No matter where you live in Smith County, a Justice of the Peace works for YOU!

Job Description for Justices of the Peace:

• Preside Over Justice Courts: handling minor civil cases, small claims, foreclosure of mortgages, enforcement of liens, animal control cases, and Class C misdemeanors, such as traffic violations.
• Conduct Hearings: including truancy, eviction cases, debt claims, and small claims disputes.
• Issue Warrants: authority to issue search and arrest warrants, as well as emergency protective orders; conduct bail examinations (magistrate) for arrested individuals.
• Act as Coroner: In counties without a medical examiner, JPs serve as coroners, conducting death investigations and ordering autopsies when necessary.
• Perform Marriages: authorized to conduct marriage ceremonies, making them a common choice for couples seeking to marry. (optional duty)
• Administer Oaths: They can administer oaths and affirmations in various legal contexts, further extending their role in the judicial process.

Video Viewing Tips:

Listen carefully to the answers regarding office hours. We increasingly receive complaints from citizens across Smith County about Justice of the Peace offices being closed all week during Christmas, at noon, and/or closing before 5PM on weekdays. This is a public service job. It exists to serve the people — many of whom have their own jobs and limited hours to take off. For the two races with incumbents – JP 2 and JP 4, you decide if the current officeholder’s answer is sufficient, or if a change is needed.  Also note what they say about the backlog of cases they have in their courts since COVID-19.  Folks, that was FIVE years ago! 

Listen carefully for answers about the $8,000 JP pay raises.

On 10/1/25, a pay increase took effect for the JPs.  This increase DID NOT go through the normal Commissioners Court public budget process like all other spending requests.  Instead, the JPs landed an $8,000 backdoor pay increase.  The salary of a Smith County Justice of the Peace is now $92,249.  Listen carefully to what the incumbents had to say about the pay raises.

The Commissioners Court should NEVER have approved an $8,000 pay raise for the JPs without public discussion of the productivity of each office and sufficient notice to the public. The incumbents should have appeared before the entire Commissioners Court (not just to the unelected budget officer and the County Judge) to make their case.  Such backdoor, backroom conspiracies are — at a minimum — unethical. Commissioner Drewry tried to put the brakes on long enough for the JPs to come before the Court to make their case, but the other three Commissioners and the County Judge wouldn’t support her citizen-first transparency effort.