EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Smaller metropolitan cities in Texas, like El Paso, are seeing a shortage of attorneys. Staffing shortages have been a challenge inside the El Paso County District Attorney’s office, but help could be on the way.

UTEP is currently working to secure philanthropic and business commitments from the El Paso community to start a law school. So far, the university has secured a $5 million dollar-for-dollar matching grant from the Paul L. Foster Family Foundation, as well as a $5 million commitment from Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro, P.C.

However, classes at UTEP are still several years away, and County leaders have said recent law school graduates are choosing to work in other Texas counties for more pay.

El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya joined KTSM 9 News Anchor Andy Morgan on Thursday, Aug. 13, to discuss the moves being made to recruit and retain local lawyers. Those measures include increasing starting salaries.

“The entry level pay for a new lawyer in El Paso County is $73K-$74K [per year],” said Montoya. “The County has standardized pay scales, which I think has been very helpful over the last several years. Every couple of years, we are supposed to reevaluate to make sure those pay scales are competitive with other metropolitan areas.”

Attorney pay in El Paso was a point of emphasis this week at County Commissioners Court. Commissioner Sergio Coronado said other Texas Counties are offering up to $20K more in salary to graduating law students.

Despite staffing challenges, Montoya said his office continues to move cases along. The DA’s office is working closely with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office to lower jail populations at the County’s jails. It comes as the Sheriff’s Office is projected to have a $2.5 million budget deficit.

 El Paso sheriff faces staffing challenges as office projected to have $2.5M deficit 

“We care about how long people have been in pre-trial custody,” said Montoya. “We want to move cases, we want cases to get to trial as quickly as possible, and we want to resolve cases as quickly as possible. I believe that justice delayed in justice denied.”

You can watch the full interview here.

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