Tarrant County judges to meet in secret to decide future of Fort Worth-area CPS cases
Tarrant County district judges will meet in secret Thursday to determine whether new Child Protection Services cases will be moved out of a colleague’s courtroom.
A notice released on Wednesday said the emergency meeting of the Tarrant County Board of District Judges will be closed. They will vote whether to remove cases from Judge Alex Kim, who presides over the 323rd Family District Court. Twenty-eight judges are on the board; 19 showed up to the Jan. 22 meeting.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram left several messages for district judges that were not immediately returned on Wednesday.
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 case assignments. It also follows several instances in which Kim’s judgment has been questioned, although judges would not speak to the specific reasons factored into the discussion.
After the January meeting, a committee was formed to assess the allocation of CPS cases. During that meeting, Evans said there was a 50% increase of CPS and juvenile cases over the last five years and that cases should have been assigned to judges by random selection.
County Judge B. Glen Whitley said he has talked to members of CPS and court-appointed child welfare advocates who have expressed concerns that Kim has placed children back with their family over the recommendations of CPS workers. The child welfare advocates said they have received a limited amount of appointments under Kim, which they argue puts children in danger, Whitley said.
“I don’t think that in and of itself caused the review to happen, but I think it brought up the question of, Are we doing this right?” Whitley said, adding that the decision had nothing to do with Kim’s removal from a case regarding Cook’s Children.
Currently, any new CPS case is automatically assigned to the 323rd Family District Court. If a CPS case is formed out of an existing court case — such as a divorce — then the CPS case remains with the original judge.
However, Whitley said a rule made around 2001 said that new CPS cases were supposed to rotate among the family judges.
Political moves
Kim’s personal Facebook page has been flooded with people pledging their support and a Facebook event was created asking for people to show up to the meeting wearing red bow ties.
As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, 84 people marked that they were interested in attending the meeting and 41 said they are going.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said earlier this week that he’s 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 are 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.
John H. Cayce, president of the Tarrant County Bar Association, also said he’s concerned.
He stressed that he has no comment on concerns raised about Kim. He said he believes the judges will not bow down to political pressure and will vote for what they believe is “in the best interests of justice for the children and families.”
“What troubles me … are the political threats issued by Empower Texans’ to influence the outcome of (Thursday’s) meeting,” Cayce, a former chief justice of the Second Court of Appeals, told the Star-Telegram in an email. “Those threats are an affront to the fundamental principle of judicial independence that cannot be ignored.
“While every citizen is entitled to express their own views about judicial decisions, no one in my opinion — especially a powerful political organization like Empower Texans — should attempt to interfere in a judicial proceeding, take actions or make statements that could be reasonably viewed as intimidating to a judge — or committee of judges —who have been charged with the proper administration of justice.”
Cayce is among those who had hoped to attend Thursday’s meeting.
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
