Officials took the extraordinary step of taking on new debt to replace the old courthouse, which has been plagued by rats and other pests, elevator breakdowns and flooding.
— a weekly dispatch about the people, places and policies defining Texas, produced by Texas Tribune journalists living in communities across the state.
Ector County is the epicenter of West Texas, known to provide a home to tax-weary residents. Voters here have routinely rejected tax increases and bond requests to pay for upgrades to roads, government buildings and schools.Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune The money will enable the county to purchase the land it has selected to build a new courthouse and build it. Plans for the design have not been publicly released. County officials plan to release them in about three months.
First: Aerial view of the Ector County Courthouse on Nov. 7. Next: Visitors collect their belongings after passing through security at the Ector County Courthouse. Last: Senior Deputy Clerk Minerva Samaniego answers a phone call while courthouse visitors walk through the Justice of the Peace office at the Ector County Courthouse.Ector County Clerk bookkeepers Christina Dominguez, left, and Freddie Tijerina work at their desks in the Ector County Courthouse.
Kevin Mann, the facility’s director since 2016, said the challenges he and his staff face have increased. He said the detention center no longer has enough space to process the detainees, which include children aged 10 to 16 years old.In one of the building's quarters, there is a room where family members can speak to the detainees through arranged visits. Behind that room, officers will guide a row of new detainees to process them into the facility.
“You can't rely on every single resident to be intimately familiar with how public finance works, so that trust matters,” Bray said.
Texas Politics Texas Policy Texas Government Politics Taxes Odessa Ector County West Texas Property Taxes Permian Basin
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