The Hays County Commissioners Court filled the county Court-at-Law No. 3 vacancy during Tuesday’s meeting.
The court selected Daniel O’Brien in a 3-2 vote, with County Judge Ruben Becerra and Commissioner Debbie Ingalsbe voting against his nomination. The move to appoint O’Brien came despite overwhelming support through public comment and favor from members of the commissioners court for Judge Linda Rodriguez.
“I want to say that I am a big personal fan of Judge Linda Rodriguez,” said Commissioner Walt Smith, who made the motion to nominate O’Brien to the position. “I anticipate bringing back another agenda item, after discussion, more prolonged discussions with members of the county court-at-law, to possibly create an associate position there … or provide some additional funding relative to a visiting judgeship because I think that folks like Judge Rodriguez, with her expertise, would be helpful to have additional bodies to try to assess the backlog that we have over the next 18 months as well given covid.”
