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Few applicants for vacant Justice of the Peace position

Thursday, April 6, 2017 by Jack Craver

Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt was dismayed at how few people have applied to take the place of Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Herb Evans, who is retiring on May 1. Although the Commissioners Court received 13 applications for the job, nine of the applicants were disqualified because they don’t live in the precinct, as required by law. That leaves only four applicants, a number that Eckhardt found pitiful. Although the application process was open for 30 days, Eckhardt appealed to her colleagues on Tuesday to leave it open for an extra two days, during which they could “beat the bushes” to find more potential candidates. “It strains credibility that there are only four people interested and qualified in the county for this extremely important position,” she said. Others were unconvinced it would make a difference. “I thought the bushes were already beaten,” responded Commissioner Jeff Travillion. Eckhardt, along with the rest of the court, voted to go forward with reviewing the four applicants.

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