Mark Hocker Chosen to Fill County Judge Position

In Commissioners Court this week, it was announced which attorney will fill the vacant County Court at Law #1 seat for Lubbock County. Commissioners chose Mark Hocker out of 15 other interviewees to fill the position until next year’s elections. He will serve through December of next year, with the citizens chosen judge taking the chair after that.  Hocker, who has lived in Lubbock for 16 years, has also announced that he will run for the seat in the 2012 elections.

Commissioner Gilbert Flores said he was comfortable with the decision, but that it shouldn’t be taken as a political statement.   "I just didn't want to send a message out to the public on my behalf, personally, that it was any kind of endorsement. We want to wish all the candidates  that want to apply for this position all the luck in the world."

Commissioner Patti Jones supported this statement with her own, saying in part "We had a number of qualified candidates. We were very comfortable with our choice with Mark. What we tried to do throughout the process was to keep politics out of it and to move forward with the appointment of who would be the best fit for County Court of Law #1. We'll never replace Judge Ladd, but we were trying to find someone with some of those same components to bring to that position, and again to keep the politics out of it, because that's up to Mark Hocker and whoever else may want to run for that position."