A swearing-in ceremony was held at the Hays County Courthouse in San Marcos on Jan. 2 for County Judge Ruben Becerra and County Clerk Elaine Cardenas, who were elected in the November midterms. Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Scott Cary, who was re-elected in November, was also sworn in. The public ceremony followed the private, official swearing-in, which happened just after midnight on Jan. 1. Becerra, who is a Democrat and the first Latino county judge in Hays County, defeated longtime Republican County Commissioner Will Conley with just over 51 percent  of the ballots cast. The judge seat was left vacant after Bert Cobb announced in August 2017 that he would step down to receive treatment for leukemia. Becerra, a former San Marcos planning and zoning commissioner and chair of the San Marcos CISD Bond Oversight Committee and the San Marcos Main Street Advisory Board, ran on a platform of strategic growth, reducing the county’s debt and lowering the “ever-growing burden of property taxes.”