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Judge District Judge Christine Hortick has filed a lawsuit against county officials over their refusal to fund a court coordinator exclusively for her court, the 225th District Court.<\/p>\n
Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
State District Judge Nadine\u00a0Nieto wants to hire her court clerk to serve as court coordinator for both her and Judge Christine Hortick\u2019s court. Hortick, however, wants to interview potential candidates for the post while her lawsuit proceeds.<\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n
A compromise Bexar County commissioners<\/a> hoped would resolve a staffing dispute has instead landed the county in court, with\u00a0state District Judge Christine\u00a0Hortick<\/a> suing over funding for a court coordinator.<\/p>\n The lawsuit comes two weeks after commissioners approved a compromise creating one shared coordinator position for\u00a0Hortick and Judge Nadine Nieto.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hortick filed suit Friday, arguing the county must pay for a court coordinator for her court instead of requiring her to share one with Nieto.<\/p>\n The lawsuit asks a judge to order Bexar County to pay for a court coordinator assigned exclusively to the 225th District Court rather than requiring Hortick to share one with Nieto.<\/p>\n A court coordinator essentially serves as a scheduling manager and case-flow organizer.\u00a0 The position pays up to $81,986 in annual salary and benefits.<\/p>\n Nieto said she selected her court clerk for the position, but the county has \u201cfrozen\u201d the hiring process because the shared arrangement requires both judges to agree on a single coordinator.\u00a0Hortick disagreed, saying\u00a0the position simply has not been posted and could be filled immediately if the judges agreed on a candidate.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hortick\u2019s lawsuit names\u00a0County Manager David Smith<\/a>, County Judge Peter Sakai<\/a> and\u00a0Commissioners Court’s four members as defendants.<\/p>\n RELATED: Bexar County tried to settle two judges\u2019 staffing fight. One is not happy.<\/a><\/p>\n Hortick, who presides in the 225th District Court<\/a>, argues Texas law authorizes judges to appoint a court coordinator for their own court and does not permit one coordinator to be shared between two judges.<\/p>\n Nieto, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday morning,\u00a0presides in the 285th District Court<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIf Judge Nieto appoints, the coordinator serves at Judge Nieto\u2019s pleasure, and Plaintiff has no coordinator within the meaning of the statute\u00a0\u2014 only the loan of another judge\u2019s employee,\u201d Hortick says in her complaint.<\/p>\n In an email Tuesday, Hortick said commissioners have an obligation to fund the staff necessary for basic court operations.<\/p>\n A spokesman for county officials said they do not comment on pending litigation. He didn\u2019t immediately address questions about funding for the shared coordinator.<\/p>\n During the July 7 Commissioners Court meeting, Deputy County Manager Thomas Guevara<\/a> said the two courts\u2019 workloads did not justify separate coordinator positions.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Commissioner Justin Rodriguez proposed funding one shared coordinator \u201cin the spirit of compromise,\u201d and commissioners unanimously approved the plan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n