BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas — Brazos County is growing and getting a new District Court, with a judge appointed by Gov. Abbott. The new judge, however, is already a familiar face in Bryan courts.
Judge George Jerrell Wise is currently a presiding judge for the city of Bryan.
“In my new position as the District judge for the 472nd district court here in Brazos county, I'm going to be primarily a civil judge,” Wise said.
Starting Nov. 1, he will trade in one bench for another, as the judge of the newly formed 472nd district. Instead of judging city matters, he will now preside of a state court.
He says his background in civil law will give him a leg up.
“Primarily, our district judges have come from strong criminal backgrounds," Wise said.
"What I really want to do, and the reason I'm very passionate about taking this bench, is because we're now going to give our civil law attorneys a bench that is presided over by a judge who knows civil law, and has experience in civil law.”
The new district court will focus primarily on civil matters.
Brazos County Judge Duane Peters says they're already working this new court into the county's budget.
”A good while back I felt like a civil District Court was really something that I thought we needed," Peters said.
“Now we're going to move forward with putting the positions in the budget kind of last minute so that that that court can begin to operate.”
Once the county approved the formation of the newest 472nd district, Wise applied to be considered to be appointed judge by the governor.
Finally, he got that long-awaited phone call.
“I received a phone call and it was from the appointments staffer for the Governor. She told me that the governor would be asking me to take the bench of the 472nd,” Wise said.
Wise says he is excited to serve the residents of Brazos County once he is sworn in to office Nov. 1st.