On the indigent defense team, he's the point guard
EDINBURG — If there is anyone who sees Hidalgo County’s indigent defense system from all sides, it is Isidro Sepulveda Jr.
Hired in 2002 to lead the county’s newly formed Indigent Defense Program, the former court manager was given two primary goals: help keep jail population numbers down and ensure the county’s compliance with the 2001 Fair Defense Act, which tightened regulations for providing low-income legal services.
But since then, his role has informally morphed into that of the county’s penny-pincher, forcing him to become more like the basketball stars whose plastic figurines he keeps on a shelf behind his desk.
On the indigent defense team, Sepulveda plays the point guard — always keeping an eye on the full court but relying on teammates to score the game-winning points.
During the past six years, his office has helped create a county public defender system, drawn up a more detailed method of income screening, and set up a computer networking system that allows attorneys to talk to their clients without driving to the county jail. Each small step has chipped away at the overall indigent defense costs in ways that haven’t always been reflected in the current funding debate.
But his limited authority to enact policy changes often leaves him hamstrung. Without support from the county’s commissioners and judges, there’s not much he can do.
And that support doesn’t come easy.
Earlier this month, Sepulveda met with the Board of Judges — a local body comprised of county and state judges — to present yet another potential solution for curbing costs: a flat-rate fee schedule that would cap the compensation for court-appointed attorneys based on the outcomes of their cases.
After weeks of one-on-one discussions with the board’s individual members, opinion surveys with lawyers and financial analysis by the county’s budget office, he felt confident he was headed into a meeting where his proposal would pass.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Within minutes of reading over his printed one-page pitch, he was cut off.
“I don’t need you to read this to me. I can read,” one judge interrupted.
“The Commissioners Court only deals with numbers,” another complained. “We have to deal with the Constitution.”
In just a matter of seconds, the conversation devolved from consideration of a specific suggestion to a rehashing of the entire indigent defense funding debate.
Aspersions were cast at county budget writers for poor planning. Threats were made to issue court orders should the county cut off payments to attorneys.
In the end, the judges took no action on Sepulveda’s proposal, tabling it for a possible vote at a future meeting.
To an outside observer, this might look like defeat. But after six years navigating the politics behind indigent defense, Sepulveda sees it as progress.
“I think it will pass,” he said. “Give it a few more meetings.”
Until then, he’ll keep dribbling the ball until someone is open.
_____
Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437. Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4424.
