Vara is seeking her second term as judge of County Court at Law No. 15. Licensed to practice law since 2012, Vara practiced criminal law, family law, estate planning, tax, and other civil law matters in private practice.
Hear from the candidate
Why should voters choose you?
Throughout my term I have managed an efficient criminal docket and have also assisted various courts when help was needed. For example, I took domestic violence cases that were elevated due to the pandemic, assisted with civil county court dockets, and assisted with Child Protective Services dockets. I feel it’s important that our community knows they have judges like me who are here to work for them. Additionally, I have been a presence in the courthouse throughout the entire pandemic, having daily dockets via Zoom from my chambers so that I was easily accessible. Lastly, I pride myself on treating everyone who comes in the court with the respect and kindness that they deserve.
What do you see as the top challenge facing our local court system, and how should it be addressed?
I believe the top challenge is the backlog of cases created due to the pandemic and the impact it has had on the judiciary. For many months jury trials and other in person hearings were not taking place in the criminal courts, which created a huge delay in moving the dockets and giving the accused and victims their day in court. I feel this issue should be addressed by having daily dockets, both morning and afternoon, to efficiently move cases and by having multiple jury trial settings a month to ensure a speedy path to trial for both the accused and the victims.
