The 1914 Crosby County Courthouse, a Georgian Styled Classical Revival Structure©2013 Chuck Lanehart

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Vol. 21, No. 5; February 4, 2013

eMail: gsreports@texindbar.orgPublished By

Texas Independent Bar AssociationAustin, Texas 78767

Web Page: www.texindbar.org

Copyright © 2013 Texas Independent Bar Association and the following Commentators

Alan CurryHelena FaulknerJeffrey S. GaronLee Haidusek

John G. JasutaCharles Mallin

Gail Kikawa McConnellAngela J. Moore

Doug O’BrienGreg Sherwood

David A. SchulmanKevin P. Yeary

Clicking a hyperlink (such as a judge’s name) will load the linked opinionor document in your web browser.

It is TIBA’s policy that commentators do not summarize or comment oncases in which they were involved.

Volume 21, Number 5 ~ Monday, February 4, 2013 (No. 946)

TIBA’s Texas Law Reporter - Vol. 21, No. 5 - February 4, 2013 - Page 3

Chuck Lanehart is ashareholder in theLubbock f i rm ofChappell, Lanehart &Stangl, PC. A 1977graduate of Texas TechUniversity School ofLaw, he is boardcertified in the field ofCriminal Law by theTexas Board of Legal

Specialization. Chuck served as director of theState Bar of Texas and as president of theLubbock County Bar Association. He was thefounding editor in 1987 of LCBA's monthlypublication, The Lubbock Law Notes. A formerdirector of the Texas Criminal DefenseLawyers Association, Chuck was awardedTCDLA's President's Commendation for"Outstanding Service to the Citizen Accused"and the President's Award for service to theTCDLA Strike Force. Chuck is a chartermember and former president of the LubbockCriminal Defense Lawyers Association. TexasMonthly magazine has named him a "SuperLawyer" in the field of criminal law. He haspublished several articles about legal historyin various publications. In 2008, Chuck wasnamed among the "200 Most InfluentialPeople in the History of Lubbock" by theLubbock Avalanche-Journal. See Chuck’swebsite: www.lubbockcriminaldefense.com.

CLICK HERE to see Chuck Lanehart’sIntroduction to his West Texas CourthouseSeries, The Good, the Bad and the Butt-Ugly.

Featured Article

The Crosby County Courthouse © 2013 - Chuck Lanehart

This article was originally published in the Lubbock Area BarAssociation publication, The Lubbock Law Notes.

Used by permission.

iiijj

The Crosby County Courthouse is classy,

but certainly not fancy. The structure seems

adequate to meet the needs of most county

business, but not necessarily the law business.

It could use, and deserves, big money from the

Texas Historic Preservation Program, but

renovation and preservation are not urgent

concerns. I give the courthouse Three Stars

(on a scale of one to five), and here’s why.

The Crosby County Courthouse is

intriguing, partly because it is the only

courthouse I know that is positioned whomper-

jawed, facing northeast (as opposed to one of

the single-syllable directions). Also, there’s a

fine town square in the county seat, Crosbyton,

but the courthouse is not on it.1 There’s a

legend that the District Courtroom originally

featured a classic “To Kill a Mockingbird”

balcony hidden above the current dropped-tile

ceiling, but no one seems to be able to verify this - it’s probably a myth. Completed in 1914, it

is one of the oldest courthouses on the South Plains, producing some tidbits of very interesting

history.2

1 The courthouse is located on the southwest corner of Berkshire and Aspen Streets. As I've writtenbefore, if the courthouse is not to be found on 1st Street, or Broadway, or Main, it has been misplaced.

2 The courthouse dates from 1914, making it older than all South Plains Courthouses except theDickens County Courthouse, erected in 1898. The Hale County Courthouse of 1910 still stands, but

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72nd District Court - Crosbyton, Texas

Architects describe the Crosby County Courthouse as “an elegantly simple Georgian

styled Classical Revival structure.” One look at this building is proof evident that it is The

County Courthouse. Big columns are featured out front, with lots of concrete and bricks, and

a bold entryway with wide steps. The courthouse grounds are graced by a medium-sized

Bermuda lawn, with a few scraggly elms. There’s a historical marker and an outstanding

veteran’s memorial, featuring nine granite obelisks that pay tribute to Crosby County heros who

died in service to our country. A tiny oak tree thrives near the northeast corner of the

courthouse grounds. I’m told this tree originated from an acorn of the Treaty Oak in Austin.3

Courthouse parking is no problem, even when large jury panels are summoned.

The interior of the courthouse is utilitarian, with no ornamentation, no marble, and

linoleum tile floors. Crosby County officials – Clerk, Judge, Treasurer, Attorney – occupy the

first floor, with the District Clerk’s Office on the second floor adjacent to the District Courtroom,

which doubles as the County Courtroom when the County Judge has need for major litigation.

The District Judge also has a small second-floor office, but it’s mostly used for storage, since the

72nd District Judge is based in Lubbock.4

The District Courtroom has a

certain country charm, starting with

two walls of vintage photographs of

all the District and County Judges

who have served Crosby County.

Gallery seating space is not quite

adequate, with room for less than a

hundred jurors and/or spectators on

wooden pews. A row of windows

provides good natural lighting for

the courtroom from behind the

bench, and the attorney’s arena is

large and wide, with modest oak

most legal business is now conducted in a remodeled Sears & Roebuck building. The Swisher CountyCourthouse (1909) and the Scurry County Courthouse (1911) are also older, but the original trappingsof both buildings are now unrecognizable, entombed behind modern slabs of granite or brick.

