Judicial report sparks controversy

to move forward with a report on how the county’s courts perform… but the judges cried foul! abc-seven’s andrew j. polk is live in downtown with the new information. andrew? rick and estela, discussions about the judicial transparency report have gotten heated at times… and i talked with both commissioners and judges today to find out more about why a simple concept… better measuring how courts perform… is causing such controversey. both sides say they’re on board with the goal of having data on what the courts do be more accessible to taxpayers… but judges say the way the county is going about creating the report is all wrong. judge ana perez spoke passionately before commissioners yesterday… arguing that without judicial expertise, the study will be inherrently flawed. but commissioner vince perez, a strong backer of the report … says that the study is part of a larger effort to bring accountability and transparency to all parts of the county… and that judges unhappy with greater scrutiny can’t stand in it’s way. “we still have a duty to ensure that taxpayer money is being used as appropriately and as efficiently as possible. it’d be irresponsible otherwise if we just didn’t care, or said just do your own thing with the money that you get.” “we’r not concerned about looking bad. we’re concerned about our public having a misunderstanding of what the justice system is.” commissioners ultimately postponed the publication of the report another two weeks… and both commissioners and judges say they will try to work together to make it something that will be useful and both sides can agree on. reporting live in downtown el paso… andrew j. polk, abc-7. the largest school district in el paso wants to makes its students —