SOROLA APPOINTS TREASURER TO RUN FOR ELIA'S 404TH CT.

By Juan Montoya

Appointed as an Associate District Judge and Magistrate last October, Brownsville attorney Louis Sorola has filed the appointment of his campaign treasurer for a run for District 404th District Court now held by Judge Elia Cornejo-Lopez with the Texas Ethics Commission Tuesday. (Click on graphic below to enlarge)

Cornejo-Lopez's term expires in two years. She has not indicated whether she will seek reelection.


Sorola appointed local attorney and Texas Southmost trustee Ruben Herrera as his treasurer according to the TEC filing.

Sorola was appointed to his present Associate Judge/Magistrate position by a panel of Cameron County district judges last October which included Cornejo-Lopez. Since then he has sat on arraignments and heard numerous cases, including extradition hearings.

The latest high-profile case before his court was the case of  Gilberto Escamilla, 53, a former juvenile detention center employee  accused of stealing $1.2 million worth of fajitas and who waived his right to a jury trial. He is expected to plead guilty in two weeks.

And on March 28  he sat in on the extradition hearing of  Jeffrey Henry, the 62-year-old co-owner of Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts who was being held in the Rucker-Carrizales jail on murder and 17 other charges in connection to a Kansas criminal case in the death of a 10-year-old boy. Henry waived extradition and is now free on a $50,000 bond set by a Kansas court after he was extradited.

Sorola gave Kansas authorities a week instead of the mandatory 10 days to pick him up saying that the taxpayers of Cameron County should not have to pay for the cost of his incarceration.


If and when he runs for the 404th, he can count on a considerable political pedigree. He is married to Justice of the Peace Pct.2, Place 3 Mary Esther Sorola, who did not face a challenger for her reelection to another four-year term this year.

His mother-in-law – and JP Sorola's mother – is Cameron County Pct. 1 Commissioner Sofia Benavides who has easily won reelection to that position since she was appointed to serve the unexpired term of her late husband, Pedro "Pete" Benavides on November 20, 2006. Herrera, his treasurer, was the top vote getter in the last TSC elections.

Her current term expires in 2020.

Sorola's father, the late Moses Sorola, was retired from the Air Force and was well known in local political circles. He ran for public office several times on a platform of fiscal conservatism and values. His mother Norma retired after 30 years as an educator, her last position being the principal of Premier Charter School. She now does volunteer charity work with the Catholic Daughters.

Sorola was chosen from numerous applicants for the position created to streamline the magistrate's office and to fill in the breach of the district and specialty courts to handle the overflow of cases. One magistrate judge's position was eliminated during the budget process at the suggestion of the county's district judges.

The panel of judges felt the county needed an associate who would assist in the specialty courts such as the Divert Court, the Veterans Court and Mental Health Court. Sorola, well-versed in criminal and family law, and also a veteran, made the first cut and then was picked from among the applicants by the full panel of district judges.

Among the duties called for by the position was that the cases in those courts "be attended to in a timely manner, that he conduct arraignments, fill in at magistrate court during the week, perform extraditions, review probable cause, set bonds and help out in other legal procedures." During the first six months on the job, he has sat in on more than 1,900 case magistrations, habeas corpus hearings and the extradition hearing.

The requirements for the position was that applicants be licensed attorneys in good standing with the State Bar of Texas, must have four years of experience and be a resident of Cameron County. Additionally, they must be able to vote in the State of Texas and Cameron County, and have the ability to speak English and Spanish.

Sorola attended Mercer University, the the oldest private university in Georgia with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. He graduated in May 1995 and was admitted to the Texas State Bar in December 1995. He had been in private practice for 22 years as a trial attorney in personal injury, wrongful death lawsuits and other serious claims for bodily injury before his appointment.

For more than 20 years he was under contract by Cameron County to provide defense for parents in the child support court and is certified by the State Bar of Texas as a Guardian Ad Litem.

Sorola is a certified mediator and has defended clients in both state and federal courts. He is licensed to practice in all Texas courts and the Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.