Six months into serving as Levelland’s Municipal Court Judge, Esmeralda Rowand has leaned on her 24 years of experience in the department to help her find her stride.
Serving as the department's clerk for 24 years, Rowand has been introduced to the majority of the day-to-day responsibilities a municipal court judge is responsible for.
“A lot of this stuff is not new to me because of the time I have spent in this office and now I can simply sign my name being the judge,” said Rowand. “My time in this position has been great and I have really enjoyed it.”
One responsibility she has been getting used to is magistrations.
One week out of every five weeks, Rowand will make a visit to the Hockley County Jail every day to magistrate the individuals that get arrested.
There is a rotation between the Hockley County JP’s (Justice of the Peace) and the fifth week is Rowand’s responsibility.
“That is something new that I'm still learning,” explained Rowand. “When it is my turn there is a little stress but I'm getting through it.”
Rowand added that the process includes reading the individuals who were arrested their rights and will set a bond if a bond has not already been set.
“I have to let the people know what they were arrested for and what the bond amount is,” said Rowand. “If there are individuals that get arrested the night before, depending on what the charge is I have to set the bond and I also have to set bond conditions.”
Rowand highlighted that every case is different.
Rowand noted that the judges from Sundown, Ropes and Anton are required to make a trip to the jail to conduct their magistrations. However, she has informed the judges that if the charge is a simple Class C misdemeanor such as public intoxication, she does not mind going to the jail to read the individual's rights and set the bond.
She added that she is also responsible for setting bond conditions for each individual case depending on what the charge is.
Calling the process a learning experience, Rowand has to figure out what is an appropriate bond amount to keep the community safe but also provide the opportunity to the individual to attempt to bond out.
“That is the catch-22 when it comes to that,” said Rowand.
A particular aspect Rowand enjoys about the role is seeing the juveniles that visit her office and trying to help those individuals from committing more infractions.
“For juveniles, the infractions usually have to do with traffic,” said Rowand. “I am trying to get them to understand that, yes, we all make mistakes but let's not keep making the same mistake all the time.”
Some instances could be encouraging an 18-year-old to get their license because they could be putting themselves in a worse spot being pulled over for not having a license which usually includes not having insurance.
In her 20-plus years of experience as the court clerk, Rowand has become well acquainted with community members who visit City Hall to pay their utilities.
She explained that if she noticed a familiar face who had warrants, she would encourage that individual to take care of their business.
“I'm not the judge that is going to try to put an individual in jail if they have a warrant,” said Rowand. “Come talk to me. I will work out something with you, but if you get arrested you have had time and chances.”
Rowand added that the office sends letters to the individuals with tickets to let them know they have business they need to take care of. From there, if a warrant is issued another letter is sent.
“I just want everybody to do what they are supposed to,” said Rowand. “If they do that our docket gets cleared, cases get cleared and tickets do not sit for long periods of time.”
She has noticed that there are some kids who have no idea about the process because their parents take care of everything.
“If you are 17-years-old you should be able to come talk to me,” explained Rownad. “You can bring a parent. I don't have a problem with that and there are kids between 17 years-old and 21years-old that come with their parents. However, have the kid who is responsible for their actions talk to me.'
At the beginning of March, the department took part in the Texas Court Case Resolution Campaign. Rowand explained that there were a lot of people who took care of their tickets.
With a new police chief and sheriff in place, Rowand added that talks have been had to pick up some individuals who have Class C warrants.
“It does not have to be everyone with a Class C warrant, but there are some people that know that they have warrants and they come in to pay the water bill don't come see me,” said Rowand. “We have got to start being responsible for the choices we make. So, I think we will eventually start picking up people for just Class C warrants.”
Rowand added that there are alternative options if an individual does not have money. Community service is an option and there are also indigent options for those who qualify.
Rowand’s scope of offenses she is responsible for include traffic violations, public intoxication, minors in consumption, minor in possession, theft under $100, code enforcement tickets and junk vehicles.
For public intoxication offenses, those individuals will be automatically arrested as it is an arrestable offense.
Minors in possession of tobacco is one of the bigger issues Rowand is facing as vape’s have become more common.
Curfew is something that is not enforced anymore as it has been repealed following state legislation.
Currently, the JP’s office handles truancy cases but there is a possibility Rowand’s office will also handle those situations.
“When I was a clerk, we used to handle those cases but back in the day it was not truancy, it was called failure to attend school and it was a criminal offense,” explained Rowand. “Now that it's called truancy, it's more of a civil issue, but it still depends on where the school would like to go if it is a municipal or JP issue.
Rowand is currently researching and discussing the topic with other courts to see how their processes work.
In the spirit of learning, Rowand has been impressed by her new clerk Maria Vasquez who started in November.
Through Vasquez’s hard work, she has caught up with warrants that were needing to be addressed.
Additionally, she has created her own system which has streamlined sending letters to individuals who have outstanding tickets and warrants.
Officers issuing tickets give the individual 14 days to take care of their tickets.
On the following day, a letter is being sent to the individual if they did not pay their ticket. If the individual does not show on the 15 day, Hernandez will allow between 14 and 21 days before it becomes a warrant.
Rowand also noted that if an individual says they did not receive their letter, it could be because the individual does not reside at the address that is on their license.
“What they don't understand is whatever address they have on their driver’s license is what we have,” explained Rowand. “If they move and they don't change their driver's license we're still sending it to the old address. We don't know that you moved.
For those who would like to dispute their tickets, pre-trial dockets are still being held.