SANANTONIO -- Every year, Texas judges pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars, in addition to their six-figure salaries, by signing marriage certificates.
In 2011, more than 26,000 people tied the knot in Bexar County. Thousands of those were married by a judge.
Among Bexar County justices of the peace, Precinct 2 Judge Stephen Walker officiated 206 weddings in 2011.
Precinct 1 Judge Monica Caballero performed the ceremonies for 426 couples, while her fellow precinct 1 judge, Judge Edmundo Zaragoza, officiated 515.
It's part of being a judge, Zaragoza said.
Texas law gives judges the authority to conduct a wedding, and the lawalso gives judges the power to charge as much as they want.
When they come here to the office, I charged $30, Zaragoza said.
The money collected by judges doesn't go to the state or to the county. Every dime goes straight into the judges' pockets.
Last year, Zaragoza said he made $30,780 from weddings.This is on top of his salary of $87,582.
I don't see what the problem is, he said.
Bexar County Judge Walden Shelton officiated 468 weddings last year. He said with money he earned from doing the ceremonies, he purchased computers, television monitors and a heart defibulator for his courtroom.
Shelton gets $40per wedding, but charges more after 5 p.m. and bills more than$100 on the weekend.
To go along with his salary of $139,000, the KENS 5 I-Team estimated Shelton made at least $18,720 from weddings.
However, only these judges and perhaps the IRS know the exact amount.
All wedding fees are paid in cash and go directly to the judge. The county keeps no record of these payments. The county doesn't even keep track of how many weddings each judge performs.
The I-Team found out how many weddings were performed in Bexar County by going through all 13,391 marriage licenses from 2011.
Each license is signed by the person who officiates the ceremony, whether it s a religious leader or a judge.
No one signed more wedding certificates in 2011 than District Judge Martha Tanner.
She conducted 1,033 weddings, most of which were done, she said, while waiting for a trial to start during her lunch hour.
At $40 each, Tanner earned an estimated $41,320 to go along with her salary of $125,000.
Tanner said she would perform these wedding ceremonies even if she wasn t paid.
It's a fun thing to do, she explained. These people are so happy. It makes you feel good.
However, Bexar County Clerk Gerry Rickhoff wants to put an end to the practice of judges performing weddings.
I find it distasteful, he said.
Rickhoff said county clerks, not judges, should officiate weddings,
He said he has to sign the marriage certificate anyway, so it would make sense for clerksto conductthe short ceremony.
Rickhoff added that no one should be pocketing any fee. The money should go the county or to a charity, he said.
In the past six months, Rickhoff officiated more than 500 weddings and collectedmore than $12,000, whichwent toa local battered women's shelter.
However, Texas law doesn't allow Rickhoff to officiate weddings in his capacity as a clerk, which is why he went online and became a minister.
It is one of the last good ol boy' systems in the courthouse, Rickhoff said. These people (judges) can pick up this pin money and use it for lunch money or whatever they choose to use it for in spite of the salaries they get here as professionals.
That's his opinion, Tanner said. That's fine.I don't care.
The judges the I-Team talked to said these weddings do not interfere with their work.
Most said they see it as a public service, and they even do them for free in cases where couples can't afford the fee.
Unless the law changes, these judges said they have no plans to stop.
