Speaking to the Ector County Commissioners’ Court on Monday morning, District Judge Sara Kate Billingsley said a threat has been made against her life, and in response, commissioners approved the creation of a bailiff position for her courtroom.

Billingsley, who is the district judge in the 446th District Court and handles the majority of the county’s family law cases, said the threat has been made in writing and federal law enforcement officials were investigating.

“There’s a contract for my murder … that has been put in writing and affirmed by the FBI,” Billingsley said during the meeting. A call made to officials with the FBI was not returned Monday morning.

Billingsley was appointed to the position by Gov. Greg Abbott on Aug. 18. She was sworn in Sept. 21, and is currently running unopposed for re-election.

The 446th was created by the Texas Legislature and signed into law by Abbott during the 2015 session as a way to help alleviate the jail population at the Ector County Detention Center. To do that, the court deals primarily with family law matters per an order signed by the county’s four other district judges, who also said the new court will take on “any civil or criminal matters assigned or transferred to it by the other district courts.”

But because of the nature of the cases, Billingsley said emotions tend to run high, with cases that involve divorces and custody hearings regarding children. She added there was one instance a man tried to jump across the attorney’s desk after she handed down a ruling.

“When people come to family law court, they are losing their children, they’re potentially losing their home, they’re losing their marriage or the love of their life and they actually come with the idea they have nothing left to lose,” Billingsley said.

In a 4-1 vote, commissioners and Ector County Judge Ron Eckert voted for the creation of a full-time bailiff position, a position that was not created during the budget process for the current fiscal year.

Instead, commissioners had approved the creation of four bailiffs for the four district courts on the third floor of the Ector County Courthouse, with the understanding they would be shared until all positions were filled.

However, the 446th District Court is on the first floor of the courthouse, and Billingsley said with the increase in jury trials and the hours she and her staff work after the courthouse closes, she did not want to take away from the other courts. A bailiff for her courtroom, she said, would have to be able to work more than 40 hours.

“I don’t feel like reassigning one of the bailiffs,” she said. “I don’t feel like it would be fair at this point.”

The creation of the position is also to help with security reasons in the courtroom, which Eckert said came from a beam that could not be removed while the courtroom was being remodeled. Precinct 3 Ector County Commissioner Dale Childers said he recently sat in the courtroom and even with three law enforcement officials nearby, felt nervous.

“I sat in that courtroom and listened to those people cussing at each other,” Childers said.

According to the agenda, the creation of the position would cost $45,520 that includes full-time salary, health insurance, retirement and worker’s compensation. Eckert said Local Government Code 111.041 (b) allows for the creation because it is an emergency expenditure.

“After much thought, I decided we needed to send a strong message that we are going to protect our judges, especially those who are handling family law cases,” Eckert said.

The only dissenting vote was from Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Simmons, who asked if it was possible to simply reassign one of the current bailiffs to the 446th full-time and keep three working on the third floor and to county courts as needed.

“I’m not trivializing safety at all,” Simmons said during the meeting. “My main rationale was during the budget cycle, there is also county court at law judges that (do not) have an assigned bailiff, and during the budget cycle, we specifically stated we would hire four for the courthouse and those could be shared among judges.”

However, Billingsley pointed out that, by state law, both the 70th and 161st District Courts are to have appointed bailiffs, leaving the third bailiff covering the rest of the courthouse.

“So then that leaves the 358th and the 244th and if you look through the paper … they have huge, high-profile criminal cases that come through that court,” Billingsley said.

It is unknown when the position will be filled, but Eckert said county and law enforcement officials would be working to make sure Billingsley’s courtroom is secured at all times.

“We’re going to keep working with the district judges and encourage cooperation amongst all of our judicial staff and rotate bailiffs and other security personnel as needed,” Eckert said.

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