, the position is open, would you, if you would like to apply, apply that you don't get any applications saying if I were to put a call out and say hey we need somebody over here.
Bobby Whitson:The position is open. If you would like to apply, apply. If you don't get any applications, we'll fix it another way. But if you get three applications and you like one and you hire them, they're already trained up and they're going and they're ready to go.
Cliff Coleman:I can tell you this Okay, that's a good question In the political, creating a political issue with another judge, possibly if I take one of their clerks because I open it up. No, I'm willing to do it, or you is what I'm asking, right? So I will tell you this I don't have anybody in mind for this new position, and so I would open you this. I don't have anybody in mind for this new position, and so I would open it up, and if people wanted to apply from a different court, I would look at their application. Okay, I would give it full consideration.
Bobby Whitson:Because anything other than?
Cliff Coleman:that I'm putting myself in a corner.
Bobby Whitson:No, I understand and I appreciate that the reason I say that is because I also don't want to go to another JP and say, hey, five of y'all work here, now One of these getting fired. We're taking the position away and I don't want to cost a good employee their job. If they can just move over to another court, if they want to, and you want them to, I would like to make that. I can't, I can't, no, no, no, I'm just taking, I'm moving positions, is all I'm saying. But tell people in these other courts that you can apply for this whole position and if you get hired, you get hired. But if you don't get hired, this position, one of these positions, is going to go away and then that judge in that area has to figure out which one's got to go.
Bobby Whitson:So you haven't taken a position from another JP, absolutely which one? Which court?
Bobby Whitson:From Johnson's Court. Is he the high priority Place one Now?
Cliff Coleman:I do not want it to get out that I came to this court trying to deal with one of Judge. Johnson's clerks. You're asking for a bizarre and whoever's watching this is not my idea. I did not.
Bobby Whitson:That is not what I'm advocating at all what. I'm saying, though, is I had KPD telling me they don't take cases to Johnson's court because of various reasons, and they go to your court instead. So if you're going to be taking those cases, I think some of his personnel, at least one, but Judge Johnson has.
Cliff Coleman:I mean he has magistrated, and I will tell you his weekends. There haven't been any issues since January. I mean he's done his job and he's done it well. I'm talking about criminal cases from KPD.
Bobby Whitson:If you you probably don't want to talk your head, but you might how many cases do you get from KPD?
Cliff Coleman:So there's different kinds of cases. I do search warrants, I do arrest warrants. I have done most of the citations that are cleaned, are handled in the city, unless it happens outside the city, and then, yes, I do them as well. It's got to be egregious, so, but yes, I've done that.
Bobby Whitson:Would you say that 50% of your work comes from Precinct 4?
Cliff Coleman:No, I would not say that, I would say 50%.
April Metcalf:Well, I don't have that number, but I would say maybe 50%, but maybe not quite the 50% handle is outside my precinct.
Cliff Coleman:as far as the criminal side, I don't know.
Bobby Whitson:Non-solid right.
Cliff Coleman:Maybe, yeah, I mean, so it happens.
Bobby Whitson:So you're doubling your work on criminal cases in precinct two. I bet if you did the math, it's maybe higher than that. And I'm only saying that because 20,000 people live in all of your precincts versus 400,000 people in Bell County. Just by the sheer numbers, if you have that much volume in your cases and I have to know a little bit about Salado I'm pretty sure there's not a large criminal on Salado Right.
Cliff Coleman:I do a lot of CV, a lot of commercial vehicle stuff with DPS.
Cliff Coleman:And it doesn't matter if it's Expo Center or where it is, they send it to me or where it is, they send it to me. And I think a lot of that is the efficiency that we handle this in and then also some education that I've had regarding CVs and with the federal laws regarding that, and they're appreciative of that, that I'm up to speed on that end of it. So a lot of overweights and commercial vehicle stuff come to my court. A lot of overweights come. A lot of overweights and commercial vehicle stuff come to my court and, to be quite honest, we have folks from Travis County, Williamson County and McLennan County. Those troopers, those CV troopers, come in and work 10 or 12 at a time and do this and we may get loaded with 80 to 100 citations a day on that.
