DEPUTIZE ME NOW, OR DEPUTIZE ME LATER

By Juan Montoya

Less than two weeks ago, there were 21 very worried bailiffs on the judicial side of the Cameron County Courthouse.

Their commissions were expiring that Friday and they needed Sheriff Omar Lucio to administer their oath that would allow them to continue working in the judicial courts and security at the building come Monday.

However, time was slipping by and with Friday afternoon approaching, Monday would be too late and 21 bailiffs would be out of a job, to be replaced, they thought, by other commissioned officers chosen by...Omar Lucio.

"We never heard back from the sheriff's office and we were worried," said one. "Our judges knew about it, too, and they wondered what was going on with Lucio or the Reyna brothers (Gus and Javier) over at Carrizales."

Under the gun to be sworn in and their commissions renewed, the bailiffs sought out another elected law enforcement official to help them out.

They walked over to the second floor and knocked on Pct. 2 Constable Pete Avila's door.

"They told me their problem and I volunteered to do it," Avila, a 24-year veteran firefighter said. "I couldn't see how I couldn't do it. Those twenty people have families that are depending on them aside from the judges that need then for court security."

Avila is serving his first term in office after defeating Abelardo Gomez in a runoff election last year.

So on that Friday, the bailiffs piled into a courtroom and had Avila swear them in and renew their commissions. The thankful officers vow they will never forget what the constable did for them.

"I never knew Pete before this," said one. "But he behaved real well toward us. Even the judges know what happened and they are thankful for what he did."

An interesting twist to this story is that not only did the local Freedom Newspaper reporter covering courts know about the story, but the daily was told when the mass swearing-in ceremony was going to be held. Nobody showed.


"I guess they were gun shy because that very Sunday Emma Perez-Treviño published the story about the sweetheart commissary deal between BISD trustees Ruben Cortez (Gus Reyna's cousin) and Rick Zayas and they thought another story about the sheriff would seem like they were picking on him," said a bailiff.