Amid heated debate, Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez has stepped up to rebut claims made during the March 21 Commissioners Court work session, where implementation of Counsel at First Appearance (CAFA) was criticized, Hernandez has been a vocal supporter of CAFA, stating, "It's time to set the record straight. I am for Counsel at First Appearance (CAFA). I've been a proponent of it from the word ‘go’," according to a press release from the Travis County Sheriff's Office (TCSO).
Despite the program's rocky nine-day start in 2022, which saw it being operated in an outdated Central Booking Facility, not equipped to handle the modern demands of CAFA and resulted in the resignation of five employees, TCSO has been working tirelessly for two years; their staff has considered input from a range of experts and insiders to find innovative solutions to the CAFA challenge, says the sheriff's office. Challenges of bringing modern technology like Wi-Fi into an environment designed to be a fortress of steel and concrete have been considerable, with each proposed virtual solution to date being declined by defense lawyers and advocates.
Accountable for the CAFA program, TCSO employees made personal sacrifices, for instance, giving up their break room for confidential attorney-client meetings, and enduring overtime shifts which cut into family time, to keep the program afloat. Yet, complications with the building itself, including massive plumbing issues due to disintegrating cast-iron pipes, threaten to disrupt any progress made, as warned by Hernandez in the sheriff's office statement, "If the problem isn't remedied throughout the five-story building, it's not a question of if the new CAFA area will flood, it will flood with wastewater."
With Travis County Commissioners recently funding a proposal to retrofit a portion of the jail to accommodate CAFA, hopes were high, yet again, the aging infrastructure reared its head when encountered with massive plumbing failures. Hernandez has called for an immediate dual response, addressing both the new construction plans and crucial pipe repairs, "TCSO is not stalling Counsel at First Appearance; we’re not dragging our feet, and we’re not standing in the way of its progress," Hernandez told the sheriff's office, emphasizing the importance of cooperation over contention between county officials. Despite past delays, the problem-solving spirit of TCSO continues to strive toward making CAFA a reality for the community.
