Rummel has practiced criminal law for approximately 30 years and worked as a prosecutor for more than 20 years. A graduate of Baylor University’s law school, she was elected to preside over the 144th District Court in 2014 but lost her bid for reelection in 2018.
Hear from the candidate
Why should voters choose you?
Voters should choose me because I have proven myself to be an effective and efficient judge. The 144th District Court is a felony criminal court handling all felony matters through capital murder death penalty cases. When I took the bench, this court boasted the largest criminal docket of the 10 Bexar County criminal district courts. It also had the longest wait for trial and the largest jail population. In the time I was on the bench, I was able to completely turn those statistics around. When I left the bench, the court was one of the quickest to trial, had one of the lowest trial dockets and had a consistently low jail population. This was accomplished through a lot of hard work by the court staff, prosecutors, defense attorneys and myself, as judge. Once a case had been on the trial docket for three settings, the court expected the matter to resolve or go to trial. With an understanding of this expectation, attorneys diligently worked and either pleaded their cases or prepared them for trial. In the time I was on the bench, I heard 100 jury trials to verdict. It was a very hard-working court. But it was also a very pleasant environment in which to work, and attorneys often came by to visit, even when they did not have cases on the docket. I also presided over the Specialty Court, the Esperanza Program. It was the felony specialty court which dealt with felony prostitution defendants. I held this docket one afternoon a week and addressed the participants’ needs on a daily basis. This was a very successful program with multiple graduations. The approach was much like drug court – but we employed a trauma-based therapy approach. We understand that the majority of participants were also trafficking victims. The participants’ mental health needs were addressed, as well as their addictions. We also provided them tools so that they could properly reintegrate into society as healthy, productive and law-abiding members of society.
What do you see as the top challenge facing our local court system, and how should it be addressed?
The top challenge facing our local court system is our backlog from COVID-19. It can be addressed by a Judge who is hard-working and has the ability to move criminal cases quickly and efficiently through our judicial system. My background shows that I have the experience and the ability to accomplish this task.
