The Location of the DACC Remains Up in the Air

One Texas Center, which is temporarily housing Downtown Austin Community Court (Photo by John Anderson)

Where the Downtown Austin Community Court should be permanently located remains up in the air, as City Council punted on making a decision for the fourth time in as many months. At last week's meeting, March 24, Council members were posted to vote on three items that would authorize spending $27 million to renovate the old City Hall building at 124 W. Eighth, now referred to as the Municipal Building, that staff identified as the most suitable permanent location for the court.

But facing pressure from groups such as the Downtown Austin Alliance, surrounding businesses, and people who live at the Brown Building, a multifamily development about 200 feet from the proposed site, Council withdrew consideration of the items – without any clear indication of when they would return to the dais. Staff will provide Council with information requested at prior meetings before a vote occurs.

Some of that information will include how the One Texas Center, where the DACC is temporarily located, should be used in the future. CM Kathie Tovo has long eyed that building, at 505 Barton Springs Rd., as the best site to obtain affordable housing in the South Central Waterfront plan that is currently in the planning stage. Mayor Steve Adler, on the other hand, isn't opposed to DACC remaining at OTC permanently, if staff concludes that it makes the most sense for them to be there.

Staff will also consider moving DACC to the Waller Creek Center at 624 E. 10th, where Austin Water's administration building is currently located. DAA and other opponents of the move to the Municipal Building favor consideration of relocating to WCC, saying it could cost less to renovate. But doing so would require relocating the water utility's entire workforce to a new building; it's unclear how much the renovations and relocations would cost, or if it's even possible given the need for AW employees to operate specialized systems on-site to maintain the city's water supply.

Established in 1999, DACC serves two functions: an actual courthouse where anyone cited for certain class C misdemeanors, which include public intoxication, criminal mischief, or theft, within the jurisdictional boundaries of the court (Downtown as well as parts of East Austin and West Campus) can adjudicate the offense. It also handles citations for certain city code violations that occur within the same geographical boundaries, such as solicitation or public camping, which ties into DACC's other function: a provider of services to people experiencing homelessness.

DACC offers day services such as help signing up for benefits like food assistance or replacing a state ID card, available to anyone who walks into the building looking for help, in addition to Intensive Case Management, which requires joining a lengthy waitlist of people who wish to be paired with a social worker who can help them secure permanent housing. Both the court and services sides of DACC have made the city agency a critical player in the broader network of governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, and faith groups that make up the Austin-Travis County homelessness services system.

DACC relocation began in 2018 after staff learned the lease at 719 E. Sixth, the court's home for 20 years, would not be renewed; after studying 22 potential sites, staff recommended the Municipal Building early this year. Primarily, DACC needs a facility that can offer 22,000 square feet to support the court and service functions, and that is located within its jurisdictional boundary.

DAA has also pushed Council to examine ways in which the DACC service model can be improved. "We need to look at what the opportunities are for the court to operate very differently within the homeless services system," DAA Vice President of Investor Relations Bill Brice told the Chronicle in a recent interview. With an unprecedented level of funding for homelessness services coming to Austin and Travis County thanks to the American Res­cue Plan, Brice argues now is an opportune time to "rethink what the court should be."

This push from DAA has come as somewhat of a surprise to staff at DACC, who feel the roughly 35 individuals walking in for services on any given day and the 369 people placed into housing since 2015 are well served by the court's current model. Still, staff will consider potential changes, such as opening satellite locations around town and expanding the existing jurisdictional boundary for some offenses. Tovo and staff agree, though, that whatever changes are made, DACC must be headquartered Downtown, where most of the population of unhoused people it serves resides.

"Satellites should not be used instead of a home base," DACC Administrator Peter Valdez told Council at the March 24 meeting. "A home base is going to be necessary and it should be central and convenient for the population we are serving. We've always been Downtown. It is where people know we are located."

Mayor Steve Adler requested that, after staff has gathered more information, City Manager Spencer Cronk schedule a Council work session to discuss the matter. It is unclear when that meeting will occur, but it will include city staff as well as other affected stakeholders. "I want to hear from people who run the court and service providers about a permanent location before making a decision," the mayor told us.