David Baqum:Easily. So it's just like it is what it is. We're going to take care of it. I can say one more thing about the CV issue. There is a lot of legislation that goes on before we can handle that kind of a ticket. It's a very different ticket to handle. The fines and penalties are very different and many times they're represented by attorneys and I don't want this to get out, but it's so much easier to handle a case without an attorney. It doubles or triples the time when counsel gets involved and when we have these kinds of cases when an attorney here is going to be somebody, and I'll give you an example. That happened just this morning.
David Baqum:I had to take a baby attorney by the hand and show her what commercial legal law was, what anti-masking is, what the exceptions were. That's not just time in my office, that's time for his court. And I have to do all of that because we have a reputation, a judgmental reputation, of handling these things pretty efficiently and properly.
Bobby Whitson:Yep sure.
Bobby Whitson:Okay, again, I'd be okay with however we come up with the dollars. I'm okay with an extra position and I don't know that the three of us could determine that today. Anyway, quite frankly, it's going to be something that we discuss in the budget and how we have this, but we're going to balance, but we'll get it done one way or the other.
Bobby Whitson:I've got a kid nod and we're going to get it done one way or the other, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to cut something to. You have to cut something, right? We're balanced. We're balanced and we're going to be balanced.
Bobby Whitson:We're not going to go unbalanced, obviously, or we can tell everybody that Judge Goldman means us to raise the tax rate. Either way, you want to go, judge, it's up to you.
Cliff Coleman:I'm in such a desperate need of a clerk, I'm willing to take the hit.
April Metcalf:We've got some things. We could go again, it wouldn't be in the one cent.
Bobby Whitson:I should.
Bobby Whitson:Keep it but I'm not saying absolutely Right.
April Metcalf:Well, we've got other decisions to make too. This is the first time that y'all talked about looking at other JPs.
Bobby Whitson:I know, I know I'm just trying to get traction there. You got a JP that doesn't work on Friday and does weddings all day long in our offices and doesn't see court on Friday.
Cliff Coleman:That's 20 percent. That's one of five clerks you don't need anymore. I have had to. Let me let you know this, just just. I don't want to knock my shoulder on a socket, pat myself on the back too hard, but but I will tell you.
Cliff Coleman:You, we used to have court tuesday, wednesday, thursdays, kind of give us mondays. I used to come to the commissioner's meeting, we used to do that, and fridays was your day to kind of catch up on everything. We now have court. I mean, I had to schedule, I had to change things around this afternoon to be here. We have court monday through friday. Now we are every single day of the week we are having some sort of court. What that is. And then when I had to do the magistration, it was so much work, not only on the front end of it, and when I told everybody I said, hey, this is what I'm doing is that we had to move all my nine o'clocks, ten o'clocks, we had to move everything back, and that just threw everything in a little frenzy. You know, for a while as well, it's not easy just say I want to do something. There's a whole lot of things that happen, that happen behind that.
Greg Reynolds:I do remember every JP requested another head, did they not?
Cliff Coleman:No.
Greg Reynolds:They didn't in Precinct 4.
Cliff Coleman:Precinct 4 did not request anybody, because they were here.
Greg Reynolds:But the numbers I'm looking at and I'm in alignment with Commissioner Snyder. We're here to help support whatever it is you need, as long as we can get the balance in our tax dollars. That's our job. I'm also in alignment with looking at the numbers. You've got 16,000 cases so far today. You've got right now 4,000 of them that are penal code or other state law which they can consume some time, if I understand properly. But that's the highest number in any country and I think also one of the. Compared to the four, it's 10,000 and about 3,000.
Cliff Coleman:One of the things that I hesitate in talking about, but I'm actually costing the taxpayers money. We're actually costing the taxpayers money by not having a staff member there.
Cliff Coleman:There are probably ballpark between 2,500 and 3,000 FTAs that have not been filed. A figure two appears that have not been filed in my court. We just don't have time. If you look at, say average, it's up to $500, but you know, say average $200 to $300 is what we charge on those. Think about those receivables that should be coming into my court that I just don't have time to do. They get pushed back. We're not there and it'll be. I mean, we'll still try to get them done.
