When you're in the reporting biz and you cover the courthouse, you come across many different people who diverse roles in the legal process.
Not only do you meet lawyers, prosecutors, judges, bailiffs, court administrators, etc., but also all those other folks who round out the legal machinery in the county.
Just yesterday we ran into one of those guys who work for firms that prepare debt claim cases for companies such as Midland Funding and ABC Legal and Michael Scott, the famed debt-claim attorney.
Our friend told us that in conversation with his colleagues in the serving business, the word has gone out that Justice of the Peace Pct. 2, Place 1 Linda Salazar had stopped accepting filings by their clients until after the start of 2019. Apparently, he said, employees from ABC Legal – who handle credit card claims such as student loans and credit card collection cases filings with the JP courts – had been turned away from Salazar's office with at least two boxes (at 50 per box, about 100 credit claims) of filings for the company.
"They said that they were overwhelmed with work and that the JP was not taking any more filings for this year until 2019," he said.
And not long ago, a landlord coming down from the second floor of the Cameron County Levee Building ran into us at the county tax office and said he had tried to file an eviction claim against one of his tenants only to be told that Salazar's staff had told him she was not accepting evictions claims either until the beginning of the year.
"The clerk told me that the office just had too much work already and that I could go to the other two JPs on the same floor," said the man. "They turned away another guy while I was there. As it is, the eviction process can take months between filing and to finally have the deadbeat tenants removed. Now it's going to take much longer with one less JP working the cases."
Interestingly, one of the Midland Funding credit claim cases that Salazar did not turn away was one in where her son Mark Anthony Cortez was being sued for a $3,000-plus debt back in April. After he announced as a candidate for the board of the Brownsville Independent School District, news of the debt appeared on local blogs in September.
The fact that Salazar had sat on the claim for nearly six months and had not recused herself form hearing it because of the obvious conflict of interest forced Cortez to negotiate an agreement to pay with the creditors before the election. By then Salazar had transferred her son's case to her pal JP 5-1 Sallie Gonzalez in Harlingen to avoid the obvious questions about her sitting in on her son's case.
If it is true that Salazar is too busy to handle debt or eviction cases and the work is shifted to the other two Brownsville JPs on her floor, then it stands to reason that she will also be too busy to perform wedding ceremonies. The JPs perform wedding ceremonies as a side gig, collecting an average of $250 a pop.
Salazar is known as the "Cupid JP" because she averages about 600 wedding a year, bringing in about $120,000 in ceremony fees which the state allows JPs to keep for themselves. The county does not get any fees apart from the couple's $82 payment for a wedding license to the Cameron County Clerk who issues the licenses. On the other hand, the county keeps all filing and court fees for debt claims and evictions.
The question will be: If Salazar is too busy to take eviction and credit claim cases, then she should also be "overwhelmed with work" to take weddings. Will she?
12 comments:
Vote Her Out ! It's too bad she knows too many people whom help her always get re-elected time after time, typical Democratic Way ! Time for a Change, the County should be reimbursed for usage of facilities & the security if needed for her after hours Marriage work.
Time to get this "porker" out of office. She and her family are leaches on the public and are not public servants. They want the public to be their servants and source of income. Salazar reflects the culture of corruption that exists in Cameron County and the culture of corruption caused by the Democratic Party.
Y se quemo el HEB.
Now she will apply for food stamps! Hey, I like that there are still some of us that still know and can related to the saying, "Se quemo el HEB." I think that I remember that happening around 1954 or so. We all ran down there to Elizabeth Street to smell the bar-b-qued meat and see the fireman throwing out cigarette packs instead of the meat. What memories! That was when Judge Dancy, the honest politician, was around and we did not have to worry about the Justice of the Peace. I am trying to recall his name but can't.
Oh, I remembered! The Justice of the Peace was Paul Dye and his name was the law without pistols. People respected him for his no-nonsense!
Thats not the only thing they dont like to do, they also dont answer phone calls, they must all have arthritis in their hands.
Paul Dye! he fined me several days (on weekends I was in school at the time) of washing his truck and mowing the lawn. The ticket was driving without one headlight. Those were the good old days. I gladly did the fine thanks Judge Paul Dye.
Que chanclas
Car 54 where are you? IRS IRS IRS where are you time to look at judge linda salazar aka la balona tax returns, is she really reporting all her extra income or no mas los cheques y el cash NO? lol
Acual HEB se quemo>
El HEB de la calle Elizabeth, el unico en ese tiempo, fue el que se quemo. Nosotros, los viejos, temenos recuerdos de tantas cosas que an pasado en
Brownsville, y no avia social media. Otro recuerdo era que anduviera uno and donde fuera, Cuando sonaba el pito de los bonberos al medio dia, todos corriamos para la casa a comer! Cunando no decician que hay benilla Pete Bouis, corriamos para la escuela y todos tenios perfect attendance. Tantos recuerdos que tenillamos que eran tan innocente y honesto's. Peguente a los ninos de ahorita y haber que memorias les cuentan! Que vivan los Baby Boomers!!!
el
Yet, the lame county judge and county commissioners don't do anything about it? An the the lame voters in her Pct. will voter her into office because the "NACA" talks like them!
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