The growing population and large court docket in Medina County has led the county to pursue having our own district court, instead of sharing a district attorney and district judge with Real and Uvalde Counties as we do now. 
Currently, District Attorney Daniel Kindred and District Judge Camille DuBose handle felony cases for three counties (Medina, Real and Uvalde County). Most will agree that Medina County does need its own district judicial court due to the number of cases that are arising in our growing county.
There are some options and decisions to be made, however, regarding whether the county wants a new District Attorney’s Office that would solely handle felony charges in the county or a Criminal District Attorney’s office that would handle all felony and misdemeanor/juvenile cases as well. Currently they are seeking a Criminal District Attorney’s Office.
“We want to create our own District Court and while we are at it, we are attempting to create a Criminal District Attorney’s Office,” said Medina County Judge Chris Schuchart. “We would have 5 prosecutors, and all of our prosecutors would be under one roof. Guadalupe and Kendall Counties have both done this, and when I spoke with them, they said it was one of the best moves they’ve ever made. It will save us about $170,000. It’s a business decision that makes sense.”
The projected plan calls for having 5 prosecutors (1 District Attorney and 4 assistant DA’s, 2 investigators as well as other support staff).
“We can clearly justify having our own District Judge for Medina County. Right now the workload for Medina County felony cases is a full time job, but our District Judge is shared between three counties,” said Judge Schuchart.
If the Medina County Commissioners Court chooses to create a “Criminal District Attorney’s Office”, then the County Attorney’s office is eliminated by state statue, as the new office would begin handling all cases.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry Beck stated, “The idea is to create District Court just for Medina County, so that our district court isn’t spread out between three counties like is now. Our court docket is crowded. It would help alleviate some of the problems we are having.”
“The district population has gotten to a point where Medina County needs to be in its own judicial district. Medina County is taking the majority of our time right now, with about 100 felony cases consistently on the docket each month,” said 38th District Attorney Daniel Kindred (whose services are currently shared between Medina, Uvalde and Real Counties). “If the Medina County Commissioners Court decides to go for its own Criminal District Attorney’s Office, all cases would be handled under one roof, and it would streamline everything. I feel that the projected budget for a Criminal District Attorney’s Office in Medina County does give us the resources needed to take on the task, but that is a decision to be made by the Commissioner’s Court.”
If and when the county decides to move forward with this, a district attorney and a district judge would then be appointed to this new position.
The County Commissioners Jerry Beck, David Lynch, Larry Sittre, and Tim Neuman will meet today, Wednesday at 9 am to vote on this issue.
Creating a District Attorney’s Office vs. Criminal District Attorney’s Office
One option is to create a new “District Attorney’s office” for Medina County that would dedicate a district court solely for FELONY cases in Medina County. The other option is to create a Criminal District Attorney’s Office would create a district attorney’s office dedicated to Medina County and handle ALL cases including FELONIES and MISDEMEANORS/JUVENILE CASES, and thereby eliminate the need for a separate county attorney’s office currently held by Kim Havel.
“The Commissioners have the option of continuing to have a regular District Attorney and the County Attorney position while still creating a new District Court for Medina County. This middle ground is the option that my staff and I are hoping for,” said County Attorney Kim Havel.
She further explains, “They have the option of just creating a regular district attorney for the new district rather than a criminal district attorney. The Texas Constitution has a provision that dictates the duties of a County Attorney. They only exist in Counties without a Criminal District Attorney. Thus, the creation of a CDA eliminates the County Attorney. It is in Article 5 Section 21.”
Other items to be discussed
The full agenda for this Wednesday morning’s Commissioners Court reads as follows:
The regular meeting will be held November 21,2018 at 9:00 AM in the Commissioners Courtroom, 1100 161h Street, Hondo, Texas.
1. Meeting called to order
2. Discuss and take possible action on approval of Payroll #24 for period ending November 16, 2018
3. Discuss and take possible action on addition of one (1) staff member to the Tax Office
4. Discuss and take possible action on approval of personnel changes (HR Director)
5. Discuss and take possible action on approval of budget amendments (Auditor)
6. Discuss and take possible action on approval of line item transfers (Auditor)
7. County Auditor monthly report
8. Discuss and take possible action on approval of accounts payable (Treasurer)
9. Discuss and take possible action on approval of County Treasurer’s monthly report
10. Discuss and take possible action on approval County Treasurer’s quarterly investment report
11. Discuss and take possible action on acceptance of donations to the County
12. Visitors / Public Comment
10:00 AM
13. Discuss and take possible action on consideration and approval of an Order by the Commissioners
Court of Medina County, Texas approving a Service Plan and an Assessment Plan relating to
Potranco Acres Public Improvement District; authorizing publication of Notice of public hearing
to consider proposed assessments; and finding and ordering other matters in connection therewith
14. Discuss and take possible action on consideration and approval of an Order by the Commissioners
Court of Medina County, Texas approving a Service Plan and an Assessment Plan relating to
Potranco Ranch Public Improvement District Number Two; Authorizing publication of notice of
public hearing to consider proposed assessments; and finding and ordering other matters in
connection therewith
15. Discuss and take possible action on approval of revised preliminary plat of Sand Hurst
Subdivision; Located in Precinct 4 off of IH 35 (john Howard, Surveyor)
16. Discuss and take possible action on proposal from Summit Landscape and Design for select
services throughout the County (Iosiah Peterson)
17. Discuss and take possible action on asking the Legislature to create a Criminal District Attorney’s
Office for Medina County and signing a resolution that proclaims the same
18. Discuss and take possible action on approval of Texas Conference of Urban Counties TechShare
Program FY 2019 Indigent Defense Resource Sharing Addendum
19. Discuss and take possible action on approval of County Information Resources Agency (CIRA)
Services Agreement for annual website hosting
20. Discuss and take possible action on approval of Alarm System Monitoring Agreement; Castroville
Building Fire Alarm System
21. Discuss and take possible action on acceptance of Private Road 3400 into the official mapping
22. Court Members Announcements