406th Judicial District Court Judge

Judge Oscar Jesús Hale, Jr. was sworn in as District Judge of the 406th District Court on January 1, 2005. Thereafter, he was re-elected to the Bench on four consecutive terms with no opposition.

Immediately upon taking office, Judge Hale was credited for being the first Judge in Webb County to openly allow cameras in the courtroom, granting the media more access to the courts, and making court proceedings more transparent.

To maintain the sanctity of adoptions and avoid the stress inflicted by other types of civil cases on the children, Judge Hale set aside a monthly special day to celebrate all adoption proceedings, where dozens of children have been adopted since Judge Hale took the bench in 2005.

Still in his first term, Judge Hale implemented the Drug Court Program (DCP), a judicially supervised treatment program for adults who are charged with certain drug-related crimes and who are in desperate need of treatment for chemical dependency. The program aims to help participants reach a recovering addict state and reduce the recidivism rate in our community. Since the implementation of this program, Webb County has been awarded over $4 million in grant funding and continues to operate under County Leadership.

Envisioning the idea of transforming an auditorium or a gymnasium at each of our secondary school facilities into a courtroom – complete with judge, lawyers, court reporter, bailiff, and defendants – to provide a real-world lesson to students, Judge Hale implemented the “Courts in School” program. With the support of our State Representative, Richard Raymond, and his filing of HB 1113 effective September 1, 2011, it became new law that court sessions may be held at secondary schools across the State of Texas. This program may resume next school year by conducting remote proceedings.

In collaboration with the Webb County Sheriff and Casa Misericordia, Judge Hale applied for and received, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women FY2018 Justice for Families Grant, an initiative to deter domestic violence to assist families by staffing a “Safe Haven” center with key personnel trained to conduct supervised parent-child visits and to safeguard visitation exchanges between parents.

Currently, Judge Hale is collaborating with the Office of the Texas Governor and Texas A&M International University on a Trafficking Emergency Network initiative. He has also initiated a partnership with LISD and UISD on a project called M.A.Y.D.A.Y. (Men Against Year Long Domestic Abuse of Our Youth) to promote student awareness about the dangers and consequences associated with domestic and dating violence. He currently serves as a member of the Webb County Juvenile Board and as Chairman of the Pretrial Services Oversight Committee.