By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) has approved a $1.6 million grant to expand the Far West Regional Public Defender Office into Val Verde and Terrell Counties.
TIDC officials announced the grant award in a press release June 30.
The release notes that on June 27, “the TIDC approved more than $7 million in grant funding to support the establishment and expansion of public defender offices across Texas, along with other projects aimed at enhancing public defense.”
“These grant awards further TIDC’s mission to strengthen public defense statewide, with a particular focus on increasing access to quality legal representation in rural counties with increasingly fewer attorneys. The approved grants will help fill critical gaps in attorney availability, improving quality of representation and creating long-term infrastructure for indigent defense,” the release noted.
In addition to the $1.6 million grant for the Far West Regional Public Defender Office, the commission also announced the following awards:
Two grants – $2.2 million to Wharton County and $1.4 million to Maverick County – to establish public defender offices, $1.2 million to Brazos County to expand its public defender office and $293,334 to Harris County for the Future Indigent Defense Leaders program, described as “a multi-year statewide training and mentorship initiative aimed at preparing the next generation of indigent defense attorneys in Texas.”
James McDermott, chief public defender for the Far West Texas Regional Public Defender Office in Alpine, and Val Verde County Attorney David Martinez have both worked to help secure the grant for the re-establishment of the public defender office here.
The 830 Times contacted both Martinez and McDermott following the announcement of the grant awards, and both men texted responses.
McDermott said, “I am excited that the Far West Regional Public Defender Office is going to be able to expand its services to Val Verde and Terrell Counties this winter. The Texas Indigent Defense Commission has committed to long-term sustainable funding for this project, and we are grateful for their support.”
McDermott added, “Representative Eddie Morales and Senator Pete Flores were instrumental in advocating for this project and for securing funds from the (Texas) Legislature to ensure its success.
“My career began in Del Rio, and I am particularly thrilled to be working again in Val Verde County to ensure that all the people of the county are secure in their constitutional rights in our court system,” McDermott said.
Martinez said, “Under the Fair Defense Act, every Texas county is charged with providing indigent defense to individuals charged with crimes that can result in incarceration. This grant will allow Val Verde County to improve indigent defense services in our community, while saving the county hundreds of thousands of dollars annually moving forward.”
Martinez said a presentation about the grant award will be made to county commissioners court during a meeting in the near future.
In the release, Nueces County District Judge Missy Medary, TIDC board chair and presiding judge of the 5th Administrative Judicial Region, said, “These grant awards reflect TIDC’s continued focus on expanding rural public defense infrastructure where it’s needed most.”
The release also noted, “‘By supporting local innovation and expanding regional capacity, we are helping counties protect defendants’ constitutional right to counsel, while building more effective public defense systems statewide to address the attorney shortage crisis now and into the future,’ said Scott Ehlers, executive director of TIDC.”
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