Hansen Biography
Judge Jim Hansen is a lifelong West Texan and a proud Red Raider, graduating from Texas Tech in 1978. He and his wife Dixie are the proud parents to two Red Raider Honor Graduates.
The Judge worked as an award-winning television reporter in Lubbock for 13 years. In 1990, several community leaders asked the Judge to run for Justice of the Peace, and Judge Hansen was elected to the bench. In 1994, Lubbock County consolidated the J.P. precincts, and Judge Hansen took over as the Judge for the newly created precinct 1 (the southwest quadrant of Lubbock County).
During his tenure, the Judge has handled close to 200,000 cases: civil/criminal/ evictions/inquests and a variety of ancillary and adjunct matters required of the office. The Judge has over 700 hours of continuing legal education.
He is the longest serving Republican, the longest serving Judge, and the third longest serving elected official in Lubbock County history (Congressman George Mahon (44 years), and Commissioner Alton Brazell (36 years)).
Local Accomplishments
In 1991, Judge Hansen created an alcohol awareness protocol for convicted minor alcohol offenders, requiring each offender to attend an Alcohol Awareness Class created by the Judge through the now-defunct Lubbock Regional Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Each participant completed a SASSI test revealing their propensity toward drug or alcohol addiction. The “M.I.P. program” caught fire in Lubbock County and quickly spread to courts in the SPAG region of the panhandle. In 1994, the Texas Legislature mandated that all 254 counties of Texas offer an alcohol awareness program similar to the one developed in Lubbock County.
In the early years, Judge Hansen developed Lubbock County’s first online website, and served as the County’s ex officio Medical Examiner, performing inquests (death investigations). Judge Hansen conducted more than 1200 inquests from 1991-1994, more than any other Judge in Texas.
He has also served on a myriad of committees for Lubbock County, including EWarrants, EFiling, and credit card technology. His ideas have helped to streamline and improve the Justice Courts.
Judge Hansen is also responsible for working closely with the County Auditor to ensure that all State and local court costs, fees, and interest rates are always correct for the J.P. courts.
In the recent transition to the Odyssey Computer system, Judge Hansen and his staff played a primary leadership role in the programming and setup of the Odyssey system.
Over the years, the Judge has been a speaker to numerous business, civic, school, and youth groups. He has also served as an instructor and mentor to many Judges in this area and across the state. He has also worked closely with the Lubbock Apartment Association teaching classes on the Eviction process.
On the Bench
Judge Hansen maintains a busy docket of criminal cases, debt cases, small claims cases, and evictions. In addition, he performs a large number of ancillary functions that keep all the offices running. He has a reputation for fairness, a solid work ethic, and adherence to the law coupled with common sense judgment.
In addition, Judge Hansen keeps kids in school, returns millions in hot check restitution to merchants, and protects victims of domestic violence. He consistently ranked at or near the top of the now defunct Lubbock County Bar Judicial Poll, which ranked judges on criteria including judicial temperament, professionalism, and correct application of the law.
For 33 years, he has been the "go to" person after hours for felony filings, search warrants, and juvenile warnings. For many years he was frequently called out on weekends, in the middle of the night, and even on Christmas Day. He has been on 24 hour call his entire time if office.
Judge Hansen credits his excellent staff for getting cases filed quickly and correctly. His office continually looks for ways to improve public service.
Pandemic
During the pandemic, you could often find the Judge at the Courthouse nights and weekends dealing with the constantly changing eviction process. The CDC’s National Eviction Moratorium, and constant rule changes from the Texas Supreme Court, resulted in frequent, sometimes daily changes to the eviction protocol, and often required new forms and notices.
In addition, Judge Hansen played an integral role in obtaining a multi-million-dollar rental assistance grant for Lubbock County to help keep many Lubbock residents from becoming homeless. He also served as a focal point for informing landlords and tenants of the continually changing eviction laws noted above.
The Judge also worked closely with Lubbock County General Assistance and City of Lubbock Community development, as well as Northwest Texas Legal Aid, to set up protocols for referring those in need of rental assistance.
The efforts of all these agencies and the Lubbock J.P. Courts kept a vast number of people in their homes.
Statewide
In the 1990s, Texas Justices of the Peace usually learned about new laws from the Texas Legislature around the same time they took effect. Rather than simply “accept and react” to Legislative changes, the Judge took action. He started a statewide Legislative newsletter that allowed Judges across the State to become more active in the legislative process, promoting good bills, and opposing bad ones.
For nine consecutive sessions (19 years), the Judge researched each bill related to the J.P. Courts, and provided a Legislative newsletter with pro and con discussion, sponsor and committee contact information, and “plain language” verbiage for the more complex bills.
The legislative updates were instantly popular and mushroomed into a statewide newsletter for the Texas Justice Court Judges Association (JCJ). In addition to serving as the Newsletter Editor, and the Technology Director for JCJ, the Judge created a statewide Justice of the Peace website. The most popular item on the website was a chatroom, which allowed Judges statewide to have comments, questions, and answers exchanged in “real time”.
Judge Hansen was named the 2007 “Texas Judge of the Year” by the Texas Justice Court Judge’s Association for his good works. He is recognized as being instrumental in improving the educational opportunities for Judges and court clerks statewide.
National
In 2022, Lubbock County Justices of the Peace and the Lubbock County Dispute Resolution Center received a national award for their new and innovative approach to handling a drastic backlog of debt collection cases. The increase in filings came after the Texas Legislature increased the J.P. jurisdiction from $10,000 to $20,000.
The National Association of Counties Achievement Award recognized Lubbock County for their creativity in expediting debt collection cases that have been burdening courts all over Texas. The program has resulted in the clearance of 80-90 percent of the debt collection cases filed in Lubbock County.
"This is only the second time Lubbock County has received a national award like this, the last was in 2009," County Judge Curtis Parrish said during a recent Lubbock County Commissioner's court meeting.
Lubbock Avalanche Journal Editorial on National Award: https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/news/courts/2022/06/20/lubbock-countys-innovative-debt-program-aims-help-all-sides/9900390002/
CURRENT AND PAST AGENCY AFFILIATIONS
- Supreme Court’s Justice and Municipal Legislative Workshop
- Texas Justice Court Judge’s Association Technology Director
- Statewide Editor- TJCJ Newsletter
- Website Editor/Coordinator- TJCJ
- Lubbock County Bail Bond Board
- Lubbock County Personnel Committee
- Lubbock County Collections Search Committee
- Lubbock County Computer User’s Group
- Lubbock County EWarrants Development Committee
- Lubbock Regional Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
- Lubbock Rape Crisis Center
- Lubbock Y2K Committee
- South Plains Christian Home Educators Association
- United Way Task Force on Crime
- Former First Church of the Nazarene Board Member
- Lubbock County Dispute Resolution Board Member (26 years)
- Dispute Resolution Debt Case Program
- Catholic Family Services Steering Committee for Youth
- Founding Board- Lubbock Charter School
- Lubbock Meals on Wheels
