For the first time in 16 years, Williamson County has added new courts, Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported.
The station reported that the county, which is about 30 miles north of Austin with the City of Georgetown as its seat of government, increased the number of courts in response to its population growth.
According to KXAN, the two new courts are the 480th District Court, which will convene this fall, and the County Court at Law No. 5, which will start listening to cases next year.
The courts together come with a price tag of just below $1 million, county leaders learned during a meeting on the proposed 2023 budget on Tuesday, per the station.
KXAN reported that Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said that additional courts are necessary.
“In my three and a half years, just in our justice center alone, we’ve added 42 new employees,” Gravell, a Republican, told the station.
County Court at Law No. 4 Judge John McMaster supports more courts as it’ll help him and his fellow judges, according to KXAN.
“We need the help, and we’re very grateful for it,” McMaster, who was appointed to the bench in 2005, said, the station reported.
Census.gov shows that Williamson County had a population of 643,026 as of July 1, 2021.
A decade ago, the county was home to 422,679 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.