SAN ANTONIO – The Cadena-Reeves Justice Center has been operating with just one working public elevator for nearly three weeks, and now an elevator used to transport inmates through the courthouse is also out of service.
The problems are creating delays and raising security concerns inside the downtown courthouse, according to 379th District Court Judge Ron Rangel.
“There is not a day that goes by in this courtroom and in this courthouse where I have not heard complaints from people that have told me I am late for docket calls,” Rangel said.
The justice center has four elevators available to the public, but only one has been operating in recent weeks.
Rangel said the delays can affect attorneys, witnesses, defendants and members of the public trying to get to courtrooms on time.
The situation has become more complicated with the failure of an elevator used to move inmates through the courthouse.
People in custody are now being moved through other areas of the justice center, including back hallways near judges’ offices and jury rooms.
Rangel said that can create security concerns, particularly during jury trials.
“Imagine those same inmates walking in the back hallways with all these jurors that are members of the public,” Rangel said.
He also said courthouse staff typically try to prevent potential jurors from seeing defendants in restraints or being escorted through the building because of concerns about how that could affect a trial.
“We’ve taken great pains to try to make sure that inmates that we bring into the courtrooms do not come across potential jurors that would see them shackled or escorted,” Rangel said.
Rangel said judges have contacted Bexar County facilities officials about the elevator problems but have not been given a firm timeline for repairs.
KSAT previously asked the county about the elevator outage and was told a second elevator had been brought back into service and a third would soon be repaired. That did not happen.
The county on Monday released the following statement:
“Bexar County actively works to restore elevator service as quickly and safely as possible when outages occur. Repair and restoration times depend on parts and technician availability. In the Justice Center currently, one passenger elevator remains operational, a second will be put back into service before the end of the week, and a third is expected to be returned to service after the installation of a motor in the next 2 weeks. The fourth passenger elevator is completely out of service and unfortunately will remain out of service until the project to replace the elevators is completed in approx. 18 months. The building also has 4 dedicated elevators for inmate transport. One of those elevators is out of service, but we anticipate having it back in operation in the next 2-3 days. Due to the age of the equipment and elevator systems; sourcing compatible parts is challenging and can result in longer repair times. A full elevator modernization design was forecasted and has already been funded and is expected to be completed within the next 18 months. Bexar County remains committed to maintaining safe, accessible facilities for the public and appreciates the community’s patience during this process.”
Until repairs are completed, Rangel said the courthouse also needs to address accessibility concerns.
“The law says that these buildings have to provide accommodations for them,” Rangel said. “Up until this point, I have not seen any.”
KSAT will continue tracking the elevator repairs and the county’s timeline for restoring service.
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