Future CPS cases will now be assigned randomly to Family Law courts, not Judge Alex Kim
Tarrant County district judges decided Thursday to remove future Child Protective Services cases from Judge Alex Kim’s courtroom.
Beginning March 1, new cases will be randomly assigned to the Family Law Courts, unless the case is already being heard in Kim’s courtroom.
Judges on that court include Jesus Nevarez Jr., Kenneth Newell, James Munford, Jerome Hennigan, Judith Wells and Patricia Bennett.
The order said all juvenile cases will remain in Kim’s courtroom. A committee of judges recommended consolidating CPS cases in one location to “improve the administration of all cases, allow for the consolidation of resources, improve communications, be cost efficient and promote consistency.”
The Family Law Courts are at 200 East Weatherford St. in downtown Fort Worth. Kim’s 323rd District Court is at 2701 Kimbo Road.
Kim said after the hour-long meeting that he respected the process the board took, adding, “I enjoy CPS cases so there’s nothing that prohibits me from hearing CPS cases.”
Talk of a possible shift in CPS assignments began in January when Judge David Evans raised questions during a public meeting about whether rules have been followed regarding how cases are assigned to judges.
Kim has also been criticized for reversing a longtime practice of appointing advocates, and County Judge Glen Whitley said he has heard concerns that Kim placed children back with their families against the recommendations of CPS workers.
The decision to hold an emergency vote angered Kim’s supporters, who argued they elected him to oversee these types of court cases. Supporters questioned Evans’ motive for calling forth a committee now, instead of years ago. Kim was elected in 2018.
Asked if the decision was a political one, Kim said the answer might be found in a transcript of the meeting, which will be released to the media. The Star-Telegram requested a copy of the transcript from Hennigan, of the 324th District Court, but had not received a copy as of Thursday afternoon.
In a four-page memo to some judges dated Feb. 12, Kim listed pros and cons of moving future CPS cases from the 323rd Family District Court, giving insight into the possible closed-door discussion.
Kim made many points about why CPS cases should not be removed from his courtroom, but if they were, he said he would be able to “focus on juvenile matters in a way that no court in Texas could.”
He said there is a significant chance the next Texas Legislature will raise the age of criminal culpability to 18, meaning it is possible that juvenile dockets could increase by 30% to 40%.
“With such an increase, the 323rd District Court would not be capable of managing both juvenile and CPS cases,” he wrote.
The Star-Telegram obtained a copy of a memo that Bennett, the 360th Judicial District family judge, wrote to Kim in response.
“It is being suggested that this action is being done because Alex Kim ‘stands up’ to Child Protective Services,” she wrote. “To suggest that a judge ‘stands up’ to a litigant that stands before him is to suggest that the judge has an interest in the outcome in the matter and will engage in judicial activism.”
The memos
In his memo, Kim listed reasons why shifting the way CPS cases are assigned could negatively affect families. Bennett added counter arguments in her memo. Among them:
▪ Starting March 1, foster care in Tarrant County will be handled by All Church Home as Texas moves to privatize its child welfare system.
“There is a benefit to having a single court during this process, as ACH only has to develop their program for the policies and philosophies of one judge, as opposed to multiple judges with differing policies,” Kim wrote. “There have been ongoing discussions between the 323rd and ACH during this process and a change this late could create a significant barrier to providing quality services to foster children in Tarrant County.”
Bennett said that all family court judges already hear CPS cases and are “well qualified to do so” after handling the cases as judges and attorneys.
“The vast majority of the transition will be at the agency, not the judicial level,” Bennett wrote. “I believe that having six district judges and six or seven associate judges aide in the transition is more efficient than one district judge and two or three associate judges.”
▪ Moving cases out of the 323rd could hurt children who are involved in both CPS and juvenile delinquency cases, Kim wrote. “Separating the CPS cases downtown would make these types of dockets impossible.”
Bennett said there are very few crossover cases like the ones Kim described.
▪ Other family court judges might not be able to handle the addition of CPS cases, which could be an increase of 50 per year.
In response, Bennett said the judges already hear these cases and know how to handle their dockets.
▪ Keeping cases in Kim’s courtroom would reduce the amount of time children are in foster care. Kim wrote he fears rotating cases among judges will create problems with consistency in decision-making.
“I believe a large part of why cases are moving faster in 2020 than 2019 is there is one District Judge and consistency between the Associate Judges with the District Judge,” he wrote. “Attorneys are able to counsel their clients and stress the importance of the services they need to engage in order to be reunited with their children.”
Bennett said she’s confident that cases referred to Family District Courts will be handled with efficiency.
“All family law judges understand the importance of stressing the need to complete services, particularly as it relates to (Texas Code).”
▪ As a suggestion, Kim wrote that Tarrant County might be better served by requesting a new district court from the 87th Legislature.
“The new courthouse that was just approved for construction by the commissioners court will have an additional district judge courtroom that was planned for this purpose,” he wrote.
The new courthouse, he wrote, will have a significant amount of space dedicated to CPS cases, CPS workers and a district clerk space. If CPS cases are moved to the downtown courtrooms, Kim argues money will be wasted.
Bennett agreed with Kim that another district court might be needed, but said that is not a quick or guaranteed process.
▪ Kim also suggested that the board seek an opinion from District Attorney Sharen Wilson, whose office would be affected by any shift in assignments.
Political moves
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Kim’s personal Facebook page was flooded with people pledging their support. A Facebook event asked supporters to show up to the 12:15 meeting wearing red bow ties.
Francine deLongchamp of Fort Worth was among those wearing a sticker stating, “I support Alex Kim.”
About 50 people showed up to support Kim and cheered him on as he exited and entered the courtroom.
“I support all of our elected judges,” deLongchamp said, explaining that she believes no governmental agency has a right to go against the voters’ wishes.
“Alex Kim was elected to oversee CPS cases and we should have a say,” she said.
On Wednesday, the 28 district judges closed the meeting to the public.
Whitley said earlier this week that he was concerned the vote by the judges could be colored by political pressure coming from an article by Texas Scorecard, a publication by the conservative Empower Texans political advocacy group.
Whitley said he believes judges were being intimidated by the group, which could support future opponents against judges who vote to move the CPS cases out of Kim’s courtroom. Judicial races generally are small dollar campaigns.
State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican, expressed his concerns about the secret meeting on Twitter.
“As Chair of the House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence, I’m concerned about what these Judges are considering,” he wrote in response to a Star-Telegram story. “If they won’t explain the reasoning & legal basis for this decision today, they can do so in a public hearing in front of our committee very soon.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 1:50 PM.
