Belinda Herrera chosen by mayor to replace Mark Cohen on bench
Rollingwood City Council unanimously voted to replace longtime Municipal Court Judge Mark Cohen at its regular meeting July 18.
Cohen, who had served as the judge in Rollingwood for the past 16 years, was replaced by Belinda Herrera, who has served as a substitute judge for the City of Austin for the past 11 years, and remains involved with the city.
Recently elected Rollingwood Mayor Barry Bone was given the option to appoint a new judge within 90 days of taking office. Bone has been vocal about his stance on the municipal court, saying that the process is in need of an overhaul, something that Herrera hopes to bring.
"I'm going to try to streamline the process," Herrera said. "I want to bring [the court clerk] into the [court] and help expedite the paperwork."
Herrera, who retired from the Office of the Attorney General's Child Support Division in 2010, runs a mediation practice in addition to working with the City of Austin and the City of Bee Cave.
While most of her experience is in magistration and central booking, Herrera is using her time with the other cities to gather experience in trial settings.
"I still work for the City of Austin, and I was hired by the City of Bee Cave by Judge [David] Garza, who is the presiding judge and used to work for the City of Austin," Herrera said. "I work a few hours a month for them."
Working for the City of Bee Cave allows Herrera to gather experience should Garza not be able to preside over court cases, she said.
On top of her work in the three city courts, Herrera volunteers her time for dispute resolution centers—which goes hand-in-hand with her mediation practice—family law, and Spanish language issues.
Herrera, who took over for Cohen at the beginning of August, isn't focusing on replacing a longtime judge, but she is already implementing changes for the municipal court including changing court hours of operation, going from two days a week to five days a week, and advising the council to implement payment via credit card both on-site and online.
"I know the skills that I bring [to the court], and to me, it is a brand-new job," Herrera said. "I want to learn all about it and see if we need to make any other changes and really provide the best service I can for the people of Rollingwood."
Herrera wants to focus on what she can do to improve the Rollingwood Municipal Court and make it a positive experience for those coming through the system, she said.
"Everyone has been very receptive of my ideas," Herrera said. "I just want to start fresh."
Herrera thinks that things might take a while to get to where she wants them, she said.
"I'm not familiar with the way things work yet," Herrera said. "It will just take some time, but it's good to have these outside perspectives from Bee Cave and Austin."
Improvements Herrera looks to implement
Rollingwood Municipal Court Judge Belinda Herrera said she hopes to implement a number of changes to improve the court. Herrera said she wants to begin the changes this fall, but she might wait until next year to for a few.
- Extending court hours
- Accepting credit cards both on-site and online
- Involving the full-time court clerk in court proceedings
- Using technology as effectively as possible
- Discussing going paperless
- Providing whatever training is available to court employees
- Sorting dockets by office in order to expedite the process
- Minimizing waiting time for individuals awaiting court
"My job is to provide guidance and to make the court process as painless as possible," Herrera said.
