Judge James R. DePiazza

Never Forget! As a way to show appreciation to first responders, Striper Express Guide Services on Lake Texoma hosts an annual First Responders Fishing Tournament. I was invited to join Constable Truitt and his Deputies/staff this year. It was an honor to show my appreciation for them and the other first responders who joined them. We walked away with a great haul of bass and witnessed a beautiful lake sunrise.

For all those down with the Harris-Walz ticket, take time to give this a read from a person who has been where they want to take us.

No, Socialism Is Not Neighborliness Here’s a real picture of socialism at its most … social.

A marquee read: "Democracy Not Tyranny." As we celebrate the 248th year of the birth of our Nation, let us remember that we are not a Democracy, we are a Constitutional Republic and, as John Adams stated, our form of government is only adequate for a moral and religious people. Happy Independence Day USA!

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade after 49 years.

Take a few minutes to listen to this new release written by songwriter Chris Wallin and sung by 18-year-old country artist Rachel Holt titled "I Was Gonna Be."

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Jesus died to save our souls and provide us with an opportunity for eternal life.

Our fallen military men and women died to defend our country and its Constitution to provide us our freedom.

Jesus, we should worship and honor everyday for his sacrifice.

Today, , we remember and honor our fallen for theirs, and everyday should respect the flag that draped their coffin, which is the symbol of the freedom they defended.

Denton County Veterans, join the Denton County Republican Veterans for their monthly meeting on Wednesday 05/15/2024 at Rudy's BBQ in Denton at 630 PM. They will have a special guest Brandon Gill who won the Republican Primary and is running for TX-26 to replace outgoing Senior Representative Dr. Michael Burgess.

Thank you Denton County Public Facilities for your construction of the security wall at the JP2 court lobby!

If you suffer from depression, anxiety or other mental health issues, take 15 minutes and listen to Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Georgia Ede. Kids suffering from a hyperactivity disorder? There is an inexpensive cure without drugs too! Her new book, Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind is a must read on how the ultra-processed foods we eat affect the brain.

🔴 #1 Harvard Psychiatrist: AVOID This Food For Mental Health! ✅Join my PATREON for early releases, bonus content, and weekly Zoom meetings! https://www.patreon.com/AnthonyChaffeeMDFull Episode: https://www.youtube.com/w...

Illegal immigration has been an issue even since the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and remains one of the most contentious issues today. Even though the Republicans held majorities in the House and Senate while a Republican President was in the White House from 2001-2007 (albeit some flipping during the 107th Congress in 2001-2003) and again from 2017-2019 they didn’t do anything of substance about it. The Democrats had the same from 1993-1995, 2009-2011 and 2021-2023 to do something about it with no resolution also. Where does that leave “We The People?” Well, we’re the ones who keep putting the same people in office who don’t get anything done. So, a logical mind would have to conclude that “We The People” are the ones responsible for the problem! We keep putting the same people in office who have no clue on how to solve the crisis. I recently came across this excerpt from Bill Clinton’s 1995 State of the Union Address. It reads more like something a Republican President would say and I would be hard-pressed to believe that the Democrats today would stand and cheer if Joe Biden put this in his speech tonight!

“All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected, but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public service they use impose burdens on our taxpayers. That's why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens.

“In the budget I will present to you we will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes, to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace as recommended by the commission headed by former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan.

“We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it”

In October 1987 the Air Force sent me to Texas. I never plan on leaving the greatest State in the Union! Happy 188th Independence Day anniversary Texas! ...One State Under God, One and Indivisible!

This caught my attention in my news feed this morning:

--Social-emotional learning (SEL) has been injected into every facet and grade level in schools, but American children and teens are more anxious and depressed than ever, observes Abigail Shrier in an excerpt of her new book “Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up.”--

Even though I am no longer a mental heath practitioner, I still keep abreast of the field I received a Master of Education in. I look into current therapeutical approaches and often wonder, "What the heck are they doing and why are they doing that? It doesn't make sense." This book is now on my list to dive into. Here is the book's description:

From the author of Irreversible Damage, an investigation into a mental health industry that is harming, not healing, American children.

