BRYAN, Texas — Darrell Booker, a Brazos County native, has decided to run for Justice of the Peace for Precinct 4 of Brazos County.
Booker is up against Justin Lopez on the November ballot for Election Day. He previously worked at the Brazos County Sheriff's Office and said he wants to increase safety, transparency, and integrity in Precinct 4.
Below are some of the questions we asked Booker at Polite Coffee in Bryan, including his answers.
Question:
"For people who aren't knowledgeable about what the Justice of the Peace does can you go ahead and break that down for me?"
Answer:
"See Justice of the Peace, they set bonds for certain misdemeanors and felonies. Class A and B misdemeanors and felonies. They set the bonds, they handle civic matters up to $20,000."
Question:
"Why is setting that bond rate so important?"
Answer:
"Well, in setting the bond, the first thing you remember, according to the law, the bond itself should not be a punishment. It's just to assure they'll come back and take care of business. The punishment stage is when they go to court and determine if they're innocent or guilty. Let me be clear about that, the bond itself should not be a punishment."
Question:
"You mentioned you worked for the Sheriff's office, what was that like for you?"
Answer:
"Working at the Sheriff's office is an experience that I like. You meet lots of people because when I was retired, I was inside supervising the other department and you meet all kinds. You meet sickly, healthy, you meet aggravated ones, you deal with all people of all sorts...but the main thing you want to do is make sure they're treated fairly."
Question:
"In your own words, what does fairness mean to you?"
Answer:
"Fairness means use your best judgment but also use the laws you got. No one is above the law and what the law says, make sure you judge it fairly according to the law."
Question:
"Do you consider safety one of your pillars in your campaign?"
Answer:
"When you get aggravated people doing bad things, you gotta protect them. So that's why each case is looked individually, and I put more emphasis on the safety of it."
Question:
"What makes you stand out as a candidate as opposed to your opponent?"
Answer:
"What I want to offer the people is integrity, transparency, and want everyone who comes into our courtroom that he will be heard and that I'm going to value their opinion and apply the law fairly."
Question:
"There are some politicians out there who believe there are some things they have to keep amongst themselves before acting on it and informing the public. Do you believe that transparency is the most important thing for the people?"
Answer:
"Transparency is very important. Now let's use good judgement, if we've got something active and going on and it jeopardizes the integrity of the case, then you got to hold it until everything is in. That would be the only case where I think you have to hold something."
Question:
"I think there's a select few politicians who really want to run for office because they believe their agenda is superior to what's previously in place. Where does that line up with your experience?"
Answer:
"It lines up to be I'm running for office because I deeply care for the community and I wanna do what's right. As far as a leader, I think you can be a leader as long as you lead right. As far as agenda, my agenda is what it is. I'm retired from the Sheriff's department and this is something that I have a passion for. The best answer I can give is...if I can lead, and I can lead with what's right, I'm okay with that. As far as being a human being, I'm just one in the community. I don't think that puts me ahead of no one because no one is above the law.
If you'd like to learn more about Booker's campaign, you can check out his campaign page.