October 17, 2025 - Shelby County co-hosted along with the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) a Judicial Education Roundtable meeting on Thursday, October 16, 2025 at the Courthouse. The roundtable discussion included mental health resources available as well as DWI case management and best practices. TAC also provided an update on new laws affecting counties which went into effect September 1 and those which will be effective January 1.
County Judges from other East Texas counties traveled to Center, Texas for the Judicial discussion and networking opportunity. Each judge will receive six hours of judicial education credit for their time. During the meeting agenda, the judges broke away to enjoy a guided tour of the Historic Shelby County Courthouse before having lunch.
Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison shared, “Being County Judge can have unique challenges and often times only other Judges can truly understand the situation and help with coming up with the best solution. It is great to make these connections with other judges so you can reach out to each other as things arise. We all want to do the best we can for our counties. We also appreciate the efforts of TAC with organizing these smaller roundtable discussions because they are a great opportunity to network and have one on one discussions about current events and issues we all face.”
Left to right: Lucy Hebron (Former Wood County Judge and TAC's Judicial Education Program Manager), Lloyd Lane (Freestone County), Allison Harbison (Shelby County), Mark Allen (Jasper County), Jeff Boyd (San Augustine County), Chad Sims (Harrison County), and Bill Stoudt (Gregg County).
