Nearly 99% of people eligible for free legal representation at their first court appearance in Travis County had an attorney present during the program’s first seven months, according to monitoring reports released this month by the ACLU of Texas. The county’s counsel-at-first-appearance program began in January under a settlement reached in December 2025. The agreement followed a 2024 class-action lawsuit brought by VOCAL-TX and the ACLU, which argued that the county was denying people who could not afford a lawyer their constitutional right to counsel. The ACLU is set to monitor the county’s progress through 2032. At the first appearance, a judge sets bail and decides whether a person will remain in jail while a case proceeds. Without a lawyer, people can face decisions with serious consequences for their freedom and cases, while even a brief stay in custody can disrupt employment, housing and access to health care. “While I was in jail, I had no treatment for my cancer. I didn’t have a lawyer at my first hearing,” said Alfredo Reyes, a VOCAL-TX organizer, in a statement. He said the settlement gives people a better chance of keeping their jobs, housing and health care. The reports also identify continuing gaps. Travis County provides program staffing during the day and evening, but not during the overnight C Shift, which begins after 11 p.m. From April through July, 20 people did not receive counsel because their first appearances took place during that shift. Reports for January through March did not specify whether missed representation was linked to the overnight hours. The settlement generally requires first appearances, known as magistrations, to take place in a publicly accessible courtroom, with exceptions for circumstances such as emergencies, illness or safety concerns. In April, 236 of 2,409 eligible people had non-public magistrations. The reports listed mental-health-related safety risks as the reason in 75 cases and said 67 people refused. In 29 cases, documentation explaining the decision was not immediately accessible. Other records also show inconsistent or unclear documentation. The May and June reports each noted 19 cell-side magistrations without supporting documentation. In March, 329 people were marked ineligible for the program under the broad category “Other.” Some reports used overlapping labels for exceptions, including “hospital,” “medical reasons” and “medical/safety.” The ACLU reports say the county is working to standardize categories for exceptions and to remind and train staff on documentation requirements. Savannah Kumar, an ACLU of Texas staff attorney, called the program a historic step toward a fairer judicial system.