Harris County courts backlog continues amid finger pointing

A backlog of cases in the Harris County criminal courts system continues to be a problem, with some members of the legal community pointing fingers amid an ongoing search for solutions. The courts grinded to a halt in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and the system has struggled to get back to full strength while also dealing with additional challenges over the years. Flooding at the county courthouse in 2017 suspended trials and jury selections while displacing judges and attorneys. Although the downtown Houston building has been back in use for more than a year, it still has not been entirely repaired or returned to its capacity. The case backlog was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented in-person trials for months in 2020 because of concerns about spreading the new coronavirus. The problem hit its peak in the late spring and early summer of 2021, when the county's criminal district courts had about 54,000 active cases pending.

That number had been reduced some, to less than 42,000 as of the end of September 2022, according to data compiled by the District Courts of Harris County. The logjam could be considered a contributing factor to the Houston area's rise in crime since the onset of the pandemic, which has largely followed a national trend, according to Houston Police Department executive chief Matt Slinkard. The more cases that are pending and the longer it takes to hold trials, more accused criminals are out in the community on bonds and the more opportunities they have to commit subsequent crimes. "It takes every part of the criminal justice system working to make sure that we're having the greatest impact on violent crime," Slinkard said. "When you have issues with the jail population, issues with potential overcrowding, issues with not being able to hold trials, not being able to have grand juries, not having court, when those things are not operating in full swing, obviously you're going to have some additional factors that affect violent crime." While blame for the case backlog cannot be pointed at a single government entity – such as elected officials, law enforcement, prosecutors and defense attorneys, court administrators and judges – they all share the responsibility of helping to reduce it.