When the pandemic was first beginning to be felt in Central Texas and most court proceedings were put on hold, Hays County Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace Beth Smith feared a tsunami of evictions would hit her office once landlords were allowed to file the required notices.
Though the doors to her office remained closed, her employees never stopped going to work, in part to be able to get ready for what would come.
The office is now again accepting cases, but as Smith told the Hays Free Press last week, for the most part they’re not the cases she expected.
“Evictions are down, actually,” said Smith, who hears those cases on Tuesdays. Before the pandemic, she said she usually had three or four weekly. “Last week, I had none. The week before I had one. This week I’ve got three single family homes and also three from one apartment complex.”
Instead, she said, she’s signing more warrants for assaultive offenses than she had anticipated.
“A lot of them are probable cause for assault, family violence and other assaultive offenses.”
Although violence is “never understandable,” Smith said the pandemic has brought with it stressors. “People are at home,” she said. “They could be out of a job. They could be short of money. A lot of things are triggers.”
Part of that increase may be seasonal. “You usually see more in the summer and more around the holidays. Right now I’m sure it has a lot to do with the pandemic and the heat and everything put together.”
Regarding evictions, Smith said she’s heartened that the tsunami has not developed, at least not yet. Landlords “all seem to be working with their residents. I think this is a good thing that they are doing … I feel like apartment complexes are giving some wiggle room and working with their tenants more than usual. I find that kind of heartwarming.”
