Plano City Council approved the appointments of Chief Municipal Judge Donald Stevenson as well as seven other judges with a combined 146 years of experience.
Council members Maria Tu and Shelby Williams opposed the measure on the grounds that they preferred the judges be appointed to terms of two years instead of four.
Shorter terms would allow the judges to interact more with the council and possibly promote the advancement of judges with less tenure, Tu said.
But Stevenson told council members he believed shorter terms would make it more difficult to recruit attorneys to fill open judge positions, since they are required to leave their private practice to join the court.
Council members approved the measure by a 6-2 vote. The vote was held remotely via videoconference as a precaution against the coronavirus.
Plano Municipal Court judges, with length of service
Chief municipal judge—Donald J. Stevenson, 23 years
Senior associate judge—James Michael McCarthy, 24 years
Senior associate judge—Paul F. McNulty, 12 years
Senior associate judge—Cathy D. Haden, 23 years
Associate judge—Gwen A. Baumann, 22 years
Associate judge—Efren Ordoñez, 20 years
Associate judge—Aaron S. Kaufman, 19 years
Associate judge—Esther A. Grossman, 3 years
