Sullivan City may appoint new free municipal judge

Sullivan City is considering appointing a new municipal judge who says she’ll work for free weeks after the city eliminated two paid judicial positions.

 

 

In early July, Sullivan City eliminated two municipal judge positions, a move the city says will save it $12,000 a year in salaries.

 

The city and the judges’ whose positions were eliminated all said Sullivan City can likely operate adequately with the city’s two remaining paid municipal judges.

 

The city’s new potential municipal judge, Audra Palacios Cruz, is willing to work for free in a backup capacity.

 

Cruz is the daughter of Hidalgo County District Attorney Toribio “Terry” Palacios and has served as a municipal judge in Elsa.

 

Mayor Sylvia Castillo describes Cruz’s addition as a no-brainer.

 

“She’s not gonna charge us anything, so she’s gonna be a backup,” Castillo said Wednesday.

 

Castillo declined to say how the city solicited Cruz’s services and City Manager Richard Ozuna said he wasn’t aware of how the city got in contact with Cruz or how she wound up as a prospective judge.

 

 

Cruz said the city called her about working for it and that she’s interested in doing the work for free.

 

“I really feel that it’s important that each city has a judge available to process,” she said.

 

Sullivan City hasn’t recently employed attorneys as municipal judges.

 

Cruz is an attorney. She hopes that will in some cases be an asset to the city.

 

“So there are things that judges that are not licensed attorneys cannot do,” she said. “For instance, sign blood warrants and things like that. So that really does come in handy, especially for public safety and things like that. Just to have that on hand.”

 

Sullivan City Council was supposed to discuss Cruz’s appointment at a meeting on Tuesday.

 

That meeting was cancelled.

 

Ozuna said it was canceled because three elected officials had out of town emergencies.