PRESIDIO COUNTY — County Judge Joe Portillo will preside over a County Criminal Court docket today at 10 a.m. at the Marfa County Courthouse — the first such hearings to take place since February 2024.
The Presidio County Criminal Court hears misdemeanor cases, everything from Driving Under the Influence (DUIs) and marijuana possession to invalid licenses, along with lower-level theft. Higher-population counties often have one or more “county courts at law” that handle criminal and civil cases with separate judges. In Presidio County, Portillo, who took office in January 2023, presides over the Commissioners Court and County Court hearings for criminal and probate cases. Judicial matters for even lesser offenses, like traffic citations and small civil claims, are mostly handled by the county’s two justices of the peace.
County Attorney Blair Park, who took her seat in January, said it took her office at least three months to figure out which cases should move forward since she said files were left in disarray by the previous county attorney. A County Criminal Court setting was originally scheduled for April 24, but Portillo had to reschedule due to a conflict, she said.
Park said several arraignments will be included on the docket today as well as some “very old” cases that never received final dispositions. A total of 22 defendants are scheduled to appear.
A January review showed that Ponton declined to prosecute 259 cases and dismissed 50 others when he was leaving office in December — a move he said was necessary because they were old cases with possible defendants and witnesses missing, among other problems.
A March examination of court records by The Big Bend Sentinel showed that only six cases were presented for county prosecution in 2024 — something then County Attorney Rod Ponton said was intentional, to let Park decide on which cases to prosecute.
Park said one change she recently implemented should make the county justice system run smoother — having law enforcement agencies send all investigative files to her electronically. “This is 2025,” she said, referring to the former process of trying to deliver files by hand. Having electronic copies will also ensure that investigative reports don’t go missing.