In virtually every way that can be measured, Gen Z's mental health is worse than that of previous generations. Youth su***de rates are climbing, antidepressant prescriptions for children are common, and the proliferation of mental health diagnoses has not helped the staggering number of kids who are lonely, lost, sad and fearful of growing up. What's gone wrong with America's youth?
In Bad Therapy, bestselling investigative journalist Abigail Shrier argues that the problem isn't the kids--it's the mental health experts. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with child psychologists, parents, teachers, and young people, Shrier explores the ways the mental health industry has transformed the way we teach, treat, discipline, and even talk to our kids. She reveals that most of the therapeutic approaches have serious side effects and few proven benefits. Among her unsettling findings:
Talk therapy can induce rumination, trapping children in cycles of anxiety and depression
Social Emotional Learning handicaps our most vulnerable children, in both public schools and private
"Gentle parenting" can encourage emotional turbulence - even violence - in children as they lash out, desperate for an adult in charge

Mental health care can be lifesaving when properly applied to children with severe needs, but for the typical child, the cure can be worse than the disease. Bad Therapy is a must-read for anyone questioning why our efforts to bolster America's kids have backfired--and what it will take for parents to lead a turnaround.

Early voting starts in Texas on February 20th. I typically don’t post on specific races because the code of conduct for judicial officers in Texas prohibits us from publicly endorsing any candidates. I do, however, want to provide some information on a specific race in Denton County, Congressional District 26 being vacated by Congressman Dr. Michael Burgess. Most people are unaware that a candidate doesn’t have to reside in the district to run for a congressional office. While it is lawful to do so, my personal belief is that you should be able to vote for yourself in the office that you are running for. There are 11 candidates vying for this office in the Republican Primary. From my research, I have found that the following 5 candidates are outside the district:

John Huffman, Burt Thakur, Doug Robison, Luisa Del Rosal and Neena Biswas. For me, the only way I would begin to consider these candidates is if there wasn’t a viable candidate who lives in the district, and there are some very viable candidates in that list!

I have found that the following do live in the district:
Vlad De Franceschi, Scott Armey, Brandon Gill, Joel Krause, and Jason Kergosien,

I have found information that Mark Rutledge lives in Little Elm but have not been able to verify it. However, I do believe that the whole of Little Elm is in the 26th Congressional District, so he would be if the information I gathered is correct.

Naperville, Illinois is a suburb outside of the Chicago. Councilman Josh McBroom made a pitch at a recent city council meeting as they were discussing the surge of migrant arrivals. I was surprised to read about his proposal to address the situation,

“I think we live in a compassionate community. My idea would be … let’s find out who’s willing to help,” he said. “We do have a very affluent community, a lot of big homes.”
“What I would like to do is direct staff to create a sign-up sheet,” McBroom continued, “for individuals who would be willing to house migrant families.”
“And if there’s people that would do that, God bless them,” he added. “I think we need to find out who would be willing to house migrant families.”

In a later interview with Newsmax he stated: “In my community, Biden won by 20 percentage points, we are a deep, deep, blue affluent suburb. This is what people voted for. They voted for open borders. They advertise it in their front lawn with the sign that says “No Human is Illegal. And, I’m not going to mock them. If those are your virtues, okay, we heard it. This is what you voted for.”

I know there are many in the Denton County communities who support open borders, I put the same challenge out to you, open your homes to these people whom you welcome to come into our country illegally…feed them, cloth them, give them a roof over their head.

PM me your name, address, e-mail and phone number and include the number if people you can take in. I will make sure it gets to the appropriate agency that you are willing to help with the crisis such a policy you support created by opening your home to those who are unvetted and in our country illegally.

I am not expecting too many, if any, responses. Why, because too many people support things without thinking through the ramifications, then when called to step up, they step away…yet continue to believe in the failed policy they support.

Denton County Republican Party has announced its Lincoln-Reagan Dinner on February 17th. It is the week after The Lincoln Cabinet Gala that I posted about on January 6th. For personal reasons I will not be attending either one, but I would not discourage anyone from attending either or both.

2024 DCRP Lincoln Reagan Dinner | Guest: Dinesh D'Souza 2024 Denton County Republican Party Lincoln Reagan Dinner | Guest: Dinesh D'Souza

Edited 1/7/24 – After publishing this post, I received a call from an elected official who’s spouse is a founding member of The Lincoln Cabinet PAC. He wanted to let me know that a part of my post was inaccurate. After explaining how I arrived to my conclusion he did admit that the Website did not accurately describe the PAC and that he would get with its members to update it. I am taking him at his word that that will happen. The updates to my post based on the information he provided are in brackets…[ ]…in the second, third and last paragraphs.

This posting is for the Republicans in Denton County who have supported the Denton County Republican Party’s (DCRP) Lincoln-Reagan (L-R) Dinner.

