Derrick Choice

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of stories on local contested races in Smith County.

Smith County Pct. 1 Justice of the Peace Pct. 1 Quincy Beavers Jr. is being challenged by Derrick Choice in the March Democratic Primary.

Pct. 1 primarily covers central Smith County.

Early voting in the March primary is Feb. 14, and Election Day is March 1.

Quincy Beavers Jr.

Beavers has served as JP for about 28 years. He said during that time, he has gained wisdom and experience needed for the position.

“For 28 years I’ve been going by the law. I’ve been firm,” he said.

The JP court handles small claims, civil cases up to $20,000, inquest, up to class C misdemeanors, warrants and more. Beavers added that a JP never stops working and is available to residents 24/7.

During his time as JP, Beavers said he has been able to help numerous people in the community and has even helped make improvements to how JP courts are run.

When Beavers was first elected, he said all of the JPs would rotate being on call every fifth week, and the on-call JP handled the whole county. However, Beavers noticed whenever these rotations happened it could be difficult to handle an inquest into a death.

Beavers suggested if an inquest was needed, the JP of that precinct could be called first, and if unavailable, the JP on-call will handle the inquest, he said.

Beavers said since becoming a JP, he has aspired to be like a fellow judge he knew, William Justice, whom he said was always fair and honest.

“My goal was to be just like him,” Beavers said. “JP is the lowest court, but you still have to be fair.”

Before becoming JP, Beavers said he worked in law enforcement for more than 30 years, 10 of which were with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Grambling State University, a masters degree from East Texas State University and took more than 400 hours in legislative law update course work at Southwest Texas State University.

He added that he has also received numerous awards as JP including the HOPE Award from East Texas Crisis Center, a certificate of appreciation from Tyler ISD, Pioneer Hall of Fame Awards from Jarvis Christian College and more.

Derrick Choice

Choice said he decided to run for JP to continue serving his community.

Choice recalled a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. that states, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?’” This is a question everyone should ask themselves, Choice said.

“I just want to continue to serve this community like I have for over 30 years, and this position is one of service,” he said.

If elected, Choice said he would serve with enthusiasm that would benefit constituents of Pct. 1. He added that he could bring in many new ideas and a different way of doing business.

“Change is uncomfortable for people, but change is inevitable, and ultimately change is good,” Choice said.

A large part of what the JP does is inquests into deaths, Choice said. He said he would make sure to do this part of the job professionally and timely because it can be a hard time for families.

He added that he also wants to make sure there are available resources in the community, particularly those dealing with mental health issues.

Choice also said he would like to talk to the Tyler ISD superintendent about JPs again handling truancy court. He added that he would like to introduce evidence-based programs to help reduce truancy.

Choice earned a degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas at Tyler. For six years, he worked with the Smith County Juvenile Probation Department, was a public service director for KLTV, was on the Tyler City Council and currently works as a community health program manager for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Choice said he loves his community and hopes to be able to serve it as JP. If elected, Choice said he could “hit the ground running.”