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Public commenters and candidates urge delay before court appoints interim Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4
Summary
Public commenters including a write-in candidate asked Bexar County Commissioners Court to remove or vote no on item 47, which would appoint an interim Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4 while a write-in candidacy and ballot-removal dispute remain unresolved; the court approved the appointment with Commissioner Moody recorded as abstaining.
The Bexar County Commissioners Court approved an amended consent motion that included appointing an interim Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4, but several public commenters urged the court to delay or reject that appointment until a disputed primary-ballot removal is resolved.
Dr. Veronica Brooks, who identified herself as a write-in candidate for Justice of the Peace Precinct 4, told the court she was removed from the primary ballot because of errors by the Bexar County Democratic Party, including incorrect names and birth dates and the exclusion of military voters. "They accidentally typed in wrong names, wrong birth dates and they left out my military people... they said I was 3 signatures short and they took out a 130 of my voters," Brooks said, urging the court to "remove or vote no on item number 47 and allow the voters to decide the election fairly."
Other speakers at the podium backed Brooks. Chuck Slaughter, organizer of the Black Independent Voters Association, said appointing a candidate who remains on the ballot would disenfranchise voters and asked the court to "remove that item 47 from the agenda or vote no against it." John Derek Perdue and Lehi Brooks likewise asked commissioners to delay or oppose the appointment so voters could decide the race.
Court members discussed the matter on the record and amended the consent motion to make the appointment effective May 1. Commissioner Moody said for the record he would abstain on item 47 because it concerned a Democratic primary and "with no Republican candidate, I don't think it's my place to weigh in on this, and I'll abstain." The court then voted on the amended motion, noted Moody's abstention, and the motion carried.
The court and staff also noted that the appointed person will still appear on the November ballot; several speakers highlighted that point as part of their arguments. The court did not reverse the appointment during this session and did not take additional action to reopen the ballot issue.
The immediate next procedural step is the implementation date change noted in the amended motion (appointment to take effect 05/01/2026); any legal challenges or further administrative remedies regarding the primary-ballot removal were not resolved during the meeting.