I recently got an E-mail invitation to purchase a table and attend a fundraiser dinner. The subject line said, “Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet Gala.” I knew the DCRP had a fundraising arm called the Lincoln Cabinet, so first glance I thought it was for the annual L-R Dinner. Turns out, according to its Website (https://thelincolncabinet.com/) this is a Political Action Committee (PAC) started in April 2023. There is nothing on its Website to identify who started it, why the organizers believed it needed to be started, nor who runs the PAC.

[The PAC started when members of the DCRP Lincoln Cabinet were not comfortable with how their money was being spent and stopped their monthly donations. Those individuals began reaching out to the other Lincoln Cabinet members about forming a PAC to support the operations of the DCRP where the money was under more direct control of the donors and not the DCRP County Executive Committee (CEC). All but 2 of the original DCRP Lincoln Cabinet members are donors into The Lincoln Cabinet PAC. He assured me that no monies were taken from the DCRP finances to start the PAC. The former Lincoln Cabinet members are funding the PAC from the donations they previously gave to the DCRP.]

I am thankful that I did my research to realize that this isn’t the DCRP’s annual L-R Dinner because I don’t typically belong to, nor do I typically donate to, any PAC’s, especially those whose specific mission is to endorse and provide financial support to political candidates. We need less politics in our Country now more than ever! I will donate directly to the candidates if I decide to financially support them.

[I was assured that no money from the PAC goes directly to any candidate and that the PAC does not promote or endorse any candidate in the Primary Election. The money from these donors, and any fundraisers for the PAC, is used to help pay the required bills to keep the DCRP running, when needed. If there is additional money available, they plan to promote a “Vote Republican” campaign to assist all Republicans on the General Election ballot.]

The Lincoln Cabinet Gala is on February 10th. While I couldn’t find any information on the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner yet, I was told by a DCRP Precinct Chair that it is scheduled for February 17th with the keynote address by Dinesh D'Souza. I will provide additional details when an official announcement is made.

I am not posting this to dissuade anyone from attending The Lincoln Cabinet Gala; I am posting this to make sure you have an understanding that it is not part of the Denton County Republican Party nor are the funds it raises used to support the DCRP. The money raised will support its causes and the candidates it chooses to endorse.

[The funds are used to support the DCRP monthly expenses. Below is the direct communication I receive after our conversation that he was going to get to The Lincoln Cabinet members to get their website and communications updated. I do hope that happens quickly…

The Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet, a TEC-registered PAC formed in April 2023, is a prestigious, limited-membership association of Denton County Republicans. Its members include numerous elected officials from every level of government serving Denton County plus other influential business and community leaders.
The Lincoln Cabinet encourages participation of members in the election process through the contribution of time and money to support the official nominees of the Republican Party in partisan General Elections and also may provide support to the Denton County Republican Party for administrative costs from time-to-time as needed.

The Lincoln Cabinet is independent of the Denton County GOP but was organized by Republicans in Denton County. Funds raised by the Denton County Republican Lincoln Cabinet’s gala will remain in Denton County to be used by the Lincoln Cabinet for the purposes described in the paragraph above. No funds have been transferred from the Denton County GOP to the Lincoln Cabinet. The Lincoln Cabinet's fund balances come from individual donations directly to the Lincoln Cabinet by membership fees and from contributions through the annual Lincoln Cabinet gala event.

The Lincoln Cabinet does not endorse any candidates in the Primary Election, does not spend its money to promote any Primary Election campaigns, and does not give money directly to any candidates even in the General Election. Instead, the Lincoln Cabinet budgets funds as may be available to promote "VOTE REPUBLICAN" initiatives in the General Election to help achieve its goal of 100% Republican Elected Officials in all partisan elected offices across Denton County.]

Happy New Year!!

It is hard to believe that another year has passed so quickly. It’s seems it was just yesterday when I was holding my granddaughter at Commissioners Court to get sworn in for my final term; Only 3 years to go.

I have had a number of people ask me if this was really going to be my last term and I answer without hesitation, “Yes!” I made a promise in 2006 that 5 terms is my limit and I don’t intend to go back on my word, what would that say about my integrity! Even though I will have to work for a few more years after I retire from the bench, that promise means more to me than making the transition into retirement easier. If things go as I plan, which doesn’t always work out with God’s plan for me, I will be able to find a work opportunity that will allow us to move to the country and enjoy the peaceful life of country living at our farmstead.