Greg Reynolds:So if you're able to get those done with this extra head, you're basically paying for the salary.
April Metcalf:You can look and see what stays at the county versus what goes to county.
Cliff Coleman:That's true, but it's still money that come in, that's it 100%.
Greg Reynolds:So those places for place. One has 10,700 cases that they've processed to date that are on the docket and they have about 1,300 penal or state. Most of those are foreclosures, not foreclosures.
Cliff Coleman:I are evictions. I mean evictions, Thank you.
April Metcalf:Okay, one more thing.
David Baqum:One more thing about the FDAs. What it does is it shows up. In the past we haven't been documenting it very well. That started to change about a year and a half two years ago, when I started submitting an FDA form after everyone was offended and didn't show up. So we now have documentation in our files. It's just a matter of time to get back in there and go back into those laws and make that charge and bring it back into court and get it repaid. So the documentation is in the files. We're ready to go.
Bobby Whitson:If we just don't have the resources to do that are those documented enough to a point where they will show that they've not been resolved, so that when they go to do their registration, they'll have to come scofflaw and omni and omni right right, right, separately from omni and Omni and Omni, mm-hmm, for the questions too.
Cliff Coleman:Right, jim Lange Parker. Right, separately from Scott, right, separately from that, separately from Omni, separately from right. We go. Those are the three avenues that I know.
Bobby Whitson:So, even if you don't go after those people, so to speak, if they go to register the vehicle, they or come to subject, if you recall.
Cliff Coleman:Yes, if it's put in Omni or Scofflaw Right, right.
Bobby Whitson:Is it put into those at least Once?
Cliff Coleman:we file it, yes, Once it's filed. Once it's filed and they're given, they're sent that documentation 30 days, I think. Is that what it is? I think it's 30 days and if we haven't received a response, then it goes to Linebarger.
Louie Minor:Once Linebarger puts it into scoff law, we send it into.
Cliff Coleman:Omni. But that's what you're saying, correct, that's correct.
Bobby Whitson:But the violence is what you say. You don't have time to do. That's correct.
Cliff Coleman:So they're not going to get hit at scoff law Right now. I think it's 2,500 to 3,000. I think it's 2,500 to 3,000. I think that's the number. It may be higher, it may be a little bit lower, but I'm pretty sure it's at least 2,500. It was at 2,000 in February or March, they told me. I looked at the number so I'm figuring it's that much now because we haven't done it yet. So we have made some changes. We don't answer the phones now until 9. We open the doors at 8. It's going to kind of give us a chance to get civil, you know, get our things in order each morning. It's just once 9 o'clock hits, you know it's boom.
Bobby Whitson:So one of the reasons JP precincts are the way they are is for convenience. Well, obviously it's not inconvenient for people to come to you. So if we were to change those meets and bounds on your precinct, pick up more of the west side or central side of the county, would that?
Cliff Coleman:be reasonable. I'm happy to look at any lines that are redrawn, but anything that would do would just increase the workload for the precinct, I know, but it would decrease the workload for other precincts.
Bobby Whitson:Hypothetically it won't, but hypothetically we could decrease the number of clerks that need if we line those up and you have a larger area too and bring clerks to your office. But the problem is if 10 years from now you have a different set of keys. It's not about the size, it's about number of clerks and where they're going.
Bobby Whitson:Where's the work going? It's all going there, right, so you can cut it however you want to cut it, and they continue to go there. It's not going to make any difference. And you can say well, I'm this big so I need five curves, I'm this big so I need three. That's not how they come to work with it.
Cliff Coleman:Well, I understand. Every time you try to put me in a corner, every time, bobby.
Bobby Whitson:Try to get me to say something. I need people to. I need the county to understand. You said it's going on. I don't have to. You said it. I don't know what I'm talking about. You're the jp, just like you said any other, any questions?
Greg Reynolds:maybe his point. You know I can't be spending the position I've had to make decisions for people that didn't know what they did and that kind of thing and that's pretty uncomfortable just to me, but the numbers don't dispute me. I would say that your largest, your biggest time consumers would be criminal. Is that fair?
Cliff Coleman:Yes, just because it's your number yes.
