The Record Newspapers - Hometown News For Orange County, Texas

Judge Derry Dunn has announced that he will seek re-election for a fourth term as the Justice of the Peace, Pct.

2, for Orange County and will be a candidate in the March, 2014, Republican Primary election for that office.

Dunn, who is now serving in his 11th year as a JP, stated “It has been a privilege to serve the citizens of my precinct and county.” He explained that the job as a justice of the peace is both rewarding and heart breaking as he deals with the different facets of his work.

Dunn considers as rewarding moments those times in which he can help people with problems, perform weddings, and generally get to associate with many of the fine people of Orange County.

The rough times are when he helps families do mental commitments on a loved one and when he does an inquest on an unexpected death – especially when the deceased is a child.

Dunn is a lifelong resident of Mauriceville and graduated from Mauriceville High School in 1963. He earned a BA degree with majors in biology and chemistry from Houston Baptist University where he attended on a basketball scholarship. He earned a Master of Education in School Administration from Lamar University while teaching in the Little Cypress-Mauriceville CISD where he was employed for 26 years as both a teacher and principal. He also served in the US Air Force four years during which he was assigned to the National Security Agency as a Russian linguist.

As a justice of the peace, Dunn has attended more than 350 hours of training designed exclusively for a justice of the peace. In 2007 he was selected as a charter member in the College of Justice Court Judges established by the Texas Justice Court Judges Association. This organization honors judges who go above and beyond the minimum training requirements, and he has been honored as a selectee into this college each year since its inception.

As a JP Judge Dunn has been instrumental in improving the debt collection methods used by the justice courts. He sought and received approval for Orange county to participate in the DPS Omnibase program which prevents individuals owing money to the county from renewing their driver license. He also helped the justice courts get approval to use a private collection agency to recover monies owed to the county. Both of these programs operate at no cost to Orange county and has improved the court’s collection rate significantly.

When asked about what stands out in his 11 years as a JP, Dunn remarked, ”It is the personal satisfaction that I receive being able to combine mercy with justice while working with individuals or families with significant problems. Having the trust of the citizens of precinct two in both good and bad times is an awesome responsibility and I am committed to doing all that is necessary to maintain this trust. Plus having the opportunity to meet and work with so many outstanding people in this county is a blessing in itself and that keeps me fired up about this job.”

“I hope the citizens of precinct two will give me the honor of serving them as their Justice of the Peace another term,” Dunn concluded.