‘It’s unfortunate this has become politicized’: Inside the meeting that moved CPS cases
The Tarrant County judges who voted to remove new Child Protective Services cases from Judge Alex Kim’s courtroom made clear their decision was based on the law, not politics.
Judge Jerome Hennigan released a 92-page transcript from the closed-door meeting on Monday morning, giving the first inside look at what 21 of Tarrant County’s 27 district judges discussed on Feb. 27.
All but three judges, including Kim, voted to move new CPS cases from the 323rd District Court, over which Kim presides.
Judge James Munford, of the 322nd District Court, and Judge Chris Wolfe, of the 213th District Court, voted with Kim to keep CPS cases in Kim’s courtroom.
The judges made their decision after an hour-long meeting in which a committee of judges — led by Judith Wells —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.”
Beginning March 1, new cases will be randomly assigned to the Family Law Courts downtown, unless the case is already being heard in Kim’s courtroom. That is also the date that foster care in Tarrant County will be handled by All Church Home as Texas moves to privatize its child welfare system.
Judges in the meeting mentioned that the privatization is a reason why they wanted to make sure that local rules were being followed regarding the assignment of CPS cases.
Kim had also been criticized for reversing a longtime practice of appointing advocates, and County Judge Glen Whitley said he had heard concerns that Kim placed children back with their families against the recommendations of CPS workers.
All juvenile cases will remain in Kim’s courtroom.
Reasons for removal
Judge Mollee Westfall gave a presentation on the committee’s recommendation and said it found no clear reason why the local rule — which was enacted in 1999 — wasn’t being followed.
The 1999 rule stated that all new CPS cases would be filed by random selection among the six family court judges and the 323rd District Court, which is the only juvenile court in the county.
The committee tried to answer one question: Why hasn’t the rule been followed?
The judges searched through court filings and previous Board of District Judges meeting minutes to find an answer.
“Nothing was unearthed,” Westfall said, explaining the reason for not following the rule could have been because the family courts facility was small at the time or because of the caseloads in 1999.
“Bottom line is, we couldn’t find any particular reason why we are not following the local rule,” she said.
Jurisdictions in other similar-sized Texas counties — and across the country — operate their CPS cases by random assignment, she said.
Westfall also mentioned concerns about the ever growing CPS and juvenile caseload, which will continue to grow as the county becomes more populated.
“In conclusion, if you look at the legal — the law or the rule issues, you look at the practical issues, the administrative issues, the caseload issues, I think they all point to a realignment of these cases,” she said.
Political motives or performance issues were not cited by the committee.
Arguments for and against
Judge Chris Wolfe was concerned the board was moving too quickly.
David Evans said there are 500 cases that weren’t randomly assigned and are being heard by Kim.
“They are subject to possible objection for failure to follow assignment rules,” he said.
Wolfe was the first to bring up politics, saying that the majority of voters chose Kim to hear CPS cases. He questioned why the board would make this decision in the middle of Kim’s term and asked to consider waiting until the next election.
Kim’s term ends in 2023.
“The public votes for us ... that’s true,” Evans said. “We (often run) on our specialties, but it doesn’t mean that we’re entitled to keep that docket.”
Westfall argued the group had all the information needed to make a decision and, if the law requires them to follow the rules, they can’t wait.
Kim made a case for himself, saying he likes to hear CPS cases. He said the court is moving smoothly and that “I have never asked for help.”
However, Judge Jesus Nevarez Jr. questioned Kim’s response, saying Kim called him several months ago to ask for help.
“You said, ‘I need help with my CPS cases because I’m drowning and I can’t catch up,’” Nevarez said, adding later, “Then in December I find out that Judge Bennett goes out to your courtroom or one of your courtrooms and handles the cases out there.”
Nevarez said Kim, as of a couple weeks ago, said again that no one was helping him.
“So I’m confused,” Nevarez said. “If you weren’t asking me directly for help, what were you asking me?”
“I’d be calling you a liar,” Kim responded.
“Well, I’m calling you a liar,” Nevarez said.
“You are calling me a liar, too,” Bennett added.
Hennigan quickly shut down the conversation.
“This is not morally admissible and no, I’m not going to tolerate that,” he said.
Politics aside
Despite the public interest leading up to the vote, and reports that the decision had to do with a Cook Children’s case that Kim was removed from, the judges made clear their decision had to do with policy and law.
There was no mention of Tinslee Lewis, the 1-year-old on life support at Cook Children’s. Kim signed an order that stopped the hospital’s plans to remove the girl from life support. He was also criticized for not assigning volunteer child advocates to CPS cases.
When one judge mentioned CASA, Evans struck the question and said, “We did not raise this on any performance issues.”
Talk of the conservative Empower Texans group that backed Kim during the election, and leading up to the vote, was also limited.
Before the meeting, Whitley said he was worried that political pressure stemming from an article by Texas Scorecard, a publication by the Empower Texans political advocacy group, might affect judges’ votes on the issue. It called on voters to contact judges before the vote.
Whitley had said he heard judges who vote to move CPS cases out of Kim’s courtroom could find themselves facing a well-funded primary challenger when they seek re-election.
Texas Scorecard continued the narrative that the decision to hold the vote was politically motivated, citing unnamed sources saying Kim made “CPS follow the law.”
Judge Patricia Bennett, the 360th Judicial District family judge, addressed those claims in a letter that she gave Kim before the meeting.
“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.”
Empower Texans was mentioned once during Thursday’s meeting when Nevarez asked Kim why he “had Empower Texans and everybody else calling me.”
The question wasn’t answered.
About 50 people showed up to support Kim. They stood outside of the courtroom where the meeting was held and cheered when Kim entered and exited the courtroom.
Judge Lowe said, “it’s unfortunate that this has become politicized.”
The judges who voted to move CPS cases were: Bennett, Robb Catalano, John Chupp, Evans, Kimberly Fitzpatrick, George Gallagher, David Hagerman, Hennigan, Tom Lowe, Susan Heygood McCoy, Jesus Navarez, Jr., Kenneth Newell, Wayne Salvant, Mike Thomas, Wells, Westfall, Melody Wilkinson and Scott Wisch.
Judges on the family court court include Munford, Nevarez., Newell, Hennigan, Wells and Bennett.
This story was originally published February 24, 2020 at 12:10 PM.
