Children’s Advocacy Center Wants to Move Into Old Probation Office in Downtown LG

The Fayette County Commissioners Court discussed but took no action on a request from the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) to lease the old Adult Probation Office in La Grange.

CAC Chief Executive Officer Megan Webb appeared at the Commissioners Court meeting on June 11. CAC, based in Bastrop, provides social services to child abuse victims in Bastrop, Lee and Fayette Counties. They currently operate a satellite office inside the Bluebonnet Trails Clinic in La Grange.

CAC conducts forensic interviews with child abuse victims on behalf of law enforcement, and those interviews can be used in criminal cases. They also offer therapy services. Webb said that CAC office at Bluebonnet Trails is too small to offer both services at the same time.

“It’s not big enough for us to keep sound from traveling between the rooms,” Webb said. “So we can’t have therapy going on at the same time that we have an interview going on.”

Right now, Webb said her office schedules interviews in La Grange on Wednesdays. If victims can’t make it to the La Grange office on a Wednesday, they have to travel to Bastrop.

“We want to be able to expand here,” Webb said. “I could seek funding to hire staff to be dedicated for those services, but I don’t have the space to operate full-time.”

Webb said CAC currently pays rent that amounts to $18,355 annually for their space at the Bluebonnet Trails Clinic. Webb said the old Fayette County Adult Probation Office at 227 North Main St. in La Grange would meet their needs. Fayette County Adult Probation recently moved into a new office space across the street at 228 North Main.

Since Adult Probation moved, Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Kyle Hartmann has expressed interest in moving his office there from the Fayette County Justice Center. He also spoke at the meeting.

“I want to be very clear on two things,” Hartmann said. “The first thing is, the Children’s Advocacy Center is an incredible resource to our County, and they have my complete admiration and respect … The second point I want to be clear on is myself and my staff will do the best with whatever space we have.”

Hartmann said he currently does not have a courtroom to conduct proceedings in his office at the Justice Center. Sometimes he’s able to perform legal proceedings in his office. When multiple parties are involved, though, Hartmann said he has to use the Sheriff’s Office conference room.

“The Sheriff’s Office is extremely accommodating and allows us to use that space,” Hartmann said. “We work well together, but that is a space that they need regularly for their own meetings as well.”

The building at 227 N. Main lies about one block inside of Precinct 3. Hartmann said that according to his understanding of State law, his Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace office could legally be located in another precinct since the population of the County is less than 30,000. He said another option would be to locate his office inside the Fayette County Courthouse, which state law also authorizes.

Commissioners ultimately took no action at their June 11 meeting. Pct. 3 Commissioner Harvey Berckenhoff was absent.

Since the building at 227 N. Main lies in his precinct, the rest of the court wanted to include him in the discussion.

The Court is scheduled to take up the matter again at their meeting this Thursday, June 25.