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Santini, Bays: Brief North Shore GOP Ladies on Needed MC Criminal Justice Center

By: Ruben Borjas, Jr., Columnist, Montgomery County News
| Published 10/06/2025

LtoR: Judge Kristin Bays, and Judge Vince Santini, speaking to the North Shore Republican Women on the need for a new Justice Center in Montgomery County
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MONTGOMERY, TX -- In a very informative address to The North Shore Republican Women on October 1st at the Bentwater Country Club, Judges Vince Santini (457th District Court) and Kristin Bays (284th District Court) spoke to the ladies about the pressing need for new infrastructure amongst Montgomery County courts, tax office (and money transfers), courthouse renovations, and for the need for safe and secure transfers of prisoners when entering and leaving courtrooms. Their primary aim is the need for a new Justice Center in Montgomery County to accommodate the anticipated addition of courts that will be added in the future.

Santini gave a brief history of Montgomery County Courthouses from the wooden 1890 courthouse in Conroe, which burned in the February 1911 fire that destroyed downtown. The building was rebuilt and then in 1936 the current stone structure was built, with an addition added in 1966, plus the atrium building addition in 1997, bought from a foreclosed on bank. There were 25,000 residents in Montgomery County in the 1930s, when the Commissioners Court and the 9th District Court occupied the building. Since 1997, Santini noted that Montgomery County’s population has grown by 191%, growing by half a million residents in the last 28 years, without any additional appreciable space given to the county’s court system.

“Since 1997 we’ve had three district courts added, three family courts, the 9th Court of Appeals, and a jury assembly room.” said Judge Santini, as he praised the county’s maintenance department for doing yeoman’s work in keeping the current infrastructure workable.

Santini noted the condition of the Tammy McCrae’s County Tax Office, and the ladies were aghast at the size of the rats in the building, as well as the decrepit state of the elevator, which can cause the elimination of fingers if one is not careful in its operation. He also expressed a deep concern in the jury pool waiting area outside the James Keeshan Building during jury selection, especially on the cold days in winter, or during rain events. The felony district court hallways are shared with all parties involved in court proceedings, from the jurors, victims, the accused and their counselors all sharing a common area. Santini showed a picture of the situation, calling for a need for separation of the parties, with holding cells for the prisoners, to reduce the exposure of the alleged perpetrators over their victims, but also for the Constitutional protections that the prisoners are afforded. The County Commissioners are aware of the situation.

Pictures were shown of how the inmates are loaded and unloaded at the Alworth Building courthouse complex after being bussed over from the jail, with jailers and their charges being put in positions, in confined spaces, that leave little room for error, especially if faced with credible security risks. Judge Bays noted that North Main Street is being closed off to traffic for the loading and unloading of prisoners several times a day.

Judge Santini praised Judge Bays, noting her efforts to spearhead the need for a new Justice Center, and he brought up the situation with Judge Scharlene Valdez, who heads County Court No. 6, where there was no room to place her court, but she has since found her bench located in a broom closet, or at least below street level. Judge Bays then noted that the 523rd District Court is coming on-line in September 2026.

“We are really, really, really out of room now,” said Judge Bays. “The 523rd is a criminal court and was created because the State saw the need for Montgomery County to expand there.”

Bays went on to say that the County should have five Civil Courts, but only currently maintains two, which are Santini and Bays courts; which explained why they work so well together as a team in their presentation. Bays speculated that in the next legislative session in 2027, Montgomery County may likely pick up three more courts. Currently, Santini and Bays are in talks to move the civil courts out of the campus style justice system that the county maintains. Incredibly, with Bays and Santini’s courts, they dispose of over 100% of their cases, as compared to Harris County with their disposal rate of between 70-80%.

“We are currently seven courts short of the volume of what we are currently doing in chambers and in open court,” said Judge Santini. “But thankful we have a great group of Judges that are doing the work of multiple courts.”

It was noted that Waller, Grimes, and Chambers are getting new justice centers, and Montgomery County is behind the eight-ball on this one. Judge Bays noted the cost of between $132 - $185 million for the project, and the need to commit now to the project before the prices go up. She has already been working on the project for over three years, and the build out time would be approximately three years. The higher price on the scale includes a parking garage and an improved tax office. Bays envisioned a 20 year plan with a future judge speaking on the issue in the 2040’s. For the approximately 28 courtrooms, 291,000 sq ft will be needed, as compared to the current 161,000 that the county maintains. The county has 17 courtrooms now, with a current need of 20.

Revenue sources to pay for the project can include a capital improvement account, a court facility fund, the sale of buildings in downtown no longer needed once a facility is completed, the rental of spaces of the current courthouse once renovated, transport savings of prisoners, bonds, and tapping into state resources.

Bays said the inclusion of the Tax Office in the project, a 45,000 sq ft space, has to be included since McCrae has 100,000 people yearly coming through her office. McRae has called for the need of a Sally Port, a secure controlled entryway set between two doors that are used in the transfer of funds that her office has transported on a weekly basis. The Sally Port is also a good idea for the safe and effective transport of prisoners in a location secured from street exposure. The good thing is that a Sally Port can be shared between the Tax Office and the County Jail.

Judge Santini, noted the need for more County Courts at Law to take the stress off Judge John Hafley, CC#1; Judge Amy Tucker, CC#3; and Judge Echo Hudson, CC#4. He said the increased volume of cases is much greater than the district courts. Montgomery County judges score vastly better than counties of similar size in case clearance, and only five other counties have better scores in disposals than us, but they have superior numbers of courts than we have here.

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