Lubbock County Justice of the Peace Jim Hansen is being remembered for his dedication to the county after the longtime judge died Saturday following a battle with cancer. He was 69 years old.
Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish released a statement Sunday confirming Hansen’s death.
“Today, Brenda and I join the citizens of Lubbock County in mourning the loss of longtime Lubbock County Justice of the Peace Jim Hansen, who died yesterday after a battle with cancer,” Parrish wrote. “It is with a heavy heart that we send our deepest sympathies to Judge Hansen’s family, friends, and his staff in the office of Justice of the Peace Precinct 1.”
Hansen was first elected Justice of the Peace for Lubbock County’s Precinct 1 in 1990 and was one of the longest serving officers in Lubbock County history.
Jim Hansen
Flags on all Lubbock County buildings will be lowered to half-staff on Memorial Day Monday.
Earlier in November, Parrish announced Betty Dills, a longtime state official, had been appointed justice of the peace for Precinct 1 since Hansen stepped aside. A long-term successor will be named at a later date.
Hansen’s term would end in 2026.
Justices of the peace typically handle class C misdemeanor cases involving traffic tickets and civil cases where the amount in dispute does not exceed $10,000, according to the Texas Associated of Counties website. Justices of the peace also preside over small claims courts in actions for fines not exceeding $10,000.
Hansen, who took the bench in 1991, encouraged Dills to hold court in his absence, hearing scheduled dockets and resolving cases while he was not in office.
About Judge Jim Hansen
Hansen was a lifelong West Texan and proud Red Raider, graduating from Texas Tech in 1978, according to his biography on the Lubbock County website. He and his wife Dixie are the proud parents of two Red Raider Honor Graduates.
Before taking office, Hansen worked as an award-winning television reporter in Lubbock for 13 years. In 1990, several community leaders asked Hansen to run for Justice of the Peace, and Hansen was elected to the bench. In 1994, Lubbock County consolidated the JP areas, and Hansen took over as Judge of the newly created area 1, which covers the southwestern part of Lubbock County.
During his tenure, Hansen handled approximately 200,000 cases: civil/criminal/deportation/interrogation and various additional and administrative matters required by the office.
He was the longest serving Republican judge, longest serving judge, and third longest elected in Lubbock County history after the late U.S. Rep. George Mahon (44 years), and former Commissioner Alton Brazell (36 years).
This article originally appeared on the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock County JP Judge Jim Hansen dies, service remembered.