New Hidalgo County courthouse is already running out of room

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Hidalgo County’s new courthouse is already running out of room.

Hidalgo County spent roughly $190 million on the seven-story building, which contains 30 courtrooms.

“Well, the reality is that we are already full,” said Hidalgo County Precinct 1 Commissioner David Fuentes.

On March 31, when the building opened, it had just three spare courtrooms. Data collected by the state Office of Court Administration suggests Hidalgo County needs at least four new courts.

Hidalgo County may be able to buy time by asking judges to share courtrooms, hiring more prosecutors or converting two auxiliary courtrooms into regular courtrooms.

“Do we have space? For now, yes — that’s the answer,” said state District Judge Noe Gonzalez. “That’s the short answer. In the long haul, of course, we’re not going to have space.”

THE PLAN

Hidalgo County’s old courthouse opened in May 1954.

It cost about $1.5 million, according to the May 21, 1954, edition of The Monitor, which described the building as a “towering new granite and marble edifice.”

Hidalgo County expanded the building in the 1980s, but space remained at a premium.

Some judges decamped for nearby buildings in downtown Edinburg. Others worked from modular buildings on the northwest side of the courthouse.

In 2013, with the building approaching 60 years old, the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court decided to build a new courthouse.

Hidalgo County hired McAllen-based ERO Architects, which presented the Commissioners Court with plans for a 10-story building.

The design included “space on the top two floors for six additional courts to accommodate the county’s needs for the next 75 years,” according to a news release Hidalgo County published in June 2014.

Hidalgo County revised the plans in 2018.

The new, seven-story design cut the building from about 374,000 to 351,000 square feet, but still contained space for six additional courtrooms.

ERO Architects; HDR, an architectural firm based in Omaha, Nebraska; and Jacobs, a Dallas-based engineering firm, walked the Commissioners Court through the revised plans during a meeting in March 2018.

Fuentes had concerns about the new, smaller building.

“I know that you said you’ve cut out some square footage,” Fuentes said. “What I want to be cautious about is that you don’t cut out our future growth.”

The new courthouse must last 50 to 70 years, Fuentes said, and grow with Hidalgo County.

“What we don’t want to do is make it so tiny that there’s no room for the growth that we’re going to need,” Fuentes said. “And find ourselves in a situation, in a few years, where we’re already busting at the seams.”

Brian McIntyre, a project manager at Jacobs, assured Fuentes the courthouse still had space for growth.

“There’s a shell floor in the building,” McIntyre said, specifically for new courts. “Right now, the plan is for it to be on the fifth floor.”

The Commissioners Court approved the new design on March 20, 2018. Hidalgo County held a groundbreaking ceremony that November.

“We’re constructing this facility to allow for future growth into the next century,” then-Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia said in a statement released on Nov. 16, 2018. “The new courthouse will accommodate all of our current courthouse needs as well as provide space for more courts and offices as our county grows.”

THE NEED

The new courthouse opened for business on March 31, 2025 — millions over budget and years behind schedule.

In the meantime, lawmakers had created three new courts.

That left the new building with just three spare courtrooms: Two on the fifth floor and one located on the fourth floor.

An analysis conducted by the state Office of Court Administration suggests Hidalgo County needs at least one more district court and at least three more courts-at-law.

“I don’t want anybody to think that we’re sitting back saying: ‘We don’t need new courts,’” said Noe Gonzalez, the district court judge. “We need them. We just can’t afford them right now.”

Judges know that, along with more courts, Hidalgo County needs a bigger jail. The Commissioners Court must also find money for roads, drainage and other basic public services.

“The truth is, it is what it is: We have a county that just does not have the tax base to support the population,” Noe Gonzalez said.

Hidalgo County is served by 13 district courts, which handle felony cases, family law cases, juvenile cases and high-dollar civil cases.

About 22,900 cases were filed in Hidalgo County district courts during 2024, according to the Office of Court Administration, nearly 1,800 per judge.

The district courts only disposed of 19,650 cases, adding more than 3,000 to a growing backlog, which hit about 42,600 in 2024.

More than half the backlog — about 23,000 cases — consists of civil lawsuits, according to the Office of Court Administration.

