Andy Dunklin and Shawn Scott running for Smith County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2

Published 5:35 am Saturday, February 14, 2026

Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of stories highlighting local candidates in contested races in the March primaries. 

A Smith County judge and executive director, both with law enforcement backgrounds, are in the running for Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2 in the upcoming March primary. Incumbent Andy Dunklin and opponent Shawn Scott shared insights with the Tyler Morning Telegraph about their background, skills and priorities if elected.

The Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2 leads the court that possesses legal jurisdiction in criminal matters of Class C Misdemeanor cases punishable by fine only and civil matters involving under $20,000, along with being on call 24 hours a day, seven days of week for inquests, warrants, warnings and trials, according to Smith County website.

Background and community involvement 

Dunklin serves as the current judge for Precinct 2 after taking office in January 2019, replacing Gary Alfred.

Before becoming a judge, Dunklin had a long career in law enforcement as a police officer for 23 years and served as the Precinct 2 constable for 10 years.

“For 18 years I’ve been serving Precinct 2 and I just believe there’s much that I can still offer the office,” Dunklin said. “I continuously educate myself on all matters and I want residents to leave the court knowing that I’ve listened.”

As a Smith County native, Dunklin has involved himself in several organizations. Dunklin served as a former board member of the Tyler Boys and Girls Club and of the Smith Baptist Association and as a former Boy Scout leader and baseball coach. Dunklin is currently also a college football referee and along with his wife, Linda Dunklin, serves as a missionary for South Spring Baptist Church and travels to three different retirement centers every Sunday to bring church to those who cannot go.

Dunklin is endorsed by Tyler Mayor Don Warren, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith, former state Rep. Matt Schaefer, retired county commissioners Cary Nix and Jeff Warr, current Pct. 2 Commissioner John Moore, Bullard City Manager Pam Frederick, retired 114th District Judge Cynthia Kent, Cavender’s president Joe Cavender, community leader and Citizens First Bank president Jim Perkins, community leader Shannon Dacus, Conservative Action PAC, among others.

Scott is an executive director at Robbery Investigators of Texas, which he co-founded in 2012, that promotes training and collaboration between law enforcement and corporate security professionals. The organization hosts the annual National Law Enforcement and Corporate Crimes Convention.

“It’s a desire to serve,” Scott said. “I’m an honorably retired violent crimes detective and proven successful executive leader who’s concluded a 30-year career in law enforcement. I’m not motivated by money or title, but what inspires me the most is duty and fulfillment of a purpose.”

Born and raised in Tyer, Scott began his law enforcement career in Lindale in the 90s, then moved to the Austin area and then returned to Smith County in 2020. Scott served as the interim constable for Smith County Precinct 2 from 2021 to 2022 and then as the Chief of Police in Chapel Hill ISD.

“Serving in that interim constable capacity gave me a unique perspective into the adjacent Justice of the Peace office and what we could do to make it more convenient and accessible for taxpayers,” Scott said. “It’s extremely helpful to be diverse in your leadership with having both law enforcement and the corporate world experience.”

Scott and his family are active members and volunteers with the Flint Baptist Church. He occasionally teaches criminal justice at Tyler Junior College.

Scott is endorsed by Grassroots America, Chapel Hill ISD Superintendent Lamond Dean, former JP2 Judge Gary Alfred, former JP5 Judge Jon Johnson, current Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman and former DA Matt Bingham, former county sheriff J.B. Smith, retired Tyler Police Sgt. Bill Goecking, retired resident agent in charge of the DEA Tyler Office Jeff Kennemer, SD-1 SREC Committeewoman Christin Bentley, the Tyler Patrolman’s Association FOP Lodge 182, East Texas Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #51, among others.

Skill sets and responsibilities

Scott said he will bring skills gained from his educational background with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and master’s degree along with his record of successful leadership in law enforcement agencies.

“As the interim Smith County Precinct 2 constable, I went into an office when they needed somebody to step up in the interim and restore leadership and trust to the community,” Scott said. “I went into an office where the deputies had no ballistic vests to protect themselves, so I worked with the auditor’s office to purchase vests at no expense to the taxpayer and created quarterly engagement events and policies that are still used today in just 13 months.”

Scott said the responsibility of the Justice of the Peace for Precinct 2 is to provide fairness and impartiality to anyone who appears before the court.

“Being fair and impartial are the most important and that goes hand-in-hand with integrity,” Scott said. “I vow to be fair and consistent in my decision and I’m going to be impartial, trustworthy, competent and strive to make a positive impact in the community like I’ve done in the past. The most important role for the Justice of the Peace is to apply the law fairly and consistently and protect the Constitutional rights and due process of those that will appear before me, ensuring the office and the court are operating efficiently.”

Dunklin said along with his experience, continual training every year as a judge routinely improves and refreshes his skills, which he plans to bring to the role again.

“I look at about 2,000 lawsuits a year and rule on those in my court,” Dunklin said. “It takes a lot of preparation to vet our cases, whether they’d be before me or with a jury listening, and I think the best attribute any judge could have is being a good listener, not being a good talker.”

Dunklin said he works well with his staff of four that takes in more lawsuits than Precinct 4 and Precinct 5 combined and says the responsibilities of the Precinct 2 judge encompasses many facets from overseeing deaths, magistrating inmates, to running the court.

“There’s plenty of legal knowledge that is required to do that and I listen to the inmates about their ability to make bond, but I base my bonds off of facts and no two people get the same bond because every charge is particular,” Dunklin said. “I look at those intently.”

