Good morning, everyone.

How are y'all doing?

Well, the time is now 1008 a.m.

on December 1st, and we will uh convene the December meeting of our municipal courts advisory committee.

Uh Madam Clerk, can you please read the role?

Councilmember Via Gran.

Councilmember Alarete Gavito.

Councilmember White.

Chair Mikki Rodriguez.

Present.

Chair, we have quorum.

Wonderful, wonderful.

Uh well, today is gonna be a relatively short meeting.

Um I had anticipated having a presentation, receiving updates on some of the efforts of the municipal courts team in relation to the mayor's charge, which was in part efforts to ensure the courts are accessible and in service of our uh disabled community.

Um and so we'll have that ideally at the very at the next meeting uh as well.

We'll also be engaging a bit ahead of schedule uh on the um the hiring process for municipal court judges, uh which will include a job posting, application window, interviews, and a recommendation by our committee, which is the primary function of the municipal courts advisory committee, and that will begin in January and February.

Uh but for today we're gonna have a brief discussion to guide future agendas of the committee, uh, which will only take a little bit of time, and then we'll give you all a little bit of y'all's time back for the day.

Uh we'll start off by um, I guess do we need to read the item?

Oh, okay, let's go ahead.

First item is approval of the minutes of the municipal court advisory committee on May 28th.

Uh I'll entertain a motion for approval.

We have a motion and a second.

All in favor.

Aye.

Unanimous.

Um so now we'll move on.

Uh, can you please read item two?

Item number two is interview and possible recommendation.

Is this right?

No.

Look at the wrong one.

Overview of the municipal court advisory committee's charge, objectives, and timeline.

Wonderful, wonderful.

Um, I know we don't have a presentation, but I see our uh wonderful courts team.

So would you all like to come up a little bit and start us off?

Good morning.

Um thank you for being here.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Um, so as you mentioned, the primary function of the municipal advisory committee is for the reappointment of the judges.

The judges' term is up on April 30th.

Um, so the the new judicial term for the judges and part-time, full-time and part-time judges does start May 1st.

So it has been a lengthy process in the past, and I'm um I'm assuming that we will have a high number of applicants this time.

So I think the sooner that we get started on that, the you know, it'd be best just to make sure that we're getting it done by April 30th.

The other thing that we had talked about, councilman, is um is making sure that we have reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and um mental health challenges that access the court.

There are a number of of um resources that we do have available at the court to make sure that they are uh individuals are able to um provide an adequate defense for themselves or help their attorney provide an adequate defense for themselves on an equal footing as everybody else.

We have interpreters for individuals that do not speak um English.

Uh we also have deaf link for individuals that um are not a that are not able to communicate verbally um or that are that are not that are hard of hearing as well.

Um we do have a number of community partners that we that we um that we use for individuals that we feel may not um be able to have some sort of a disability, whether it's intellectual disability or some sort of a mental challenge, we do have a number of resources that we can contact to help with that uh help those individuals make sure that they're providing an adequate defense for themselves.

The other thing that we have done in the past, and we do it every once in a while is if uh we we normally do not appoint lawyers to represent individuals because these are fine-only offenses, but in the past we have appointed individuals if we felt that there was a need for an individual to have representation.

We we can go ahead and also provide an attorney to represent an individual at no cost to that individual as well.

Um trying to think of what else we uh you know, anybody with a any type of physical disability, we also have accommodations for them.

We do it is two stories, we have an elevator, we um have individuals, we have bailiffs that can help people get from one um courtroom to another.

Uh we have a wheelchair in the in the building as well.

I think we have more than one wheelchair in case anybody does need that type of assistance as well.

And our um we do have defibulators, we have defibulators throughout the court as well in case anybody's experiencing some sort of cardiac emergency, and um a lot of our our bailiffs are trained uh to address any type of of minor emergency that might occur at the at the court as well.

So um, and then you had also mentioned about um making sure that we are uh collaborating with the county on magistration issues, and so we are still we are open to doing that.

We are we are more than willing to um share information with them.

It would be helpful if we had access to their information as well, so that we can um you know make sure that those individuals make make sure that all paperwork, all documents are shared with the county in a timely fashion so that all that needs to happen when they get over to the county, the only legal requirement left to do would be to set bail because we have already taken, we've already made a probable cause finding.

And then they are committed to jail to post their bail.

Um so we uh look forward to working with them to see how we can make that process a lot more efficient.

I know that SAPD their preference is to drop people off at municipal court, and so what we're just really trying to do there is front load the work instead of having individuals sit there until county is ready to accept them because that has been a challenge in the past as well, is county is not ready to accept transports over there.

So we're trying to front load some of the work so that all that needs to happen once they finally do get to county is the bond needs to be uh assessed.

So but you know, we can continue those conversations.

I think that that's a larger conversation with SAPD with the county, um, and of course, with with our team as well.

So thank you.

