December 2009
1 post
Law Enforcement Group Endorses Baker for County...
The East Texas Regional Fraternal Order of Police – Lodge #51 unanimously endorsed Smith County Judge Joel Baker for county judge during its regular meeting Saturday night.
“Joel Baker has demonstrated that he is a friend of law enforcement and valuable partner in keeping Smith County citizens safe,” said Adam Tarrant, president of the East Texas Regional FOP – Lodge #51. “Having a strong...
July 2009
1 post
Where did we go wrong?
Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning - Ben Stein
I Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late ! ! The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary. My confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas...
April 2009
1 post
dreams and dummies
Have you ever had a really good idea shot down by a dream-killer and hope-smasher? That’s what happened to me today.
I’ve been working on something for the past couple of months that would be BIG… at least it would be big in terms of the way I am now forced to think in the snail-paced world I now live in called “county government.” I have been excited. Another...
March 2009
3 posts
Advice Needed
I’m not griping, but yesterday I left the office after 7, ran to the grocery store to get something for my dear wife, and made it home at around 7:40. After I changed clothes, etc., I think I saw my kids for about 5 minutes before they went to bed (except for Griff - he being the youngest, gets special treatment for some reason, and he got to stay up with me for 30 minutes - which was...
Jail
I am sitting at the jail waiting for the imates to be brought up to the magistrate courtroom, and I was trying to think of something profound to blog about. News flash: I couldn’t come up with anything.
Needed Legislation
Senator Eltife has filed SB402 which has a lot of potential but needs to be tweaked. It could give counties and cities another tool for revenue by allowing a local option election to add 1/4 cent of sales tax revenue, but would require it to go toward property tax reduction and provide a revenue cap of 5%.
For Smith County residents that means it would give us an additional 7 to 8 million per...
February 2009
1 post
Just Venting...
Experienced inmates at the jail have a saying: “Keep my name outta your mouth.” An alternative phrase they use is, “I hope my name taste like _____ in your mouth.” While most of the time, I find that most people who spend a lot of time in the jail system lack wisdom (I mean, they are IN JAIL!), these quotes indicate a lot of wisdom.
My parents raised me to believe that...
January 2009
2 posts
updated story
http://www.ketknbc.com/news/debate-brewing-over-jail-bonds
What’s important to note is that I have granted very few requests for PR bonds out of more than 600 inmates I have seen in the last few months… very few fall into the categories mentioned by the bondsmen in the story. (More on that later.)
I think they specifically mentioned drug cases, burglaries, and felonies where the defendant is...
Debate with Bail Bondsman
To see the article online: http://www.ketknbc.com/news/debate-brewing-over-jail-bonds
“We’re seeing lots of cases of young, unstable people with drug charges, burglary charges, felonies, getting PR bonds,” Bobbitt said.
Since November 5th, I have seen more than 600 inmates, and of those I have released only 5 alleged misdemeanor drug offenders, 2 alleged nonviolent felony...
December 2008
4 posts
Additional Tuesday Update
It is 1:51 pm and I am still in court and hungry!!!
Weekly update
Tuesday, December 2nd:
Went to the jail for magistrate warnings which made me late for probate court. Began probate court at approximately 9:10 a.m. AND I AM STILL THERE!!! It is approximately 12:50 pm and I missed a noon lunch meeting. Then I have mental hearings at 1:30 pm, so I am wondering if I’ll be able to eat. After my mental hearings I have a 2:00 pm meeting about...
Fun Family Stuff
As I was preparing to leave yesterday for Judge Lemmert’s funeral, I received a call from school saying Coleman had injured himself on the playground. I jumped in the car and headed to the school, scooped him up and took him to the ER. After a couple of hours, he was stitched up - doing fine - feeling like a “tough guy.” Mom was out of town, so we called her to tell her of the...
i'm thankful for...
dustycraig:
god…never letting go, always loving, always there, always caring, so wise, so strong
family…so supportive, so fun, so special, so needed
friends…too funny, great listeners, great talkers :), moving partners, ministry partners
health…i can walk…i can breathe…i can do ministry
my job…they believe in me…watch out for me…let me fail…let me dream
my mac, iphone, tv, and xbox…they...
