Williamson County judge appointed to Texas indigent defense board

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell has been appointed to the Indigent Defense Commission Governing Board, Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a news release earlier this week.

In an interview with KXAN's Mike Rush Tuesday, Gravell gave insight into how the Texas Indigent Defense Commission (TIDC) plays a vital role in helping Texans receive fair representation.

Gravell said one of the biggest challenges in Texas is more than 500 attorneys were removed from indigent defense in rural areas, and this board will focus on all 254 counties in Texas to ensure that fair representation is an option.

Watch the full interview in the video player above. Some responses have been edited for clarity.

Mike Rush: Tell us about this governing board and what it does. What's the purpose of it?

Gravell: Well, first, I want to say to the governor of Texas, what an honor it is to be appointed to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission. We refer to it as TIDC. The indigent defense commission plays a vital role in the criminal justice and prosecutorial system here in Texas, because, on occasion, there are individuals that have been accused of crimes that don't have the financial resources to have fair and appropriate legal representation. The purpose of the Indigent Defense Commission is to fund attorneys that are necessary and to oversee and improve the indigent defense processes and systems here in Texas. It's a vital role, because in Texas, we believe that every defendant is innocent until proven guilty, and they deserve the very best attorney in the world (to) represent them.

Rush: You've got experience in this realm. So, explain to us the significance, the importance of being able to have that representation without barriers.

Gravell: One example I'd like to use that TIDC is involved with is indigent defense appointments in relation to CPS Child Protective Services cases. So, for example, there's a suit to remove a parental rights from a parent in relation to a child. Well, certainly that child needs representation, which comes from the state. But that parent, or parents, or perhaps even grandparents, need representation as well, too. You know, our criminal justice system -- we have some great attorneys that are on the prosecutorial side. But on the defense side, our defendants need every right and every voice that's available to them. One of the biggest challenges we're facing in Texas, just in the last few years alone, we've had over 500 attorneys that have been removed from indigent defense in our rural areas just simply because they're migrating to our more populated areas. So, the same right that defendants would have in Williamson and Travis County, they may not have that same right, for example, in Blanco or Menard or whatever particular county they're coming from. So, the indigent defense commission, one of our goals this year we're really focusing on is creating a pipeline system to put in good defense attorneys into some of our rural areas where that group of attorneys tends to be moving from. Those folks that live in our rural Texas counties deserve the same fair representation that you would get here in Williamson County or in Travis County. And that's really important, because the indigent defense commission is focused on all 254 counties in the great state of Texas.

Rush: So when we speak of this commission, is this, you know, everybody I think is familiar with a court-appointed attorney. Is this the same thing, or is this a different realm?

Gravell: Yeah, so you're on track, right? But not all of our counties have that right or afford that right to all of our defendants, and in a lot of our rural counties, we have very few attorneys left that we can appoint, right? For example, here in Williamson County, we have nine or 10 attorneys that are on the appointment list for CPS-related cases. That's not very many attorneys, and we're a county of over 700,000 people. So, recruiting attorneys and adding attorneys to that list, and even in the event, in some of our rural areas where they can't afford it, we need to be able to help them right now for CPS-related cases here in Williamson County. For indigent defense, it's funded 100% by Williamson County. And we can budget for that, and we have the resources for that, but not every county in Texas is that blessed. So part of the role of TIDC is to help make sure that there are funding paths, mechanisms, and perhaps grants available to some of our rural counties in Texas.

Rush: Now that you are a member of this governing board, what is it that you hope to bring with your level of experience to this group, and how do you think you can help?

Gravell: For the last six years, I've served on the state judicial council. I was appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and really one of the tools that I've brought to that body is the ability as a county judge. In a large county in Texas, I don't handle judicial matters. I'm the chief executive for the county, and deal with a lot of dollars and a lot of money and manage a lot of people. And what I've been able to bring to the judicial council, that I hope to bring to TIDC, is the ability to look through that lens or filter for whatever policies we're creating or whatever legislation we're advocating for is, look, somebody's got to pay the tab on these bills and some of these recommendations. What I'm able to bring to it is the reality of whatever steps we take are going to cost money, and how do we pay for that? The other thing that I bring to it is I served for six years as a justice of the peace in Central Texas, and led the 11th busiest judicial court in the entire state of Texas. Even at a low level, misdemeanor level, everybody deserves representation. And for folks that are indigent going into court without attorneys or having fair representation, it's not balanced scales of justice. If you go in there without an attorney, the state has an advantage, and we need to make sure that all individuals that don't have the resources are protected when they go into the criminal justice system.