County to seek attorney general opinion on jury-duty court
Recent billing issues within the county’s jury-duty court will soon rest in the opinion of the state attorney general.
Former El Paso County Jury Duty Court Judge Jerry Woodard allegedly charged about 2,300 people who missed jury duty last year nearly $300 dollars in court costs. That could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in over-charging.
“The state legislature sets costs so that, in any case, whether it’s a civil or criminal case, the legislature has designated costs, that if you’re the defendant, or you’re the losing party in a civil case, that you have to pay,” said County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal.
Based on the attorney general’s opinion, the county may decide to pay back a $60 civil-court cost or a $60 to $80 criminal-court cost.
“The judges who are asking for the attorney general opinion, many of them have a different opinion, and they believe that criminal court costs were appropriate, because this is a criminal case,” Bernal said. “And so that’s what we’re going to ask the attorney general to settle.”
But County Judge Veronica Escobar told ABC-7 it’s too late for the county to recoup the millions of dollars in fines that Woodard allegedly undercharged. Texas government code required Woodard to assess fines between $100 and $1,000. Escobar said Woodard was instead charging many people just $25 — and some just $1.
“Those costs go toward the county’s ability to pay for the courthouse, to pay for processing, to pay for the sheriff’s department,” Bernal said.
Jury-duty court hearings are on hiatus until near the end of this month. The county will no longer assess jury-duty court costs until the attorney general gives his opinion, which could take three to six months. However, those who miss jury duty could still be looking at fines ranging from $100 to $1,000.
