State Representative Eddie Morales, Jr. Files HB 4280 Creating 479th Judicial District Court and District Attorney in Maverick County
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
State Representative Heriberto “Eddie” Morales, Jr. of Eagle Pass, Texas (District 74-TX) filed House Bill 4280 on March 12, 2021 in the 87th Texas Legislative Session calling for the creation of “an additional 479th Judicial District composed of Maverick County, the creation of the Office of District Attorney for that judicial district, and the duties of the District Attorney for the 293rd Judicial District.”
House Bill 4280 seeks to amend Section 43.177 of the Government Code to read as follows: (a) The voters of Dimmit and Zavala Counties elect a District Attorney who represents the state in cases before that district court only in those counties; (b) The Commissioners Court of Dimmit or Zavala may supplement the state salary of the District Attorney. The Commissioners Court of each county may set the amount of supplemental compensation paid by that county.”
In addition, House Bill 4280 requests that Subchapter B, Chapter 43 of the Government Code, be amended by adding Section 43.185 to read as follows: Section 43.185. 479th Judicial District. The voters of the 479th Judicial District elect a District Attorney who represents the state in all matters in the District Courts having jurisdiction in Maverick County. Section 4. The 479th Judicial District and the Office of the District Attorney for the 479th Judicial District are created on the effective date of this Act. Section 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.”
The effect of House Bill 4280, if approved by the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott, would create a new 479th Judicial District in Maverick County, create a new 479th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Maverick County, and restrict the duties of the 293rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office to Dimmit and Zavala counties.
Currently, Maverick County has two judicial district courts, the 293rd and the 365th, and one judicial district attorney’s office, the 293rd composed of Dimmit, Zavala, and Maverick counties. All three counties financially support the two judicial district courts and the one judicial district attorney office on a prorated system based on their population. Morales’s House Bill 4280, if approved and signed into state law by Governor Abbott, would create a new judicial district court and district attorney’s office for Maverick County only and restrict the 293rd Judicial District Attorney’s office to Dimmit and Zavala counties only. Taxpayers from all three counties and the State of Texas would incur additional financial obligations to fund the costs of creating the new judicial district court and judicial district attorney’s office as proposed by State Representative Morales’s House Bill 4280.
293rd Judicial District Attorney Roberto Serna issued a press release on Monday, March 29, 2021, stating “the filing of HB4280 which calls for the creation of a new District Attorney’s Office solely for the County of Maverick was filed by Representative Eddie Morales without ever consulting with the office which it directly impacts, that being the 293rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office. It appears to have been done without any support by the facts nor any reasonable explanation. Therefore, I as District Attorney oppose this proposed bill since there appears to be no need for the creation of a new District Attorney’s office.”
District Attorney Serna noted that ‘this bill if passed would create a new 479th Judicial District Court for Maverick at an additional cost well over $1,000,000.00 per year to the State of Texas and to Maverick County. It is clear that there was no research done in filing this bill. Anytime you create a Judicial District you automatically create a District Court. What this community could utilize would be a County Court at Law and not a third District Court.”
State Representative Eddie Morales has not issued any press release or public statement regarding the purpose and reasons for filing House Bill 4280 as of March 30, 2021. The Eagle Pass Business Journal has contacted State Representative Eddie Morales for his comments regarding his filing of House Bill 4280, but has not yet received his statement as of press time on March 31.
District Attorney Roberto Serna added “To be clear, I have no objection to the creation of any office for the overall betterment of our community should the facts and evidence presented justify it. However, in this case, there is no articulable need for the creation of a new District Attorney’s office, nor has one been justified.”
Serna stated that “most if not all of the entities that would be affected by this proposed legislation were never contacted or consulted with. The Maverick County taxpayers were never allowed input into the tremendous increase in expenses that would now have to be made up by them to over the costs currently being paid by the counties of Zavala and Dimmit. The County of Zavala and its taxpaying citizens were never contacted about this proposed legislation which would now potentially double the expense that their taxpayers would now be required to fund their own District Attorney’s office. In fact, the State of Texas who funds a part of the District Attorney’s office throughout the entire State also appears to have never been contacted regarding the substantial cost they would now have to cover in potentially creating another Judicial District Court and District Attorney’s office.”
Serna noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the judicial system from holding jury trials, including the State of Texas, Maverick County, and elsewhere. Serna cited that in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas had over 10,000 jury trials but less than 250 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and state officials note it will take years to recover.
Serna added that “what is very concerning to me is what is the motive for filing of a bill that cannot be justified and fails to provide any facts, documentation, or statistics?”
Serna concluded “I as District Attorney have no problem with discussing the merits of this bill had I been given a fair opportunity to do so. Also, rest assured that I would have been the first to call for a new District attorney’s office if I believed it was remotely necessary. But in all honesty, fairness, and common sense, I cannot accept this bill that appears to have no merit.”
