Missi Walden has served as justice of the peace for Precinct 2 since May, 2018, when she was elected to fill the position that had been vacant for five months. That vacancy may be the cause of the case backlog that some have complained about. During the nearly year long interruption of the courts by Covid, criminal cases could not be conducted through Zoom as they require a jury.
Since traffic citations are considered criminal, the backlog grew.
Missi has been accused of being inaccessible at her office, but while I worked as a clerk for a local law firm during the first two years of Missi’s tenure, I visited the courthouse frequently and always found Missi to be on the job.
Prior to being elected to the JP office, she served as court coordinator for the 244th and the 161st courts for a period of 14 years.
Mrs. Walden has had approximately 280 hours of training, at county expense, to enhance her performance
in the office of JP. Do we want to throw away this costly training and start over again?
Recently, while attending the regional conference of the West Texas Justices of the Peace and Constables Assn., Missi put forth a bid for the 2022 Conference of the JP’s and Constables to be held in Odessa. The Association voted in favor of her bid and the expected economic impact to our community will be approximately $85,000.
Thanks, Missi Walden, for your service as JP Pct. 2, and for your efforts on behalf of all of Ector County.
You’ve got my vote!
Jolene Hawkins
Via email
