November 2, 2016 - The city of Tenaha celebrated the appointment of Elizabeth Swint to the position of Municipal Court Judge on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 with a swearing in ceremony.
City representatives, family of Swint and community members gathered in the Tenaha City Council meeting room for the event. Tenaha City Mayor Carl Jernigan welcomed everyone.
"In my opinion it's a very special day for Elizabeth, it's a special day for me too. Not many times in life are we given the opportunity to help or advance, or promote a young lady into a position in life that will benefit them throughout the rest of their life and I'm very proud to have had that opportunity," said Jernigan.
Mayor Jernigan said he hasn't worked with Swint very long, but he has known her for her whole life. He has observed all of the city employees over the past six months and during that time Swint gave him the confidence she could handle the job.
"She's outside the norm. You know a lot of times people spend the day trying to be like everybody else, Elizabeth don't spend her day trying to be like everybody else. She has the ability and the intelligence to know that being like everybody else is simple, but to do things right sometimes you have to do things that's not in the norm," said Jernigan.
He praised her on her work ethic, ability to learn and desire to gain knowledge. Mayor Jernigan stated she has proven to be a very mature young adult. Swint has been working with the city of Tenaha since October 22, 2009 and is the youngest Municipal Court Judge of record in Tenaha.
"Everybody said, 'She's pretty young,' well that just tells me she has years left in front of her not to have been taught wrong, but to be taught right and to learn things in the right manner and the right fashion. So, I want to congratulate Elizabeth for this," said Jernigan.
Sheryl Clark, City Secretary, then administered the oath of office to Swint.
Natalie Harris, Mayor Pro Tem, spoke after the oath was taken, "It is just an honor and a privilege to see this young lady be accepted today. I have known Elizabeth for a long time, known her family the Willoughbys very well. I just want to say that I have seen her grow, you know from the time you all were over in the old city hall up until you know now," said Harris.
Harris said she doesn't think a better choice could have been made in selecting Swint as the judge and she knows Swint will make everyone proud.
Following the ceremony, everyone present enjoyed refreshments.
Related article:
Tenaha Council Appoints Swint Municipal Court Judge, Gray Deputy City Marshal
