The Nueces County Commissioners Court voted Oct. 8 to close one of the county’s justice of the peace offices by the end of 2026.
When Precinct 1, Place 2 Justice of the Peace Henry Santana retires at the end of his term on Dec. 31, 2026, the office will be abolished. This will bring the number of justices of the peace in Nueces County down from nine to eight.
Justice of the peace courts hear small claims cases and some criminal misdemeanor cases when the punishment is a fine. They can perform marriages, issue warrants of search and arrest, conduct preliminary hearings and serve as an ex officio notary public.
About a dozen people spoke in opposition to abolishing the office during public comment, including former Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales. Commissioners Joe A. Gonzalez and John Marez both expressed concerns that the decision was made too quickly, without enough time for public engagement.
Precinct 1 is the only precinct in the county with three justices of the peace. A resolution submitted by Precinct 1 Commissioner Mike Pusley said a third JP position is “not required to adequately address the current workload in Justice Court, Precinct 1, or the anticipated workload for that precinct.”
The resolution also said getting rid of the position “is in the best interest of the citizens of Nueces County, and is for the convenience of the people.”
Pusley said that the closure of the court is based on finances, noting potential savings through the elimination of one justice of the peace salary.
“I just personally don’t believe we need nine JPs for a county of this size and the number of people that we have,” Pusley said.
Though Pusley is a Republican and Santana is a Democrat, Pusley said that he was not motivated by politics, which fellow commissioners affirmed.
Pusley referenced Republican state lawmakers’ action to limit property taxes, saying that the county needs to prepare for a “tremendous impact” on how the county does business.
“We’ve got to start looking at everything we can do to save money,” Pusley said.
Santana said he had heard about the possibility of his office closing “through the grapevine” at the county courthouse.
“Someone mentioned it to me down the hallway,” Santana told the Caller-Times before the commissioners voted. “I didn’t even know that was happening. I never received a notice or anything.”
He believed the office should stay open to continue serving more than 180,000 people in Precinct 1.
“It’s a people’s court,” said Santana, who was first elected in 1995. “We have people come every day wanting justice. To close one would make it so much harder on the other two judges. To close it would be detrimental.”
What to know about justices of the peace in Nueces County
Nueces County residents might encounter a justice of the peace during traffic cases, landlord and tenant disputes and truancy cases.
The county’s current justices are spread across five precincts, with courts scattered across Corpus Christi from Calallen to Flour Bluff, as well as in Port Aransas, Bishop, Robstown and Agua Dulce.
Precinct 1 serves residents from Calallen to Corpus Christi Bay, including portions of Corpus Christi such as the Westside, North Beach, downtown and parts of the Southside. Santana works out of the Nueces County Courthouse alongside Precinct 1, Place 1 Justice of the Peace Joe Benavides.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Brent Chesney said that he does not believe the closure will inconvenience residents because the Precinct 1, Place 2 court is in the same location as another court.
Benavides also attended the Commissioners Court meeting, stating that justice of the peace court clerks are overwhelmed and underpaid and that he had questions about how the workload would be divided.
Ahead of the vote, Pusley shared data he had collected on the justice of the peace courts, noting that Benavides’ Precinct 1 court had already closed nearly 5,400 cases during the 2024-25 budget year as of Sept. 24, shortly before the fiscal year ended. Santana’s office had closed nearly 1,700, while fellow Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Lucy Rubio had closed just over 1,000 from her Calallen court.
“I think there’s ample opportunity for, if we do away with the 1-2 court, for us to easily pick up the load,” Pusley said, adding later that he believes the clerks from the Precinct 1, Place 2 court could be reassigned to other justice of the peace offices and county offices.
Precinct 2, Place 1 Justice of the Peace Jo Woolsey, located in the Southside, has closed nearly 6,600 cases, and Precinct 2, Place 2 Justice of the Peace Thelma Rodriguez has closed close to 2,400, according to Pusley’s data.
Other rural courts are closing fewer cases, including Bishop’s Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Larry Lawrence and Port Aransas Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Dustin Neblett Jr. However, these courts are positioned to serve remote areas, with a geographic necessity despite their low caseloads, Pusley said.
There are differences in the types of cases each justice of the peace court serves. Some rural courts handle a high percentage of traffic cases, and parks and wildlife cases are more common at the Port Aransas court than other area justice of the peace courts.
Along with Rodriguez, Santana handles a high percentage of truancy cases, commissioners stated.
Nueces County Judge Connie Scott said that she was at first surprised when Pusley pitched the idea of closing the court, but her research led her to support the motion. Scott listed several Texas counties with a larger population than Nueces County but fewer justices of the peace, including Hidalgo, Travis, Tarrant, Bexar and El Paso counties.
Before running for Commissioners Court, Gonzalez served as a justice of the peace for nine years. Gonzalez said that he doesn’t believe the closure will result in big savings and that having two justices of the peace at the courthouse, a significant county location, is more convenient for the people.
Marez agreed with the other commissioners on many points, including that Nueces County has too many justices of the peace, but expressed that this decision was too rushed, a sentiment echoed by Gonzalez.
Marez said that the commissioners need to take a “big picture” look at the issue, calling for a comprehensive study of the precincts.
In response to Marez’s comments, Pusley amended his initial motion to close the justice of the peace office to include a line directing the county to “use the next 12 months to study how we will work to make our JP courts more efficient and to prepare for the possible future court closings or consolidations, all for the benefit of our taxpayers and constituents.”
After a split vote on closing the court, which passed with three in favor, the full court voted unanimously to form a committee with Pusley and Gonzalez participating to review justice of the peace courts.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Nueces County to close a justice of the peace court by 2027
Reporting by Olivia Garrett and John Oliva, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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