Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

One issue Senator Shapleigh has worked hard to address has been improving access and efficiency in El Paso's judicial system. When Senator Shapleigh began his term, El Paso's overloaded courts were experiencing significant backlogs of criminal and civil matters.

If too much time lapses before a case is brought before a court, witnesses and important evidence are in danger of being compromised through failed memories, death or other reasons, and guilty defendants have more time to "jump" bail. In addition, the El Paso community must continue to pay the additional costs spent at the county jail and on judicial administration. And those seeking justice are forced to wait needlessly.

In 1998, while the statewide average caseload per district judge was 1,758 cases, El Paso district judges handled an average of 2,464 cases. In 2001, El Paso's four criminal courts recorded a backlog of 12,578 criminal misdemeanor cases. Finally, El Paso's probate court, which inherited 9,000 cases when it was created in 1991, experienced an increased docket of 2,000 pending cases per year between 2001-2005.

Since there were no other courts to help ease increasing caseloads, El Paso's courts quickly became overwhelmed.

To solve this problem, Senator Shapleigh worked closely with the El Paso House delegation in 1999 to create the 388th Judicial District Court and the 409th Judicial District Court. To help adjudicate criminal misdemeanor cases in a more timely manner, Senator Shapleigh co-authored and passed legislation in 2001 which created County Criminal Court at Law No. 1 and County Criminal Court at Law No. 2. Then in 2003, Senator Shapleigh worked with Representative Pat Haggerty (R-El Paso) to establish a second probate court in El Paso County with primary responsibility for mental illness proceedings.

In addition to improving access, Senator Shapleigh has also worked hard to increase efficiency in El Paso courts. The El Paso Criminal County Courts were limited by statute to criminal misdemeanor law matters, which also limited the ability of the judges of these courts to sit in other courts and have other judges sit in theirs. Thus in 2005, Senator Shapleigh worked with Representative Norma Chavez (D-El Paso) to pass H.B. 3595, which removed these restrictions and provide the El Paso County Court system greater flexibility in dealing with its case load.

The work of Senator Shapleigh, with the help of the El Paso House delegation, to create five new courts in El Paso County ensures that justice is administered fairly and swiftly for all El Pasoans.