I was Justice of the Peace for Williamson County, Texas Precinct 4 for one term. I replaced a 32 year Republican incumbent and worked to modernize the court.
But just what is it a Texas JP does? Well, we are kind of an odd duck in the Texas judiciary. We don’t have to be lawyers and over 95% of us are not. We see both criminal and civil cases, perform marriages, and most of us run death inquests.
Our criminal cases are primarily traffic violations – speeding, no driver’s license, no insurance and so on. About 98% of criminal cases fall into this category and my clerks take care of them at the window. Since these are fine-only offenses, folks pay their tickets, set up payment plans or ask for driver’s safety. The other 2% are things like public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia and simple assault. Generally, I’m only involved if they plead not guilty and request a trial.
Our civil docket consists of evictions, and small claims and debt claims valued at less than 20K. These cases take up the bulk of my court time.
JPs handle death inquests in Texas because out of 254 counties, only about 14 of them have county-operated medical examiner’s offices. Some use independent facilities, which includes Williamson County. The rest contract out with the dozen or so county offices that will assist.
