Felony Cases Outpace Pre-Pandemic Levels. Despite outcries from County Commissioners John Wiley Price and J.J. Koch, the Dallas Morning News found that judges are actually resolving more cases in 2022 than they were in 2019. The problem fueling the backlog is that caseloads are rising as prosecutors pursue more of them. Price notes that the monthly average of juries selected is down from 24 to 17 compared through 2019. Still, pending cases are growing because more are being filed, something the court has no control over.
Your Garbage Day Is Probably Changing. Mine is moving from Tuesdays to Fridays starting December 5. The city put out a new map yesterday showing the modifications, which changes trash days for over half—56 percent—the city. The goal is to reduce delays for sanitation workers.
Early Voting Numbers Down in All 4 Major North Texas Counties. Dallas County has about 100,000 fewer early voters in 2022 compared to 2018, about a 31 percent drop. That’s the largest gulf across the four most populous counties here, which all saw more modest declines. Early voting continues through Friday; polls in Dallas County will be open until 9 p.m. tomorrow and Friday.
DeSoto Passes Responsible Banking Ordinance. The move, which was born of WFAA’s ‘Banking Below 30’ series, requires banks to prove that they are actually providing loans to communities of color if they want to do business with the city. Municipal money is good business for banks, which are always looking to hold onto taxpayer dollars.