A Republican Candidates Forum, organized by the Brown County Republican Party, took place Tuesday evening at Victory Life Church. The three-plus hour event featured introductory and closing comments, along with question-and-answer sessions, with candidates for Brown County Judge, County Commissioner in Precincts 2 and 4, and Justice of the Peace in Precincts 3 and 4.
The following are the excerpts from the questions answered by Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 candidates Rusty Howell, Andre Smoot, H.Q. Thomas, and incumbent Ted Perez.
Rusty Howell
What are the duties of the Justice of the Peace?
Class C misdemeanors, disputes between tenants and landlords, civil disputes, truancy, inquires, and by the way, we can marry people. Abut with what’s going on in our world, and we’ve been in a place we’ve never been before, we need to have some leaders that a look at the entire situation, both sides, and objectively, compassionately evaluate it. Even though we heard there’s a winner and a loser, I don’t know, what about having a common ground? Maybe there’s a win-win for both and explore something a little bit different. Again, I think bringing compassion to whatever the situation is, but gather all the information and make an informed decision.
Do you think a background in law enforcement is needed for the job of Justice of the Peace?
I don’t think it’s necessary because it if was it should have been written in the requirements. But I do believe in having experience and communicating with people is a very important thing. My background in being to assess and environment and gather all the data and really come up and make an intelligent decision about the situation, I spent my whole life doing that in the military and through my professional care. One thing I believe I bring to the table is I’m not trained like these gentlemen, and I so respect what they’ve gone through … but what I bring is a fresh prospective about what’s right for the people and what’s right for both parties and come up with a really good solution that would hopefully be a win-win. But if not, you make the tough decisions.
Do you believe being a JP is a full-time position? If not, do you have time to devote to the office?
It’s definitely a full-time job. You’re on call 24/7, you have to be able to respond. Yes, I will absolutely make myself available 24/7 to respond to the needs as required. Again, all of this is a team effort. All of this doesn’t rest on one individual. It’s literally the other JPs, the courthouse, everybody working together to make a difference in our community.
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Andre Smoot
What are the duties of the Justice of the Peace?
I’ve created a nice flier on the table outside that gives you a breakdown of different duties that JPs do. Everything that you’ve heard here, and others say is correct. They also do magistrate processes for incarcerated inmates. Everybody’s got their set date that they go each morning to set bonds for people who have been jailed. There’s a lot of different other things.
Do you think a background in law enforcement is needed for the job of Justice of the Peace?
I believe a background in law enforcement is definitely needed here. It will assist you when you come into this job, to do this job. I think it’s one more step to make you be more efficient at the job without having to have so much training. They provide training for you when you do get in, and it’s good to have continuing education throughout your career.
Do you believe being a JP is a full-time position? If not, do you have time to devote to the office?
Yes, I do believe I do believe it’s a full-time position. I actually have that as a campaign slogan on my campaign billboards over there – full-time. Just to reiterate, you don’t get full training when you go to judge school. I believe if you’re not hearing cases at the courthouse, you should be training or studying for the case that you might have next week. If you’re not handling a case, you can always train while you’re at the courthouse working.
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H.Q. Thomas
What are the duties of the Justice of the Peace?
One of the main things, when he talked about setting bond or bail, is being fair. Plus, you have to read on warantless arrests, probable cause statements that officer’s write. You have to make sure probable cause exists to make that arrest. That’s the first decision you have to make before you can set bail. With signing arrest warrants and search warrants, you have to know probable cause. I know because I teach it at Howard Payne and I also know it because I’ve written hundreds of arrest warrants and hundreds or search warrants. You have the Class C misdemeanors you preside over, the traffic, the driver’s license, landlord-tenant disputes, civil cases up to to $20,000, which is what we call small claims or people’s court, and you may even hear truancy cases at times.
Do you think a background in law enforcement is needed for the job of Justice of the Peace?
I really do believe law enforcement is a great background to become Justice of the Peace. Not only do you work diligently work with them and for them, but it’s also just almost common to have that background or attorneys at times. Also, having worked homicide these death inquests are very important. You don’t ever want to miss one and not do an autopsy because if you do, you’re way behind in trying to get the right person if it was a homicide. Also, in family violence, those protective orders are very important. I’m very passionate about helping victims of domestic violence. I have a bachelor’s degree in Criminology from the University of Texas-Permian Basin. I also attended the FBI national academy where we were taught leadership and how to get people to move in certain directions.
Do you believe being a JP is a full-time position? If not, do you have time to devote to the office?
I certainly do believe it’s a full-time position. I think it’s 24/7. If you’re in town, you ought to go. You have to go. Not just to death scenes, but you need to be available to sign officer’s search warrants, arrest warrants when they’re needed, it’s an ever-evolving thing. Having been in law enforcement and been on 24 hour calls for many, many years, it’s nothing new to me. I think we ought to be available at all times any we’re in the county, and my phone’s always on.
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Ted Perez
What are the duties of the Justice of the Peace?
It’s to hear cases that are small claims cases, and the limit is $2,500 dollars, debt claim cases, death inquests or death investigations, magistrate arrestees that have been incarcerated in the jail, and also help people, let them know we are there to help them in any way we can. In any case, there’s always going to be a winner and a loser, so the Justice you have to pick, you have to listen to the facts, you have to talk to them and find out exactly where they stand, what they say and what they do, and then make hopefully an intelligent decision and the right decision. I am impartial, I do not take sides in any case whatsoever.
Do you think a background in law enforcement is needed for the job of Justice of the Peace?
It’s necessary under the Constitution, but it is an asset because it does help us. Law enforcement experience does train your mind in how to look for things, how to look at things, how to be impartial in whatever decision that you make, whether it’s to arrest somebody or not to arrest them. The same thing applies for the cases we handle on a daily basis. You have to look at that, you have to show compassion, you have to show sympathy, and you have to do what’s right. The law is very black and white.
Do you believe being a JP is a full-time position? If not, do you have time to devote to the office?
It is a full-time position, it’s 24/7, 40 hours a week, including weekends. You’re always on call. When you’re not hearing cases and even when you’re hearing cases you get a call that we have to go on a inquest. You have to go. You can recess the cases being heard if everyone is in agreement. It is full-time, there’s no two ways about it, 24/7. Dispatch has our phone numbers at home, both mine and my wife in case I don’t hear mine, and when we get that call, we go. We don’t hesitate, we do what needs to be done.
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More information on each candidate can be found at Candidates | Brownwood News
To watch the forum in its entirety, click the following link: Candidates Forum Live Stream | (koxe.com)