Hector Liendo

Hector Javier Liendo, Sr.​​
Justice of the Peace for Webb County, Texas (Precinct 1, Place 1)
In office January 1, 1993 – January 1, 2021​ (retiring)
Member of the Laredo City Council
In office 1988​ – 1992​
Born	July 1, 1950​​ Laredo, Webb County, Texas​​
Nationality	Hispanic-American​​
Political party	Democrat​​
Spouse(s)	​Bertha Delarosa Liendo
Children	Hector Liendo, Jr. Berenice Liendo Rodriguez Cindy Liendo Monica Liendo​​
Residence	Laredo, Texas​​
Alma mater	Laredo Junior College​​

​Hector Javier Liendo, Sr. (born July 1, 1950),^[1] is the departing Democratic justice of the peace in his native Laredo in Webb County in the border country of south Texas. When he leaves office on January 1, 2021, he will have completed seven terms in twenty-eight years in the positon.

He is one of three elected officials in Webb County to have been charged with driving while intoxicated in 2006 and 2007. A DWI charge against a judge rarely nets much formal discipline in Texas. Most sanctions do not identify the judge or the jurisdiction.^[2]

Liendo graduated from Martin High School. He earned three citations as a decorated United States Navy veteran of the Vietnam War. Thereafter, he procured an associate of science degree in computer science from Laredo College (then Laredo Junior College and later Laredo Community College). Prior to his JP tenure, Liendo was a member of the Laredo City Council from 1988 to 1992. ^[3]

Liendo's brother, Oscar Rene Liendo (born October 1957), ^[4] is also a Webb County Justice of the Peace; his service began on January 1, 2007.^[5]

His daughter, Cindy Liendo, is a first-term member of the Webb County Commissioners Court. Her father swore her into office in 2018. She is also a former LISD board member, with service from 2016 to 2018, and she was a member of the Laredo City Council from 2008 to 2014.^[6]

After a term on the city council, Liendo was elected in Precinct 1 as one of now five JPs in the county. He won a fifth four-year term in the primary held on March 4, 2008. During his twenty-eight years on the bench, Liendo focused on youth truancy and drug awareness programs.^[3]

In the primary of 2008, Liendo defeated businessman and fellow Democrat Margarito M. Benavides (born 1962), who served on the Laredo City Council from 1984 to 1990. He and Liendo were council colleagues from 1988 to 1990. Benavides listed pupil absenteeism, juvenile delinquency, and teenage pregnancy as the major problems facing the JP court. He promised to hold court at night for the convenience of parents of wayward youth. Benavides vowed that if he had been elected, he would not succumb to the "culture of corruption" in Laredo.^[3]

The business of the JP court

JPs in Texas do not handle DWI cases, which fall under the jurisdiction of the county courts, known as courts at-law in the more populous counties. Most of the workload consists of traffic cases. As JP, Liendo has also handled more than ten thousand truancy cases, small claims, civil suits under $5,000, disposition hearings, emergency protective orders, search warrants, and bond reductions. While Texas JPs issue warrants, the elected constables in their districts serve the warrants.

JPs are not required to be attorneys; only 5 percent of the nearly one thousand JPs in Texas have law degrees. Most of the JP workload consists of traffic cases. As JP, Liendo has also handled more than ten thousand truancy cases, small claims, civil suits under $5,000, disposition hearings, emergency protective orders, search warrants, and bond reductions. While Texas JPs issue warrants, the elected constables in their districts serve the warrants. ^[3]

As JP, Liendo has also worked in food-distribution programs for the elderly poor as well as shoe drives, graffiti cleanups, Christmas toy drives, and school-supply drives. He has sought to expand programs to require wayward youth to clean streets and houses and yards of the elderly. Liendo said that his program would teach youth the value of education and the consequences of poor decisions.^[3]

DWI arrest

On September 2, 2006, Liendo was arrested on a charge of DWI, a Class B misdemeanor and being in possession of an open alcohol container, a Class C violation. Liendo expressed "regret" over his arrest: "It gave me some perspective that everybody makes mistakes, but we need to correct them," he told The Laredo Morning Times.^[2]

A DWI charge against a judge rarely leads to formal discipline and in Liendo's case did not impair his ability to win reelection. Most sanctions by the Texas Judicial Conduct Commisson do not identify the judge or the jurisdiction under scrutiny. Liendo is the only sitting judge, as of 2018, to have been publicly sanctioned for a misdemeanor drinking-and-driving conviction in 2007 He was admonished after being sentenced to a pretrial diversion program and community service. The judicial commissioners seemed particularly concerned that Liendo had sought to keep the officer from arresting him for speeding, reckless driving, and DWI. "Judge Liendo's conduct ... cast discredit upon the judiciary and the administration of justice," the commissoners said.^[2]

Ricardo Rangel case

Another Webb County JP, Ricardo Rangel was arrested for DWI in February 2007 and joined Liendo in the diversion program and community service. Then in 2013, Rangel was convicted of extortion under color of official right after he admitted that on or about March 25, 2012, he accepted a $250 bribe from a bail bondsman while in his official capacity as a JP.^[7] On June 23, 2017, Rangel was released by the Federal Bureau of Prisoners after serving less than two years.^[8]

Still another Webb County elected figure charged with DWI is Juan Gonzalez, the then mayor of tiny Rio Bravo south of Laredo.^[3] and now the fire chief.^[9]

Retirement

Liendo announced in 2019 that he would not seek an eighth term on the JP court. His daughter, Monica Liendo (born 1990), is one of four Democratic candidates seeking in 2020 to succeed her father as JP.^[10]