Um so as you guys will remember when we received the uh committee assignments and there were the charges attached, there were a number of things that uh the judge just mentioned uh are primary elements of that charge, and so those will be some of the first presentations that we get.

Uh but what I would love to hear from you all today is uh some of the other items and uh cause of concern or updates that you would like to receive at future um meetings, and so start with uh councilman View Garan.

Uh thank you, thank you, Carla.

Um, you know, your work, and I'm I'm very excited to be back on this committee.

Uh so uh your work speaks for itself.

Um uh excited about the judges coming in.

I think we're doing the best we can at municipal court, and you've done really well with the programming regarding the teens, truancy, uh, you know, texting and driving, the infractions, uh all the programs that you've done.

So I think it would be good to have a list of that.

Thank you for informing us on how we um work with those living with disabilities and those with mental health challenges, and I think the one thing I'd like to see expand is people that are new to their disability.

Uh maybe they had a stroke, maybe they this is new to them, so kind of uh finding a way to help them navigate the process.

Also, those that became disabled as a result of maybe their accident, um, and so they're having to visit the court more often.

Um the one thing, and and I understand the charges that the mayor um put forward with us, but in terms of um there are two things I want to look at that I think were new.

One is if there are any federal grant programs that have been impacted because of the budget issues and uh what we're doing at municipal courts.

If we could get that information, that would be helpful.

Uh it's always helpful as we look at budget concerns.

The other is I am very familiar with the um back and forth, I'll call it between the county and the city regarding uh the magistrate process.

And I am wanting, I would like to see some that presentation uh sooner rather than later.

And then also from the PD and the municipal court side about what we as the elected leaders can do in terms of helping with that collaboration because we know that the county is facing um, they have their elections upcoming, and I think this is an opportunity as a community to ask them what we would like to see, because what I don't like to hear is that people are getting arrested by our officers, and we we know we have to work on our uh staffing issues within SAPD by our San Antonio officers, but because of the um restrictions that our magistrates are under, this process is taking longer.

Because what I don't like to hear is that people are getting arrested by our officers, and we we know we have to work on our uh staffing issues within SAPD by our San Antonio officers, but because of the um restrictions that our magistrates are under, this process is taking longer.

And I feel like our municipal courts are getting the brunt of it when county can help with some of that process.

The other thing is I think county needs to be a little more transparent regarding their um their the the uh the system that they are using and how they're keeping track of the individuals that are going through the system, and we know this, and we it this is not a blame, this is how we can help people do better.

So I think if we come with that attitude in our collaboration with the county, hopefully we'll see more um more progress in this effort because of all the mandates that um were provided by uh were asked to review by the mayor.

I think the one thing that we've always seen is how do we how do we work better with the county to make sure that those that have been arrested and need to begin the process so they're not out on I and of course I'm thinking specifically domestic violence that we have you that we have sent them through so that if they're on a monitor, they're on a monitor.

If they need to stay in jail, they stay in jail.

If they're out on bail and can hurt that person, we don't want to see that.

But this is just one of many that we need to we need to work in collaboration with.

But in terms of the fines, um, I I highly encourage when y'all came out and did that road show with my counsel uh in my district with all of the neighborhood associations.

I think they really did speak to the point that they want to be able to call the judges and tell them uh the municipal court judges and say, hey, we know this guy said he just had a heart attack and he's gonna clean his yard, but that heart attack happened two years ago.

So I think that there was that communication, and then all the information regarding uh animal care services and what the the um the municipal court judges are doing there, I think is key.

So I think if we can continue that communication, we can we can help streamline that process.

So um thank you for that.

That's what I would like to see, and if we could at the next presentation, just get any of those grants that were cut that are impacting else programs.

I'd appreciate that.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, councilwoman.

Uh councilman Adorate Corito.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh really quick to call an action item to what councilwoman View Grand said, that whole magistration process, you know, we know it's a mess, we know it needs to get solved.

Is this the committee to solve it, or how do how do we how do we like get action on that?

Um that's gonna be a part of our charge.

And so what I what I heard from uh councilwoman view run's points, what I think I take away is maybe a next step would be um finding some way that we can engage in a discussion with county leadership about how we're collaborating in an intentional and creative way.

Yeah, thank you.

Well, I'm all in, and that's a priority for me as well.

Um, and thank you, uh Judge Obledo for um all of the great work that y'all continue to do, and also for working with those accused to ensure that they receive fair treatment, like you were talking about.

Um, I appreciate that.

Um I I think it's important that we also need to make sure that the municipal courts are working uh uh on behalf of the victims as well.

You know, I know that many times we have heard um whether it's with code compliance issues, whether it's animal care service issues, residents want their neighbors held accountable, you know, and so they feel that they go through the municipal court system and nothing happens, and then it becomes a toxic factor in their neighborhoods, and then it it uh contributes to the the decline of neighborhoods.

So we just want to make sure that uh that there is a uh balance of how the current judges are are balancing the needs of the accused, but also the needs of the victims and the community at large.

