Sara Martinez
Democratic · TX · Dallas County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5, Place 1
Dallas County justice of the peace since 2015, a former Dallas County public defender, and a member of the county Bail Bond Board. She stresses a fair, efficient, accessible court and has brought legal aid and rent-relief help into the courtroom for tenants.
Track record
Track record — General
General · 2 records
Received a county audit of her court for October 2024 through March 2025 that found no reportable problems.
October 15, 2025
Source: dallascounty.org
Signed, with all 10 Dallas County justices of the peace, a COVID-19 order pausing evictions for unpaid rent. Cases filed after March 27, 2020, could not go to trial, and tenants could not be removed, until June 15, 2020.
May 19, 2020
Source: jw.com
Track record — Legal Competence
Legal Competence · 5 unfavorable
Received a county audit of her court for fiscal year 2022. It found 19 of 40 dismissals granted without a signed order from the judge, and staff using the judge's stamp without initials in 16 of 20 closed cases.
August 12, 2024Unfavorable on Legal Competence
Source: dallascounty.org
Received a county audit of her court for fiscal year 2020. In 14 of 20 closed cases checked, community service or jail time was credited toward fines without the judge's signature.
September 29, 2021Unfavorable on Legal Competence
Source: dallascounty.org
Received a county audit of her court for fiscal year 2019 that noted some improvement from the year before. It also found 1,120 paid or closed cases that still had active arrest warrants.
November 24, 2020Unfavorable on Legal Competence
Source: dallascounty.org
Received a county audit of her court for fiscal year 2018. It found every employee had a stamp of the judge's signature, case files that could not be found, and three personal checks worth $1,223.90 never logged or returned.
November 4, 2019Unfavorable on Legal Competence
Source: dallascounty.org
Received a county audit of her court for fiscal years 2016 and 2017. It found 84 cases deleted without a manager's approval, and $15,481 in unclaimed money over three years old that had not been returned to its owners or the state.
November 9, 2018Unfavorable on Legal Competence
Source: dallascounty.org
Past race Sara Martinez ran in:
- Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 5, Place 1 · November 3, 2026 · Dallas County, Texas · incumbent