Becerra Begins Work as County Judge

By Hunter Buttner
Senior Reporter
h_b138@txstate.edu

SAN MARCOS– Ruben Becerra, first-time Hays County Judge, has hit the ground running with changes to government spending and looking into the criminal justice system.

Becerra was sworn into office in January. Becerra said that despite an initial shock, he has fit in well with the existing staff. This has helped him to start making the changes he promised during his campaign.

Part of Becerra’s platform while running last year was reducing government spending. By getting rid of water bottles in government buildings, Becerra is pushing for already. He said that good progress is being made and that something as simple as this could save around $10,000 a month.

But the big savings will come from changing the way the county handles outsourcing the county’s jail population. During Becerra’s campaign, the county was spending $14,000 a day on inmate outsourcing. Slowly but surely, progress is being made.

“We are hitting some below $10,000 a day marks now,” Becerra said.

Becerra also said that he would like to streamline the way the government works by making it more approachable. Ideally, he said, he would like to get rid of some of the elusiveness of the government, but all-in-all he is enjoying being able to help the community in a positive way.

Photo by Hunter Buttner.