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Dimmit County justice court judge says donations in lieu of fines legal but raises ethics questions
Summary
Justice of the Peace Sonia Guerrero Perez told the Dimmit County Commissioners Court on July 14 that her office's practice of allowing donations or community-service conditions in deferred dispositions is legal, but county officials and the court's legal advisers urged caution over possible judicial-conduct and record implications.
Justice of the Peace Sonia Guerrero Perez told the Dimmit County Commissioners Court on July 14 that her office's practice of allowing donations or community-service conditions in deferred dispositions is legal, but county officials and the court's legal advisers urged caution over possible judicial-conduct and record implications.
Perez, who presented the monthly JP Precinct 1 report, said she had consulted the Texas Justice Court Training Center and the attorney general's office and would provide written guidance to commissioners. She said community-service and donation options are intended to help people who cannot afford fines and that her office runs three such charity-driven events a year in addition to ordinary case processing.
County Attor…
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