CANDIDATE INFO
Get to know the candidates running in the election
Municipal judge race on ballot with incumbent’s termup BY MAEGAN KIRBY There are ve candidates running for city of Conroe municipal judge on the May 7 ballot, with incumbent Michael Davis not running for re-election for the position due to term limits.
The municipal judge is a part of the state court system that is hosted by the city of Conroe, and the criminal court handles Class C misdemeanors, according to Davis. “[The municipal judge] is important because some- one has to make decisions to make sure that justice is done,” Davis said. “A lot of people that come in are people that are indigent; they don’t have enough money to pay; or they’re disabled or have a varying amount of di erent situations in life, and the job calls
for someone who knows it all and abides by the law, but also someone that has compassion, I think.” Davis said the court often has more bench trials— or trial by judge—than jury trials, and he handles everything from complaints of barking dogs to public intoxication. The municipal judge in Conroe can serve two four-year terms, and Davis said this was his 12th year because it used to be two two-year terms and he was grandfathered into the new term limit.
City of Conroe, municipal judge
WILLIAM WAGGONER
MELONEY TURNER
OSCAR SOMMERS
KEVIN M. KNEISLEY
MICHAEL VALDEZ
Occupation: attorney at law Relevant experience:
Occupation: emergency medicine and Army Reserves medic Relevant experience:
Occupation: maintenance technician for COC Relevant experience: time spent
Occupation: attorney at law Relevant experience: prosecutor in the county attorney’s
Occupation: attorney at law Relevant experience: practicing attorney in
trained by George B Darden,
served in U.S. Marine Corps and Army as a noncommis- sioned o cer on active duty for 12 years, Army Reserves 936-697-1119 www.facebook.com/ williamwaggonerforjudge
as executive, working in the oil and gas industry, private business owner 936-499-9832 www.meloneyturner.com
Conroe since 2013, extensive military background including judge advocate o cer 936-756-6304 sommers4judge@gmail.com
10-plus years experience as city attorney for multiple Montgomery County cities and as their prosecutor in munici- pal court 936-756-3488 Kneisleylaw@yahoo.com
o ce, district attorney’s o ce; private practice defense attor- ney since 2009; Shenandoah municipal judge (2002-12) 713-398-6857 www.valdezformunicipal judge.com
Answers may have been edited for length, style and clarity. Read full Q&A’s at communityimpact.com .
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