I look forward to continuing to serve the JP2 court with the same commitment that I have served for the last 17 years. I thank all who had faith in me with their vote, I know I have been blessed to have served and continue to serve until December 31, 2026.

As we get to the end of the workday and the County prepares to close down for Christmas, I wanted to take a moment to wish you a Very Merry Christmas. It has been a great year and I have been blessed with a great staff. This court runs smooth and efficiently because I have been blessed with the gifts of Lisa, Claudia, Jaqueline, Angie, and Alejandra at the helm. I appreciate them immensely and I appreciate the constituents of the JP2 precinct for entrusting me with this office for the past 17 years. Three more Christmases to go!

County offices will resume operations on Wednesday, December 27th.

Merry Christmas!!

New laws from the 88th regular session go into effect on Friday, September 1st. There is one law that I would like to share with you.

Transportation Code 545.157 titled “Passing Certain Vehicles,” commonly referred to as the “Move Over Law” has increased penalty amounts. There is a list of 6 different types of vehicles that this law applies to, it is not just for police/emergency vehicles using visual lights. It also includes:

• Stationary tow trucks.
• TxDOT vehicles and highway maintenance/construction vehicles working under a TxDOT contract,
• a utilities service vehicle,
• a stationary garbage truck while performing its collection duties,
• a vehicle operated by or under contract with a toll authority with visual signals.

If you are on a roadway two or more lanes of travel, you must vacate the lane closest to the vehicle or slow to a speed of 20 miles per hour below the posted limit. If the posted speed limit is less than 25 mph, slow to a speed of 5 mph.

The current fine range is $1.00 - $200.00. The new fine range is not less than $500.00 or more than $1250.00 for a first offense. For a second offense within 5 years of the first offense the range is not less than $1000.00 or more than $2000.00.

I have had a number of these offenses over my 16+ years in office and, from my recollection, almost all the defendants said they didn’t know they were required to move over. One stated that there was no way for him to move over because the traffic was too heavy. Unfortunately for him, that is not a defense to slow down to 20 mph below the posted limit.

You are still eligible to take a Driving Safety Course to have this offense dismissed if you have not completed a course to dismiss a ticket in the preceding 12 months.

In a final post for the 2022 election cycle, I want to sincerely thank all those who supported me with their time, talent and treasure over the last several months. I want to give a special thanks to all those who have been with me from the beginning and trusting me with the responsibility to serve the JP2 community as your Justice of the Peace.

There have been a number of you who have asked me to reconsider making this my last term. While I truly appreciate your trust in my service to you, I intend to keep my promise to a limit of 5 terms.

As we finish out this year with Thanksgiving around the corner and Christmas and New Year’s to quickly follow, I’ll end with the words of Tiny Tim’s Christmas dinner blessing, “God bless us, every one!”

The last civil case type is the Debt Claim case. These cases are very specific types of debt. The claim must be for:

The recovery of a debt by an assignee of a claim (those companies who purchase another company’s debts),
A financial institution,
A debt collector or collection agency, or
A person or entity primarily engaged in the business of lending money at interest.

68% of the civil cases filed in the JP2 court in 2021 were Debt Claim cases.

Typically, these cases are for defaults on outstanding credit cards that are brought either directly by the credit card company or an assignee of a claim. When the debt is purchased by a third party, the purchasing entity becomes the assignee to the claim, so the suit is filed in that third party’s name. The fact they the defendant never had a relationship with the third party does not constitute a defense to the claim. All the rights to the claim are “assigned” from the original creditor to the third party.

The majority of Debt Claim cases are either settled prior to trial or the defendant fails to provide an answer and a default judgement is issued. In 2020, I began ordering every Debt Claim case that a self-represented defendant files an answer to mediation. This places the case into the court’s online dispute resolution system. There is no cost to either party for this service since it is paid through State mandated court costs designated for mediation. Having this system in place not only helps the litigants settle their dispute without court intervention, it also reduces the workload on the court staff, thus reducing expenses. When the defendant hires an attorney, the cases are overwhelming settled through the attorneys; very few ever receive a trial judgment. Any trials scheduled for these cases are done through Zoom court. The trials are relatively quick and using Zoom court reduces the time defendants are away from their jobs/other life responsibilities.

I hope the postings regarding the Justice Court’s jurisdiction and how I have efficiently managed the dockets give you confidence to vote to allow me to continue to serve you for a final fours years.