3 The Treaty Oak is a once-majestic Southern live oak, the last surviving member of the Council Oaks,a grove of 14 trees that served as a sacred meeting place for Comanche and Tonkawa Tribes. Expertsestimate the tree to be about 500 years old and, before its vandalism in 1989, the tree's branches hada spread of 127 feet. It is located in Treaty Oak Park, on Baylor Street between 5th and 6th Streets.

4 For judicial purposes, Lubbock County was originally annexed to Crosby County, the first county tobe organized on the South Plains in 1886. The other counties attached to Crosby County were Bailey,Lamb, Hale, Floyd, Motley, Dickens, Hockley and Cochran.

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tables and leather-padded oak chairs for lawyers, litigants and jurors. Money from drug

seizures paid for a decent public address system and other modern electronic amenities.

The restrooms are quite a story. The Crosby County Courthouse has a long and notorious

history of lavatory inadequacy. Between 1939 and 1941, Crosby County officials recognized

that the courthouse had too few toilets, so they commissioned the construction of two new

freestanding buildings on the courthouse grounds. One restroom building was designated for

white males, the other for “colored.” Restrooms inside the courthouse apparently were reserved

for white women, but it is not clear where black women were consigned. The segregated

restrooms still exist as storage facilities on the courthouse grounds, but the racist signs

designating “colored” finally faded away. Today, the few restrooms that exist in the courthouse

are all small and hard to find. Some have been commandeered by county officials and deemed

“private.” When a large panel of jurors is summoned for duty, breaks must be extended to

compensate for long waits to use the restrooms.

There are a couple of nooks and crannies in the courthouse basement that might be

appropriated for lawyer-client conferences and general privacy.5 Otherwise, the Crosby County

Courthouse is not very lawyer-friendly. I’ve heard few complaints concerning the heating and

cooling of the Crosby County Courthouse, as the building has been retro fitted for almost all

modern amenities.

The history of Crosby County and its courthouse could fill a small shelf of books.6 The

courthouse was located at Crosbyton only after a series of sometimes violent political skirmishes

that saw Crosby County first established at Estacado, and later at Emma. Allegations of

courthouse arson and county records thefts were rampant during these provincial wars among

the far-flung county towns. The architect of the 1914 Crosby County Courthouse, M.L. Waller,

was a student of the Prairie Style of architecture, invented by the American icon Frank Lloyd

Wright.

On May 14, 1923, two criminal defendants were shot dead awaiting trial for attempted

murder, as they sat on the Crosby County Courthouse steps. The shooter and complainant, the

aptly named D.L. “Poppin” Payne of Ralls, fired eight rounds from his .45 caliber pistol into the

bodies of Maud Rippy and J. Sweaza of Dimmitt. A third defendant, Dick Rippy, locked himself

in the men’s room until Payne could be captured. Payne had reportedly survived at least two

prior attempts on his life by the Rippys and Sweaza. The trouble apparently stemmed from a

contentious game of poker.

Crosby County is one of a few South Plains counties that have made a serious attempt

to take advantage of funding from the Texas Courthouse Preservation Program.7 The county

5 The Crosby County Courthouse once housed the Crosby County Jail in the courthouse basement.

6 The Crosby County Historical Museum on the town square in Crosbyton is an outstanding place. Gothere and find out.

7 Texas Historic Preservation Program: http://www.thc.state.tx.us/courthouses/chdefault.shtml.

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Crosby County officials authorized construction ofsegregated restroom buildings between 1939 and 1941.

applied for and received about $200,000 from the State in 2000, almost all of which went to

architects and engineers for preliminary research to recommend more funding for preservation

and renovation. Because the program required qualifying counties to provide matching funds,

Crosby County opted out of the estimated three million-dollar price-tag to fund recommended

courthouse improvements.

The juxtaposition of the

Crosby County Courthouse, Crosby

County Jail, and the residence of the

Crosby County Sheriff is special.

Few West Texas communities opted

to locate the courthouse, the jail and

the residence of the High Sheriff on

the courthouse grounds. The 1926

Crosby County Jail stands just west

of the Crosby County Courthouse,

adjoining the 2044-square-foot

Sheriff’s personal residence.8

Finally, I must comment on

the character of the people who have

occupied the Crosby County Courthouse. My lawyer memory dates from 1977, when Denzil

Bevers was 72nd District Judge, covering Lubbock and Crosby Counties. I tried my first felony

case with Judge Bevers on the bench, and he remains one of my favorite people. At age 89, he

has as sharp a wit as anyone I know, he’s a connoisseur of country music, and he is a kind and

gentle man. Blair Cherry followed Denzil as 72nd District Judge. He was a former Lubbock

County District Attorney, and therefore I expected the worst from Blair. As it turned out, Blair

proved to be one of the brightness judges ever to occupy the Crosby County Courthouse, with

one with the best judicial temperaments anywhere. Joe Heflin practiced law in Lubbock County

for many years, but eventually escaped to become a very popular and dedicated Crosby County

Judge. He then fell into disrepute as a member of the Texas Legislature (a Democrat!), but

those of us who know him still think he’s okay. Crosby County Attorney (with felony

jurisdiction) Mike Ward and I were law school friends and classmates. He became a Crosby

County prosecutor about 30 years ago, and at every opportunity he has kicked my butt in court.

Despite his mean streak, Mike’s a great guy, and he helped me research this article. Thanks,

Mike.

8 The jail was renovated and expanded in 1965 and again in 1984.

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