“We're growing significantly here in Montgomery County, and that trickles down to all of us, and we are at the point now where we need a new criminal district court, and the reasons are clear,” Judge Phil Grant said. “I think you guys have been talking a lot over the last few months about jail overcrowding. We are seeing longer and longer times before we can get cases to trial.”
Grant said the largest percentage of people who make up the population in the Montgomery County Jail are pretrial detainees.
The details
Grant said, according to a weighted caseload study by the Texas Office of Court Administration, Montgomery County is “significantly short” on courts needed to keep up with filings. In 2024 alone, about 7,500 new felony cases were filed, while the county’s four existing criminal district courts disposed of about 10,000 cases.
The Texas Legislature created the 523rd Criminal District Court during a recent special session, with the court scheduled to take effect Sept. 1, 2026, Grant said. It would be funded in the county’s fiscal year 2026-27 budget, not the upcoming cycle.
Grant said the governor will appoint the first judge, who would then serve until the next general election in November 2028.
Diving in deeper
County staff estimated the total annual cost at about $1.5 million, including positions for the district attorney’s office, county clerk and court staff. While the state will pay the judge’s salary, the county is responsible for personnel and space.
Grant also said there are continual needs for expansions.
“We probably need about three more civil district courts and county courts to handle the caseload that they have,” Grant said. “That is a need that we approved in our board of judges meeting on Friday to come to you that in the next legislative session, we're going to be asking for at least one civil district court, maybe more, depending on our needs at the time.”
While commissioners agreed with the need, Montgomery County Precinct 3 Commissioner Ritch Wheeler raised concerns about transparency. Ultimately, Wheeler voted against the agreement on the creation of the court, citing his concerns about approving spending without more public input.
“I get it, but I am beyond done spending three quarters of a million dollars of taxpayers' money when they don't get to see what we're spending it on. I can't say that enough,” Wheeler said. “Why can't we start putting this stuff in the agenda so our taxpayers can read it?”
