COMMISSIONERS WON'T PAY FOR ERIN'S LEGAL DEFENSE

By Juan Montoya
After discussing the item in executive session to consider paying for legal representation for JP 2-2 Erin Garcia-Hernandez as a result of her charging couples a fee to forgo the 72-hour state-mandated waiting period, the Cameron County commissioners court turned down the item.
Only one person spoke against the measure during the public comment period before the vote.
Speaking as a "businessman and taxpayer" Ezequiel Silva said that since the JP had taken it on her own to issue the waivers and profit from it in the form of performing the ceremony for which she was paid a fee of between $150 and $250, she should pay for her own defense.
Additionally, a federal lawsuit by  a couple against her, Pct. 2 commissioner Ernie Hernandez (her father, and Ernie III (her brother) and Cameron County had been dropped.
Silva argued that the Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz had just requested an opinion from the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to determine whether the issuance of the waivers was illegal, whether she could charge for them, and who should get the money. Saenz also requested that the AOG expedite the opinion to determine if any more action should be taken by his office.
The OAG Saenz sent back a letter of acknowledgement but said he could not expedite the process and that the DA should expect an answer within the required 180-day (six months) period required by the law.
The item in the special meeting held at 9:30 this morning was for the purpose of determining whether to provide legal counsel to all three Hernandezes named in the federal lawsuit (since dropped) or to retain outside counsel for one or all of them. Neither option passed.
The waivers that Garcia-Hernandez issued were decidedly different than the ones issued by district courts.
In those cases, there is a specific waiver form that must be completed at the district clerk's office, signed by a district judge, and a new case file opened. When such a waiver is issued, the district court charges the applicants $237 that go into the county treasury.
In the case of the form generated in Erin Garcia-Hernandez's office, there is no existing file for them. In fact, there are no such forms left at the county clerk's office. In those cases, no one knows where the money went.
 However, the waivers issued by the JP 2-2 office that did survive bear the logo of Justice of the Peace office of Erin Garcia-Hernandez and her signature below the body of text approving the waiver of the 72-hour waiting period. Once the waiver is issued, the marriage ceremony could be performed and the justice of the peace can collect whatever fee that particular office charges.
There is no uniform fee for the ceremony and the county does not receive any of the marriage ceremony fee charged.
So far, Erin Garcia-Hernandez has married just under 300 couples since she took office last November. It's easy to see that the marriage racket is hugely lucrative. At an average of $200 per ceremony, that amounts to $60,000 that goes into her pocket. It is also easy to see that being able to issue waivers – whether legal or not – gives her a leg up on the competition next door since the couples don't have the need to come back to the court three days later.
Silva said that since the actions by the justice of the peace were not condoned by the county, taxpayers should not have to bear the costs of defending them.