The Jefferson County District Attorney’s office in the Subcourthouse in Port Arthur isn’t completely closing. It’s not staying open all of the time either.

District Attorney Bob Wortham said there are no plans to close the Port Arthur Office. Due to a budgetary crunch, however, the department doesn’t have enough people to go around and use of the office will be limited.

“I met with the different law enforcement agencies yesterday (in Mid- and South County),” Wortham said. “The office will stay opened. It will be staffed when needed. We will come there.”

He added that someone can meet with law enforcement officials at the Subcourthouse office in an emergency situation in 30 minutes.

Wortham said he tried to get additional resources for his department, but the county is broke and he didn’t think it was right to request the additional funds when other departments were in the same boat.

The D.A.’s office has four prosecutors available, and a lawyer and a secretary can be sent to Port Arthur.

“We definitely want to take care of Port Arthur,” he said.

The D.A. office at the Subcourthouse will predominately take care of Port Arthur law enforcement officials. Mid-County will use the office in Beaumont.

The Beaumont office, likewise, can be called to file cases on an as-needed basis. The two employees in the Port Arthur office will be transferred to Beaumont.

“There’s so much more work to do in Beaumont,” Wortham said. “It will be business as usual. We’re not abandoning Port Arthur.”

Michael “Shane” Sinegal, Precinct 3 commissioner, said he spoke with the D.A. who assured him anytime Port Arthur needs an A.D.A., they will be there.

He added that the two workers in the Port Arthur office had enough work to do and should not have been transferred to Beaumont. Also, Patrick Melvin, Port Arthur Police departmental head, said the officers he spoke with wanted to deal with the Beaumont office.

Melvin issued a statement that he has met with the D.A.’s office twice and the situation has been worked out.

Sinegal, however, said the detectives and investigators he spoke with said it will take more time to travel to Beaumont to do paperwork with them not being on the streets.

The office transition would happen the first of the year and be a satellite office for the D.A.

The D.A.’s office takes half of the Subcourthouse’s side on the first floor, and Sinegal would like that space for other uses if downsized. The office has been in the building since 1930.

“I’m always against Port Arthur citizens having to go to Beaumont to take care of their business. I will always fight for South County,” he said.

Marc DeRouen, Precinct 2 justice of the peace, said he was disappointed to hear the office may be closing because it has been in existence for quite some time.

Darrell Bush, Nederland Police chief, said his department will be filing in Beaumont fulltime.

“It will be an improvement for us because now if we have a case filed that day, and the one lawyer in Port Arthur to review the case is tied up with something else, we can now get it reviewed,” he said. “There’s always lawyers in Beaumont.”

Bush said several years ago, NPD did go to Beaumont for paperwork until a mutual system was established for them to use Port Arthur.

“It has nothing personal to do with Port Arthur; it’s because there’s a lack of personnel there,” he said.

David Ball: 409-721-2427