Primary Department: County Courts
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Ed Wells
Secondary Department: Choose an item.
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official:
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Supplemental RCA
Type of Request: Discussion Item
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable):
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable):
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
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Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request by County Courts for discussion and possible action from individual judges for outside counsel representing their interests as elected judges in the O'Donnell v Harris County litigation in response to ongoing litigation.
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Background and Discussion:
Four County Criminal Court at Law Judges; Hon. Paula Goodhart, Hon. Leslie Johnson, Hon. Jessica Padilla, and Hon. Linda Garcia respectfully request outside counsel on their behalf to represent their interests and position in the pending O'Donnell v Harris County litigation. The County Attorney’s Office notified these judges earlier that the County Attorney’s Office would not represent these judges in this matter. These judges have had representation from the firm of Greer, Herz, and Adams in the past and wish to continue with this representation.
Expected Impact:
Alternative Options:
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: A: Reduce violent crime across the County.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): A4: Improve safety through targeted pursuit of violent crime suspects.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
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Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
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9/18/2025 |
197 |
Approved |
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Anticipated Court Date: 6/11/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 6/11/2026
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Choose an item.
Contact(s) name, title, department:
Ed Wells, Court Manager, County Courts
Hon Paula Goodhart, County Criminal Court at Law 2
Hon. Leslie Johnson, County Criminal Court at Law 3 Hon. Jessica Padilla, County Criminal Court at Law 14
Hon. Linda Garcia, County Criminal Court at Law 16
Attachments (if applicable):