Public Information Office
210 S. McDonald St. Suite 636
McKinney, TX  75069

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Leigh Hornsby
Public Information Officer
972-548-4772
publicrelations@co.collin.tx.us

November 4, 2003

Collin County Commissioners Court to appoint county court-at-law judge

(McKinney, TX) – The Collin County Commissioners Court will appoint a judge to County Court-at-Law #5. Judge Chris Oldner, who previously held the position, was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to the new 416th District Court. He was sworn into office on Friday.

Previously, the Commissioners Court voted to keep the county court-at-law position open until the March primary. Upon further consideration of the time period and the large case load, the Commissioners Court decided to make an appointment.

“It’s something we recognize needs to be done,” says Collin County Commissioner Jack Hatchell. “The case load is simply too large to delay this until March. But, we will move as quickly as we can.”

Applications for County Court-at-Law #5 are due to the county’s human resources department by 5 p.m., November 10th. Commissioners Jerry Hoagland and Joe Jaynes are developing a selection process and will submit it for further consideration during the next Commissioners Court session, set for November 11th. Finalists are to be submitted to the Commissioners Court on November 24th. And, the appointment will be made on December 9th.

“This will be a difficult process,” says Collin County Commissioner Jerry Hoagland, “but we determined that we do not have enough auxiliary judges to keep the case load moving until March.”

“We appreciate the leadership of State Senator Florence Shapiro and State Representative Brian McCall who helped create the new district court,” says Collin County Judge Ron Harris. “It will help support our growing population and relieve some of the case load currently managed by our other district judges. Now that Judge Oldner has moved from the County Court-at-Law to the District Court system, we realize that we need to take some immediate action.”

Whoever is appointed to the position will serve until at least November 2004. It is the hope and assumption of the Commissioners Court that whoever is appointed will run for election.

To qualify, the person must be licensed to practice law in Texas and must have been a practicing lawyer or a judge of a Texas court, or both combined, for four years. They must have also been a resident of Collin County for two years.

###