Newly elected and re-elected county official take oaths

Hays County Courthouse, San Marcos, TX – Following a private, official swearing-in minutes after midnight on Jan. 1, County Judge Ruben Becerra held a second-ceremonial oath-taking in front of the public on Jan. 2 at the Hays County Courthouse, becoming the first Hispanic County Judge in Hays County history. 

He was joined by new County Clerk Dr. Elaine Cardenas, who was also sworn in by Judge Linda Rodriguez. City of Kyle Councilmember District 6 Daphne Tenorio welcomed the overflow crowd to the public ceremony in the Commissioners Courtroom.

After being sworn in, Becerra swore-in Justice of the Peace Precinct 5 Scott Cary, who was re-elected to office, and then addressed attendees. “I am grateful for the privilege to be working for the residents of Hays County,” Becerra said. “I will forever be humbled. Thank you for your vote of confidence.” Joining him as staff are Alex Villalobos as Chief of Staff and Anita Collins as Executive Assistant.

Becerra is the owner of Gill’s Broiler & Manske Roll Bakery in San Marcos, and has served in the San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission, Arts Commission, Parks and Recreation Board, San Marcos CISD Bond Oversight Committee, Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos, Gary Job Corps Community Relations Council, San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, and Texas Bobcat Athletic Foundation.  

In his personal life, Becerra recently celebrated his 26th wedding anniversary with his wife, Monica Mendez Becerra. They have two children, Cristian and Ruben Jr. Ruben Jr., is presently serving as student body President at Texas State University. 

After Becerra’s speech, newly elected County Clerk Dr. Elaine Cardenas also spoke. She expressed her enthusiasm for starting work officially after getting what she called “a head start” in November and December. “We are already working on improvements that will make it much easier for the people of Hays County to do business with the County Clerk’s office,” Cardenas said. She invited residents of Hays County to call her or drop by her office to discuss the improvements. 

Cardenas vitae includes a 30-year career in executive positions for several national research firms and think tanks, doing government related work. This included Gallup where she was an executive in the Government Division; and Data Recognition Corporation (DRC), where she led a technical team that set up and managed a database for the Department of Defense. 

She also worked for the Massachusetts based Abt Associates, which provides research and consulting services in a wide assortment of areas ranging from health to climate change. There she managed a research program for the Office of National Drug Control Policy on college drug use. Her Abt efforts ultimately led to the formation of the Higher Education Center on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, which she initially headed.

Other newly elected County officials include Precinct 4 Commissioner Walt Smith, County Court-at-Law #2 Judge Chris Johnson, Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 John Burns, and Hays County Treasurer Britney Bolton Richey. 

Appointed by the Commissioners Court recently to the new County-Court-at-Law #3 bench is Judge Tacie Zelhart, and State District Judge David Junkin who was appointed by the Governor to serve Hays County in the new 453rd Judicial District Court. 

Re-elected to their respective offices are Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 Beth Smith and Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Andy Cable, Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Jones, County Court-at-Law #1 Judge Robert Updegrove, Justice of the Peace Precinct 1, Place 1 Maggie Hernandez Moreno, Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 Beth Smith, Justice of the Peace Precinct 3 Andy Cable, District Attorney Wes Mau, District Clerk Beverly Crumley, 207th District Judge Jack Robison, 274th District Judge Gary Steel, and 428th District Judge Bill Henry.

County Commissioners Court meets regularly on Tuesday mornings, at 9 a.m., at the Hays County Courthouse, 111 E. San Antonio Street, in San Marcos  Commissioner Court meetings are also  streamed live and archived on the County’s website-  http://www.co.hays.tx.us/commissioners-court.aspx.