Tag Archives: Austin Municipal Court
Tuesday, October 20, 2020 by Ryan Thornton
City Hall
City identifies Downtown Community Court east side location
After considering the available options, the city is ready to make the first move to relocate the Downtown Austin Community Court across Interstate 35 into a planned three-story building at 1719 E. Second St. The city intends to bring a…
Tuesday, September 22, 2020 by Ryan Thornton
City Hall
City finds fault with potential Downtown Community Court locations, sticks with east side alternative
In the continued search for a new home for the Downtown Austin Community Court, the Office of Real Estate Services has encountered serious constraints against moving the court into the first floor of the John H. Faulk Library or the…
Tuesday, July 21, 2020 by Nina Hernandez
Budget
Public Safety budget discussion wrestles with demands to defund APD
Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo gave the Public Safety Committee a public safety budget overview at its meeting on Monday. Much of the discussion centered around the Austin Police Department budget. Community members and some City Council members have…
Friday, April 10, 2020 by Ryan Thornton
Courts
City declares broad equity goals for pretrial services
In the middle of a pandemic that has led to a sharp decrease in the Travis County Jail population, Austin City Council plans to leverage its influence to keep the jail population low by reserving use of pretrial detention for…
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 by Areeba Amer
City Hall
Municipal court cases linger longer these days
Four years ago, the Austin Municipal Court generally took under 190 days to close cases. The number of days has since gone up to roughly 215 days, due to Senate Bill 1913 passed by the Texas Legislature in 2017, said…
Friday, September 6, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
City Council
Council tells staff: Get municipal court move done
So far, the process of reviewing plans and preparing for relocation of the Austin Municipal Court has been “very, very extensive,” according to Municipal Court Clerk Mary Jane Grubb. Impatient with the lagging timeline, City Council is pressing staffers to…
Thursday, February 28, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
City Hall
South station closure marks start of municipal court facilities shuffle
A significant shuffling of operations is in store for Austin Municipal Court in the coming months, thanks in large part to Friday’s permanent closure of the court’s south substation on Manchaca Road. The closure will leave South Austin residents with…
Thursday, May 17, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
City still looking for Municipal Court building funds
Last week, during discussion of whether City Council should approve a 10-year lease for Austin’s Municipal Court at the Met Center in Southeast Austin, Council Member Ora Houston opposed the $31 million contract with Zydeco Development. Her reasoning was partially…
Friday, May 11, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Council
Municipal Court move to Met Center OK’d
Although Council Member Ora Houston made numerous arguments against a 120-month lease for Austin’s Municipal Court at the Met Center in Southeast Austin, only Council Member Pio Renteria joined her during Thursday’s Council meeting in voting against authorizing city staff…
Thursday, May 10, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Courts
Met Center apology insufficient for Houston
Council Member Ora Houston raised objections during Tuesday’s work session to an item on Thursday’s Council agenda authorizing staff to enter into a 120-month lease agreement for 96,000 square feet of office space at the Met Center on Montopolis Drive…
Friday, March 9, 2018 by Elizabeth Pagano
City Council
Council denies reappointment of five judges
Who judges the judges? On Thursday, it was City Council. Though there was very little dissent on the dais about a recommendation that left five judges without appointments, the public testimony that preceded Council’s vote was critical and, at times,…
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 by Elizabeth Pagano
City Hall
Judicial Committee recommends against reappointment of five judges
City Council’s Judicial Committee acted in swift unity Monday morning, voting unanimously to recommend a slate of Municipal Court judge appointments that did not include five sitting judges. The vote came after a change in the recommendation process and increased…
Friday, December 16, 2016 by Caleb Pritchard
City Council
Council reopens path to chauffeur’s permit for many criminal offenders
City Council took action on Thursday that could help put some disqualified taxi and transportation network company drivers back on Austin roads. The amendment to the city code tweaked an existing ordinance that Council passed in June that restricted many…
Friday, March 25, 2016 by Caleb Pritchard
Travis County
County ponders partnership with city on one-stop justice shop
With a pair of aging courthouses between them, Travis County and the city of Austin could find a solution to their problems through mutual cooperation. That idea was part of the focus of a Thursday afternoon work session at Travis…
Thursday, March 3, 2016 by Eva Ruth Moravec
Courts
Municipal court judge: Our building is in shambles
Austin Municipal Court is so overcrowded that employees are working in closets throughout the building, which is filled with asbestos and is one technical glitch away from not functioning, according to courthouse staff. Presiding Judge Sherry Statman told City Council on…
Friday, September 18, 2015 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
City Hall to keep court function, metal detectors
Despite City Council Member Don Zimmerman’s attempt to move all Downtown Community Court hearings out of City Hall, Council voted 10-1 to authorize renewal of a five-year lease agreement for court space at 719 and 721 E. Sixth St., with…
Wednesday, April 22, 2015 by Tyler Whitson
Austin
Why your speeding ticket doesn’t pay for what you think it does
Travis County and the City of Austin take part in a regular fiscal dance with the State of Texas over who pays the costs of government. Over the next three days, KUT News and the Austin Monitor will look at…
