SAN ANTONIO — The Bexar County Commissioners Court has a new member in former 4th Court of Appeals Justice Marialyn Barnard.
As the clock struck 11 a.m. on Tuesday, it was as if the bells of San Fernando Cathedral were tolling for Trish DeBerry’s time as the commissioner for Precinct 3.
“For me, personally, it means the campaign for county judge begins in earnest tomorrow,” she said.
State law required DeBerry step down from her seat to run to replace outgoing Judge Nelson Wolff. The Court’s sole Republican member, DeBerry, believes she has a good shot at winning the typically Democratic seat by making an appeal to crossover voters. And because the election is taking place during a midterm, it tends to favor Republicans.
“The seat of County Judge is an incredibly important one,” DeBerry said. “It’s too important for us not to have great candidates on both sides of the aisle debating the issues that are going to be important to San Antonio and Bexar County,”
Tuesday, she watched her replacement, Retired Appeals Court Justice Marialyn Barnard, get sworn in. Though she didn’t have any input over who was chosen from the list of 27 applicants, she said she is pleased Judge Wolff chose to replace her with another female Republican.
“I look forward to learning more and taking action on the immediate needs and the priorities of Bexar County,” Barnard said after completing her oath.
Barnard is a graduate of St. Mary’s University School of Law and served nearly ten years as a Justice on the 4th Court of Appeals before retiring in 2018. Most recently, she was Vice President of Product Development for TXdocs, which provides legal documents and software for legal professionals in Texas.
Judge Wolff said that amongst all the candidates, the scope of her experience made her an obvious choice.
“I thought, number one, let me find the very best qualified one,” Wolff said. “Whether they’re a woman, whether they’re Republican, whether they’re a man or whatever they are. And it really led to that.”
Wolff said that between the rest of the American Rescue Plan funds that need to be doled out and Capitol improvement projects that need funding, he expects to have plenty to work on with the new commissioner before he leaves office.
“I’m not slowing down...” Wolff said.
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