Associate judges are appointed by Council and work as independent contractors under the general supervision of the Presiding Judge in carrying out the essential functions of the Municipal Court. The Sugar Land Municipal Court is currently served by one full time presiding judge and four associate judges.
Historically, the role of the associate judges was to preside over regularly scheduled dockets of the court when the presiding judge is unavailable and to be on call to see prisoners, and handle other magistrate duties on weekends and holidays. This level of staffing has been in place for several years and has been adequate for normal court operations.
During the COVID 19 state of emergency, the Texas Supreme Court issued a series of emergency orders concerning the operation of all courts in the State of Texas. On March 18, 2020, the Supreme Court issued the Third Emergency Order regarding the COVID-19 state of disaster, which prohibited judges from conducting non-essential proceedings that would cause more than 10 people to gather in a courtroom or area in the courthouse. Since that time, the Sugar Land Municipal Court has been unable to conduct jury trials. The court currently has over 600 cases pending jury trial.
Recognizing that special measures were necessary to address this large number of jury trials, plans have been arranged to conduct in person jury trials daily at City Hall Annex while continuing the regular dockets of the court in the main courtroom. In the early stages of planning for this, the current four associate judges were asked about their ability to commit time to handle the business of the court. While there was a willingness to spend more time than in the past serving, it was clear that it would be impossible to maintain the accelerated jury trial schedule and the normal court operations with the existing judges. A request was made to the Compensation Committee to increase the number of associate judges.
Human Resources received resumes from 32 candidates. Judge Landin reviewed all the information provided by the interested parties and conducted face-to-face interviews with eleven candidates. Based on Judge Landin’s assessment of the candidates, the Compensation Committee has selected three candidates to present to the full Council for appointment as Associate Judges.
Ms. Javani graduated from South Texas College of Law and has been practicing law since 2003. She has served as associate judge of the municipal court in Pearland since 2017 and holds a judicial appointment for the Houston municipal court since 2010. She has experience in all of the different tasks that an associate in this court will be called upon to do. Her desire to serve the city is strong, and she truly wants to help make Sugar Land a good, safe place for its residents and visitors. She is a resident of Sugar Land and has been active in the local community, including serving on the Land Use Advisory Committee.
Mr. Connelly graduated from Baylor University School of Law and is an experienced municipal court judge. He was licensed to practice law in 1966 and spent the first 25 years of his legal career building a successful law practice in Arlington, Texas. Since 2004, he has served as a municipal court judge, either as a presiding or associate judge for the cities of Jacksonville, Bullard, and New Summerfield. In his work with the courts in East Texas, he has done everything that will be asked of him as an associate judge. He recently moved to the Houston area to be closer to family.
Mr. McDonald graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law and is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has been both a prosecutor and defense attorney since being licensed in 2001. He also has a great deal of teaching experience having served as a government professor, law school professor, clinical instructor, along with being an instructor at the Gus George Law Enforcement Academy and various police agencies in the area. While he has never served in a judicial role, he is extremely knowledgeable and accomplished as a trial lawyer. He is a resident of the City of Sugar Land and is a managing partner of a law office in Sugar Land.
The Compensation Committee recommends the appointment of Erum Jivani, James D. Connelly, and Shawn M. McDonald as Associate Judges for the City of Sugar Land Municipal Court, and authorizing the City Manager to execute professional services contracts for each. Funding is budgeted in the Municipal Court’s operating budget to cover the contractual services for the Associate Judges.