Priorities 

Dunklin said his top priorities include modernizing the traffic citation payment system for more efficiency and working on an E-file that will make the transition of lawsuits and evictions smoother.

“As far as accommodating our residents, we have a lot of people that receive citations and they don’t live here, but they do stop in here after they receive the citation, and telling them we don’t have it is rather an inconvenience for them,” Dunklin said. “We’re really trying to move that into the 21st century and modernize that.”

Dunklin is currently working on video magistratation at the jail which will allow the court to magistrate twice a day, instead of once a day, reducing the daily number of inmates, an Eight Pack system that downloads trooper tickets and a pilot program for keeping the office open during lunch hours, to collect data to see if that would be beneficial to Precinct 2.

Dunklin said he would define his success by receiving positive feedback and knowing that residents feel heard.

“I’m about the only judge in the county that when I rule on an eviction, I ensure if there are children 15 and under or there are people that are 65 and over, I require the constable to contact either Child Protective Services or Adult Protective Services before they go and have those people move out of that home,” Dunklin said. “I want to ensure that the kids show up to school and we certainly don’t want to put anybody 65 or over on the street from an eviction.”

Currently, the JP’s office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays and on a pilot program for open lunch hours, which Dunklin implemented Feb. 2. Throughout February, the court staff will track case volume, wait times and operational impacts during the lunch hour. At the conclusion of the pilot program, Dunklin will review the data to determine whether extended lunch-hour access is sustainable and beneficial to the public on a long-term basis.

Scott said he wants to permanently keep the office open during the hour lunch break and on Fridays.

“That office is a full-time taxpayer office and it needs to be open all afternoon on Fridays,” Scott said.

Scott also wants to implement a dedicated social media presence to improve transparency, build trust and promote services.

Scott said his priorities are to ensure the office serves the people. “I commit to never ask for a raise and always place the needs of the employees above myself,” he said.

He added his personal success is grounded in his relationship with Jesus Christ and that his actions match his principles.

“I believe success is best measured by your character, your reputation and by trust,” Scott said.

Leadership style

Scott defines his leadership style as accountable, accessible and transparent to the people he serves. He said he addresses tough situations with patience.

“I would address conflict with patience, impartiality and a steady composure,” Scott said. “In that position, I want to ensure that all parties feel heard while also maintaining control of the proceedings and upholding the rule of law. I’m going to rely on clear communication, sound legal reasoning and consistent application of the law.”

Scott said accountability is in his ability to be accessible, transparent and present.

“That accountability would be practiced by having an office that’s open during that critical hour during lunchtime and Friday afternoons,” Scott said. “I will be present in the office every day, as I’ve demonstrated throughout my career.”

Scott said he values clear communication, especially to those who are representing themselves.

“I recognize that probably many of the litigants who are going to appear in the Justice of the Peace Court are going to be representing themselves and be unfamiliar with legal procedures,” Scott said. “I would ensure that processes are explained in plain language without question of neutrality and would strive to balance with fairness, ensuring that all parties meaningfully participate in the proceedings.”

Scott said the judge should operate at the convenience of the taxpayer and not at the convenience of the elected official.

“I want to connect with the community and will connect with the community,” Scott said.

Dunklin said he describes his leadership style as educational, patient and keeping things moving.

“Every judge, myself included, we struggle to determine who’s right and who’s almost right and it takes a lot of listening and a lot of notes,” Dunklin said. “The leadership of the justice court is keeping trials moving forward and what is in the best interest of the case. Every case is different, so it takes a lot of study.”

Dunklin said he handles any disagreements or difficult situations through listening and making decisions.

“If I’ve learned anything about humans, is you have to listen,” Dunklin said. “You’re going to be put in difficult situations, but at the end of the day, I have to make the decision and that’s my responsibility.”

Dunklin said accountability comes from having open records for residents to have the opportunity to inspect things if they wish to and he emphasizes educating people who may be unfamiliar with the court process or representing themselves.

“I want to be open to what citizens need,” Dunklin said. “I always let people maintain their dignity and I don’t want them to feel that they’re being taken advantage of because they’re not an attorney. We’re all about educating the customer and we want to make them feel like when they leave there they’ve received all the information, and if we can’t provide that to them, we certainly point them to resources.”

Dunklin said his job as a judge comes from a true passion to help people.

“I wake up every day wanting to be a better person than I was yesterday,” Dunklin said. “I constantly want to do the best job that I can do and sometimes I wear that on my sleeve. As a judge, we affect people’s lives and I want to be as correct and the best I can and explain my judgments better than I did the last one, constantly improving how I deliver messages. I can’t treat everybody the same, but they’re all treated fairly.”

Contact information

For more information about Dunklin’s campaign, visit his Facebook page “Re-Elect Judge Andy Dunklin for Justice of the Peace Precinct 2” or website at votejudgedunklin.com. For more information about Scott’s campaign, visit his Facebook page “Shawn Scott for Justice of the Peace” or website at shawnscottforjp2.com

Voting information  

Voters can cast their ballot in the March Primary during early voting from Feb. 17 to 27. Election Day and the last day to receive a ballot by mail is March 3. Polling places can be found at the Smith County Elections website at smith-county.com/213/Elections.

To view other positions on the March ballot, visit tylerpaper.com/2025/12/15/list-republican-democratic-primary-candidates-in-smith-county-solidify-spots-on-2026-election-ballot/.

For a full Smith County voting guide, visit tylerpaper.com/2026/01/21/smith-county-upcoming-election-deadlines-and-requirements/.