Uh two other things that I would want um to agendize, hopefully, on this committee is the enforcing fees for vacant buildings and lots.

I know that we increased those fees um during the last budget session, but I have heard a lot of feedback that we want those even higher, and then also speeding.

I know speeding is a problem in all of our districts.

Um, I know we can't tell the judges what to do, but I I feel that we need to figure out a mechanism to um stop speeding.

We're not hiring more police officers, so so we need to figure out other ways to do it too.

That's all.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilwoman.

Uh Councilman White.

Yes, thanks, Chair.

Um so I'll I'll agree with my colleagues on the uh on the magistration process with the county and the city.

We need to we need to look at that and see what we can do there.

Um and then just overall uh areas where we can eliminate duplication between the city and county processes.

Um, you know, what can we do to streamline things and and collaborate?

Um so that's number one.

Uh number two, no shows for uh for municipal court.

Do do we have data that that we have that shows us how many no shows we're having?

Uh failure to appears, yes, sir.

Uh uh okay.

And um are there any is there anything we're doing to try to minimize the amount of no shows?

Yes.

Uh we are required well, first of all, when a person gets a ticket, they're given a court date to come to court.

If they don't come to that court date, we are required by law to give them a second court date.

So if they do not appear at that second court date, then uh then that is when we issue a warrant.

But in between there, we are sending notices.

If we have a good cell phone number, we send text messages.

Okay.

If for some reason we have uh email, we send them emails too.

So uh we're we're trying to contact them very without postage as much as possible.

Okay, all right.

That's good to know.

Um my last issue was on you know, proposition three that just uh uh was on the ballot in in November denying bail for for certain violent and and sexual um offenses.

I guess our municipal courts and everything are up to date on the the new laws with their to bail.

Uh currently though, the our city magistrates are only making a finding of probable cause and committing a person to and and advising them of what they're charged with and what um their rights are and committing the individuals to jail and then county magistrates are actually setting it from there.

Right.

Okay.

Yes.

So that's but the answer to your question is yes.

Okay, all right, good.

Um okay.

Well, that's that's really all I have, and uh look forward to uh to working with you.

Thank you, Councilman.

Me too.

Thank you.

And I'll uh I'll summarize a little bit of uh what I heard.

And I think one, we heard from all three council members that uh reiterating the urgency in that discussion regarding the magistrate process and opportunity for us to uh discuss with the county ways in which you know maybe some work is double happening, and how do we streamline that work?

Um also you know, how do we have a victim-centric approach?

Uh of course, approached with caution and care uh throughout the entire process, I think.

Uh, then as well, federal grants, any federal grants that we've gotten and how they impact our municipal courts.

Do we currently get uh federal grants for the municipal courts?

Currently we only get a state grant for turncy prevention and intervention through uh the governor's office.

Okay, so we made would you still I mean I don't know that no, if it if it felt just down the state, we don't need it.

Cool, cool, cool.

Wonderful, wonderful.

Then enforcing fees for vacant buildings and lots as well as speeding, that's always uh a concern, and I think uh as well um animal care services and any animal welfare issues.

I think that'll be important information have, and so I'll keep that on the list.

Um then there was something else.

Oh, uh at the educational opportunities uh committee, um, we were discussing a number of issues and goals and what the work of that committee was gonna do, and a part of I think some of the overlap is going to be uh related to truancy and ways in which our municipal court system works with youth to prevent chronic absenteism and other issues.

And so um may ask that we have that presentation either here or at the educational opportunities committee, but if a presentation is ready for one, it can easily transfer over to the other.

Uh yes, that's that is truancy prevention and intervention is the majority of the work that our juvenile case managers do.

So yeah, we can do that.

Perfect, perfect.

Um, other than that, any final thoughts from my council colleagues?

Anyone want to sing?

Anyone want to share about their favorite memory of Thanksgiving's plan?

Uh all that being said, uh, would you like to timeline on the application process?

Gotcha.

Say that one more time.

Gotcha.

I I know we discussed the timeline for the application process for the judges.

Um, did you do you want to restate I think what uh what we had discussed as the plan?

From from what I recall, I don't have my notes in front of me, but from what I recall, we'd mentioned about posting them in mid-January.

Um keeping it open through mid-December.

I mean, I'm sorry, mid-January to mid-February.

Um, and then so then the the um the city attorney's office and uh I think the city clerk's office can do their vetting of all the applicants, and then I think uh we had talked about possibly starting interviews in mid-March, mid to late March.

That's what I recall.

So some of the um and so just for brevity of each meeting, we'll likely um we'll see if we'll see what all we can fit on a single agenda also to accommodate interviews and all that kind of stuff.

And so just know that we are gonna be diligently working to get all of your concerns and updates and presentations agendized, but we also want to make sure that uh we're hitting those key timelines.

Okay.

The time is now 1028 a.m.

and we will call this meeting adjourned.

Thank you, everybody.