November 2008
6 posts
Tuesday the 25th cont’d:
I took Mallory to eat at Applebee’s because it’s close to Best Buy and she (and I) wanted to play the Wii again. We did. Afterwords I picked up the boys from my dad and we hung out for a while. We decided to all go to the office to get three of the old computers from the law office for them to use in the playroom. Then we went to Office Depot to get...
Latest Updates...
I have been slow to update over the past week so here goes:
Sunday the 16th:
Went to the jail at 8am and performed magistrate duties — reading legal rights and ensuring inmates understood their rights, etc. and setting bonds ascertaining that probable cause existed for the arrests (got to see the murder suspect from the events of Saturday). Then I ran home and picked up Coleman and...
The Week in Review
What a week! Glad it’s over!
Monday started it off with a bang. We had a Commissioners Court meeting, and I left the meeting frustrated. That feeling carried forward most of the week.
Tuesday was a county holiday in honor of Veteran’s Day, but the kids still had to go to school. I dropped them off at 7:30am, and drove by the courthouse on my way to the jail. As I passed the...
Enlightening Conversation
My wife had the following exchange with a younger co-worker today at work. I think it shows you that too many people voted without being properly educated. I take full responsibility for that failure.
Co-worker: Why do we need a new jail?
My lovely wife: Because we are spending 2.8 million dollars a year housing inmates in other counties. You voted the wrong way didn’t you?
...
TODAY IS THE DAY!
Well, we probably won’t have have all the results until late tonight, but today people will decide some extremely important elections on national, state and local levels. I certainly have some strong opinions with regard to the national arena, and especially with the presidential election (I support my party and my candidate!). However, one local election is extremely important to me and...
Another one from Dr. Stanley
November 4, 2008 God’s Three Answers to Prayer Matthew 7:7-11
Too often, believers view almighty God as a great cosmic Santa Claus in the sky: we think of our prayers not as petitions, but as demands. Then, if God does not grant our request, we’re thrown into a faith crisis, believing He no longer answers us. The real problem, however, is that we misunderstand the Lord’s three...
October 2008
8 posts
Great Information for Today!
Great Post from “In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley” — www.intouch.org
October 30 Spiritual Maturity Isaiah 48:10
The world’s way is to choose the strongest, most talented individuals to accomplish tasks. In contrast, the Lord often selects the weakest, who have nothing to offer except total reliance upon Him. And this dependency is what characterizes the mature in...
Note to self: "You wanted this job!"
This is not meant as entertainment for you. It is intended as therapy for me, so read or don’t read. Today is the day for, inter alia, Theodore Roosevelt quotes (and maybe some scripture too):
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” TR
“Courage...
Favorite Quotes of the Week
Following are the quotes that made me laugh this week. You may not get it, but these are funny… I don’t care who you are:
“She loses her broom at the first of the year.” - R.D.
“He’s going all ‘third grade’ on us!” - A.R.
Yes. These are inside jokes, and I wish I could share the details with you.
I hope you all have a wonderful...
CONSPIRACY THEORIES ABOUND
Okay… I admit it. I just couldn’t help myself. I looked at the ridiculouse website promulgated by the “group” of people opposed to the jail bond proposal. Let me just say, “wow!” I must really have a lot of time on my hands for all the cover-ups I have been accused of on their website.
Mr. Good of the law firm of Kent, Good Anderson and Bush seems to...
FAVORITE QUOTES FOR THE WEEK!
“That’s not a hill I’m willing to die on.” J. Fleming
“Someone licked the red off his candy.” H. Buie
Aren’t those great?
Watch your language!
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” Romans 12:14
What an appropriate verse for me for yesterday and today. Enough said.
“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” James 1:26
Hello!!! I said “enough said.”
“The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the...
Growing
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” - James 1:2-3 (New International Version)
As I left a meeting today, feeling extremely frustrated, I began thinking all sorts of negative thoughts. I came back to my office and sat down, turned on KVNE and cracked open my bible. I was initially going...
