Texas State students may find a new center that can solve civil and family disputes quicker and more cost efficient than county courts.
The Hays County Dispute Resolution Center held an open house Tuesday night. The new center, located off of North LBJ, works with county residents in resolving cases before they go to court.
Walter Krudop, president of the Board of Directors for the center, said more than 200 different dispute resolution locations exist throughout Texas. Most centers are in highly populated areas.
Krudop said the center does not provide service for disputes involving more than $50,000. Officials do not handle family disputes where the total income is more than $60,000.
“If somebody can afford mediation, we’re not going to handle their case,” Krudop said. “We’re primarily for people who cannot pay a mediator.”
Bill Henry, judge for the 428th court, said it has a local rule of mandatory mediation before proceeding to trial.
“Mediation helps the court alleviate any backlog,” Henry said. “It is more accessible and cost effective than litigating a case.”
Krudop said officials’ main concern is cases. He said the mediators could deal with community issues including a disgruntled neighbor because of a barking dog.
Krudop said dispute resolution centers are regularly involved in secondary schools. He said the center could implement the peer mediation program in the future. The program trains secondary students to become mediators for their peers.
Henry said the county court system would easily adjust to the dispute resolution center.
“There are a number of cases ready to be mediated,” Henry said. “If there are any openings the dispute center has, they can find niches in other places, for example, with the police or with schools.”
The center is not entirely free. Krudop said it is funded through mandatory fees added to filing civil cases — $5 in Justice of the Peace court and $15 in district and county courts.
Anna Bartkowski, the center’s executive director, said it received a $20,000 startup fund from the county. She said the center receives, though it varies, approximately $3,000 from an Alternate Dispute Resolution fund.
Bartkowski said mediation and resolution of cases brought to the center typically take three to four hours. She said the center has mediated 11 cases.
Bartkowski said the center held an unsettled mediation session with a neighborhood because one resident was disrupting the community.
“They didn’t meet an agreement,” Bartkowski said. “Even though they didn’t hammer out a settlement agreement. From the talk, they are better able now to communicate with one another about their needs.”
Bartkowski said there are steps to becoming an official mediator. Mediators are required to take a 40-hour certified courses to become credited. She said new volunteers are required to observe three mediations before becoming a co-mediator. Volunteers must work with a more experienced mediator until they learn the process.
