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A staffing dispute has erupted at the Bexar County Courthouse in the wake of state District Judges Nadine Nieto and Christine Hortick leaving the centralized docketing system on May 1. Shown is the\u00a0Lady Justice statue atop a fountain in front of the Bexar County Courthouse.<\/p>\n
Billy Calzada\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
Judge Nadine Nieto obtained a temporary restraining order that requires Bexar County officials to remove an administrative freeze that was blocking the hiring of a court coordinator.<\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n
Judge Sid Harle, senior district judge who presides over the multicounty 4th Judicial Administrative Judicial Region, issued the temporary restraining order Monday evening.<\/p>\n
Eric Gay\/Associated Press<\/p>\n
A judge has ordered\u00a0Bexar County officials to immediately unfreeze a court coordinator position and hire Judge Nadine Nieto\u2019s<\/a> chosen candidate, siding with her request for emergency relief in an escalating fight over staffing.<\/p>\n The temporary restraining order came hours after Nieto sued County Manager David Smith<\/a> and\u00a0Deputy County Manager Thomas Guevara<\/a>, alleging they unlawfully froze an already approved and funded coordinator position after she selected her court clerk for the job.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Commissioners Court approved<\/a> the court coordinator position on July 7, and Nieto selected her longtime\u00a0court clerk<\/a>, Amber Martinez, to fill the job. The judge says the freeze has left her court without the staffing it needs.<\/p>\n The order directs county officials to remove the administrative freeze and immediately process Martinez\u2019s hiring paperwork.<\/p>\n \u201cMy clerk has already demonstrated that she is fully qualified to serve as coordinator, having successfully performed the duties of the position for over 4 months,\u201d Nieto said in an email. \u201cShe has done so without additional compensation because, like me, she understands the importance of ensuring our community receives timely and effective justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Larry Roberson<\/a>, the civil chief of the District Attorney’s office, said the county has filed a motion to dissolve the lawsuit. Attorneys for both sides are trying to determine an appropriate date for a hearing on the motion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n READ MORE: Judge Christine Hortick sues Bexar County over court coordinator funding<\/a><\/p>\n Nieto filed her suit Monday morning, three days after state District Judge Christine Hortick<\/a> sued county officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n On March 1,\u00a0Nieto and Hortick began operating outside Bexar County\u2019s more than six-decade-old, centralized system for assigning civil cases to judges. The two judges have argued that cases should remain with the judges to whom they were originally assigned to avoid inefficiencies and wasting the time of the parties.<\/p>\n Their decision to leave the centralized system set off the dispute over whether their courts require dedicated coordinators, culminating in the lawsuits filed by each judge.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hortick argues in her lawsuit that the county must pay for a court coordinator assigned exclusively to her court instead of requiring her to share one with\u00a0Nieto. Hortick\u2019s suit names Smith, County Judge Peter Sakai<\/a> and Commissioners Court\u2019s four members as defendants.<\/p>\n In her petition, Nieto alleges Hortick has \u201celected not to utilize\u201d the shared court coordinator position. Hortick disputed that characterization, saying she has always been willing to use half of the shared position while continuing to pursue her own lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cI have asked when the position will be listed so that both Judge\u00a0Nieto and I can begin interviewing candidates,\u201d Hortick said in an email Thursday. \u201cI want to begin utilizing half a coordinator as soon as possible but I should have a say in who that person is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A court coordinator essentially serves as a scheduling manager and case-flow organizer. The position pays up to $81,986 in annual salary and benefits.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In an email to Nieto on Monday, Ryan Anderson<\/a>, general counsel for the\u00a0Bexar County civil district courts, said he had been informed by county human resources that the coordinator position had been frozen until she and Hortick agreed on an appointment and jointly notified HR.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n