Greg Reynolds:OK, so there's not, yeah, so I'm just saying there's the evidence to me is there's no question. You've got to have another hedge. I'm not, I'm not, I'm with Russell. I don't. I don't challenge that, and I just know that we've got to figure out how we're going to pay for it that's why y'all get the big bucks.
Bobby Whitson:Anything else, alright thank you April.
Cliff Coleman:Tina. Thank y'all so much, commissioners county clerk's office.
David Baqum:County attorney's office.
April Metcalf:I see are y'all done with that? What'd you have to do after me?
Louie Minor:that could be other items that's funny so there you heard Commissioner Woodson just blasting precinct. Four JPs not working, not doing their job, not hearing cases, not being useful, helpful, with local PD, local PD Now, all JPs do weddings, all of them. They all do weddings in the county buildings and then they do weddings outside of that. They manage their own time for that. What he didn't say are some of the other judges, some of the other JPs around the county. They work for other cities as well and hold court as well. Now I doubt that they're doing it in the evenings and I doubt they're doing it on the weekends, so they're doing it during. You would assume should be times that they should be doing county business, but they're not. And specifically, I think what Commissioner Woodson is referencing and maybe I think you even heard Judge Coleman mentioning it he mentioned arrest warrants and search warrants. So the and, like I said, I used to be a deputy constable a long time ago and I would be sitting in the JP's office, judge Ivey, many times and a detective or police officer would come by, pop in, you know, just show up unannounced with a warrant for the JP to sign. They just look over the documentation, make sure it's correct, make sure that you know probable cause exists and then they sign it and the officer goes execute it. It's really really quick, it's not like it's taking up a lot of time. Now I think clerks have to, you know, do that paperwork, but that's you know. They're choosing to go over there to precinct two. He mentioned redrawing the lines. I've talked about that in a previous show, redrawing the lines Based off of the census. Precinct 4JP, which is different from precinct 4, county Commissioner, precinct 4JP and Constable takes up all western Bell County, takes up all western Bell County and it's like 270-something thousand 217,000 constituents, so more than half the county, that they're representing two JPs versus four JPs for the rest of the population. So I mean there are disparities in the workload. There are disparities. I'm not saying that Judge Coleman doesn't need help. That's something that we'll talk about.
Louie Minor:It did sound like he has a lot of issues, a lot of workload from DPS and I think there's ways to address that workload from DPS versus signing a warrant from KPD. Kpd can go to their municipal court judge, but they're choosing to go all the way to Salado. I don't know I'm going to have to call the chief on that and get an answer on that. Who's signing their search warrants and arrest warrants and where are they going to get those signed? Is KPD going all the way to Salado to get that signed, or is JP Precinct 2 driving to Killeen and signing them? But yeah, no, there's a lot of misinformation. I don't think Commissioner Woodson has all the facts. And JP4 is the busiest JP Precinct in the county. They hear the most cases, they get the most cases and they dispose of the most cases. So we need to continue to support JP Precinct 4, and that's what I'm going to do. That's what I'm committed to do is take care of my constituents, our constituents.
Louie Minor:So, anyways, hope you enjoyed the show. Like I said, I'm going to be going to Naleo tomorrow. Tomorrow's also the first day of the special session where they're going to talk about flood uh, flood mitigation and funding that they're going to talk about, uh, thc, and they're also going to talk about redistricting. So that's something that we'll go over next month I'm sorry next week's show, because they did have a tentative map that came out for the congressional districts and I think, for the first time that I can remember and over you know since 2013 of me being involved in politics that Bell County Congressional District covers the entire county. Killeen has always been gerrymandered but at least in this tentative map that I've seen, the entire Bell County is one congressional district and then they split up Williamson county.
Louie Minor:So more more to come on that. There's going to be a lot of information. They're going to be I'll. I'm going to be down in in Austin advocating for, for us there. They're also going to look at property taxes and ways to limit government local governments from increasing property taxes. So it's only 30 days. Special session is only 30 days, so let's hope they cannot do too much damage in those 30 days. Help the fled victims that need to be helped, help the fled victims that need to be helped and let's see what is going to shake out of this legislative tree. So we will talk to you next week. We'll be you next time.