“Because the criminal docket is so overloaded, the civil docket we allow to be driven — not primarily, but for the most part — by civil litigants,” Noe Gonzalez said.

If lawyers push cases through the system, they get resolved, judge Gonzalez said. When they don’t, the cases linger for years.

“The majority of those are driven by — for lack of a better term — the drive that is utilized by the civil attorneys,” Gonzalez said.

Hidalgo County is also served by nine courts-at-law, which handle misdemeanor cases, family law cases and small-dollar civil cases.

Based on caseload data, the Office of Court Administration suggests Hidalgo County needs at least three more courts-at-law.

“Would it help? Yes,” said Hidalgo County Court-at-Law Judge Rodolfo “Rudy” Gonzalez. “Do we need it, like, today? I think probably not.”

About 27,200 cases were filed in Hidalgo County courts-at-law during 2024, according to the Office of Court Administration, roughly 3,000 per judge.

While the courts-at-law disposed of about 30,300 cases in 2024, they still had a backlog of about 46,000 cases.

The backlog included about 19,100 civil cases and nearly 19,800 criminal cases, according to the Office of Court Administration.

More judges could help Hidalgo County cut through the backlog.

In March, state Rep. Sergio Muñoz Jr. filed a bill to create three new courts-at-law in Hidalgo County. State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, meanwhile, filed a bill to create one new court-at-law and one new probate court.

The Commissioners Court, concerned about the cost of three new courts-at-law, attempted to strike a compromise.

During a meeting in April, the Commissioners Court passed a resolution to support the creation of a new probate court.

Hidalgo County also backed a plan to increase the jurisdiction of local courts-at-law rather than add more courts.

The Texas Government Code allows courts-at-law in Hidalgo County to hear civil cases “in which the matter in controversy does not exceed $750,000, excluding interest, statutory or punitive damages and penalties, and attorney’s fees and costs.”

Under the plan, which must be approved by state lawmakers, the $750,000 limit would be removed.

That may allow courts-at-law to hear more civil cases, allowing district courts to focus on felony cases.

“The possibility of us working in conjunction with the district courts, to alleviate the possible cases that are stale or backlogged, would definitely be helpful,” said Rudy Gonzalez, the court-at-law judge. “And, in turn, that would probably help the expedition of the criminal cases that the district courts need to hear.”

THE OPTIONS

At some point, however, Hidalgo County must either find space for more courtrooms or find a way to use existing courtrooms more efficiently.

“Are we growing? Yes,” said Hidalgo County District Attorney Toribio “Terry” Palacios​. “Are we going to need more courts? Definitely.”

Judges, who typically hold court in the morning, could share courtrooms with colleagues who hold court in the afternoon. Hidalgo County could also convert two auxiliary courtrooms, which are located on the third floor of the courthouse, to regular courtrooms.

Assigning more prosecutors to each courtroom is another option.

The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office assigns just one or two prosecutors to every district court.

Every time a prosecutor is sick or leaves the District Attorney’s Office for a new job, cases are delayed.

“It slows down our court system,” Palacios said.

Tarrant County, by contrast, usually assigns five prosecutors to every district court. That allows Tarrant County to use each judge’s time more efficiently.

Hiring that many prosecutors — and finding the money to pay them — could be a challenge for Hidalgo County.

“It’s hard to get new recruits and pay them what other civil and criminal defense law firms will pay them,” said Noe Gonzalez, the district judge. “And so they’re still struggling at filling those positions.”

In mid-April, the District Attorney’s Office had 76 assistant district attorneys and 14 vacant positions, according to First Assistant District Attorney Alex Benavides. Pay starts at $77,409 to $88,828 depending on qualifications.

To match Tarrant County, the District Attorney’s Office would need to significantly increase pay for prosecutors and create dozens of new positions.

“I would like to pay my starting prosecutors at least $100,000, $120,000 just to be competitive,” Palacios said.

While prosecutors aren’t cheap, they may actually be cheaper than new courts.

Each court employs a judge, a bailiff, a court coordinator, an assistant court coordinator and a court reporter. That costs more than $300,000 per court, plus benefits.

“My opinion? I think they hit it just about right for the next five, seven years,” Palacios said. “I think we’re going to have to build again after that.”