2210 Hancock Drive, Austin, Texas 78756 512.320.8274  800.252.3718  fax 512.435.6118

FACULTY BIOGRAP HIES

MICHAEL ACUNA

Michael Acuña has been a full-time judge for the City of Dallas Municipal Court since August 2004. He received his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and was admitted to the Bar in 1993. He began his legal career at the City of Houston in 1993 as a municipal court prosecutor. In April 1997, Judge Acuña moved to the Land Use Division where he litigated nuisance abatement and sexually oriented business cases in state and federal courts. In November 1999, he was recruited by the City of Dallas which created the position of Assistant Chief Prosecutor for him. He served in that capacity until he was first appointed to the bench. Since then, Judge Acuña has presided over various dockets including traffic, penal code, animal control, bond forfeitures, environmental pollution, substandard buildings, and gambling machine cases.

Judge Acuña represents the City of Dallas on the Dallas County Bail Bond Board. Judge Acuña was the region III representative on TMCEC/TMCA board of directors from the Fall of 2013 to September 2016. He is the chair for the board’s Education Committees. He also serves on the Budget & Finance Committee. He has been a regular speaker for TMCEC and other entities on many subjects since 1994 including municipal court complaints, bail bond forfeitures, pretrial hearings, court interpreters, cross-examination, Chapter 54 and 125 cases, attorney general opinions, sexting, bullying, online impersonation, jury charges and legislative updates. In July of 2016, Judge Acuña was elected President-elect of the TMCA.

ROBBY CHAPMAN

Robby Chapman is Director of Clerk Education and Program Attorney for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. Prior to working for the Center, Mr. Chapman served as an Assistant District Attorney for Nueces County, the Municipal Court Prosecutor for the City of Cedar Park, and as an attorney in private practice. Mr. Chapman is an ICM Certified Court Manager and has been past presenter for organizations including the National Center for State Courts Institute for Court Management, Texas Court Clerks Association, and Texas Municipal Courts Association. He has also received Merit Certification in Municipal Prosecution from the Texas City Attorneys Association and the Board of Director’s Award from the Texas Court Clerks Association. Mr. Chapman earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from St. Mary’s University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts in History from The University of Texas at Austin.

HILDA CUTHBERTSON

Hilda Cuthbertson grew up in Pearsall, Texas and graduated from Sul Ross State University (Alpine, Texas) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. Ms. Cuthbertson taught High School Science classes for five and half years at three different Texas school districts.

Ms. Cuthbertson joined the City of Bryan in March of 1983 as an employee of the City Secretary’s office and was promoted to Court Administrator in July 1985. Ms. Cuthbertson retired from the City of Bryan with over 31 years of service. Over 28 years of her service was as the Court Administrator.

She has joined the Alan Bojorquez Law Firm as known as “Texas Municipal Lawyers” and is the Court Program Director. Ms. Cuthbertson and her attorney partner provide educational seminars/training, auditing/validations and court consulting. Additionally, she has recently been appointed as the Presiding Judge for the city of Snook, Texas.

She is a Certified Municipal Court Clerk II and a State of Texas Licensed Court Interpreter in Spanish.

In February 2010, she successfully completed the National Center for State Courts, Institute for Court Management Program and achieved the status of Certified Court Manager. In June 2012 she earned the Court Executive certification which is a step towards earning the designation of a Fellow. In May of 2013, she graduated at the United States Supreme Court as a “Fellow” of the National Center for State Courts, Institute for Court Management, a prestigious national certification program equivalent to a master’s degree program.

Ms. Cuthbertson has served in a variety of position for TMCA, TCCA and TML since 1985. Ms. Cuthbertson has been a valued staff member of the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center since 1991 by contributing her skills and talents by teaching various subjects. She is a past member of the TCCA Education Committee, which oversees the statewide court clerk certification program. She currently serves as the Secretary for the Texas Municipal Courts Association.

ELIZABETH DE LA GARZA

Elizabeth De La Garza joined the TMCEC team as a TxDOT Grant Administrator for Driving on the Right Side of the Road in June 2015. Ms. De La Garza has spent the last 32 years as a public school teacher in the Round Rock Independent School District, spending most of these years at Chisholm Trail Middle School teaching music and social studies. She has her BME from Baylor University in Waco, and completed her MME at The University of Texas at Austin. Ms. De La Garza is a native of San Antonio.

ESMERALDA PEÑA GARCIA

Judge Esmeralda “Essie” Peña Garcia is currently the Associate Presiding Judge of the City of Houston Municipal Courts, assisting the Presiding Judge in Judicial Operations and supervision of the full-time judges. Judge Garcia began her 30-year judicial career in 1987, first as an Associate Judge, then, in 2000, was appointed a full-time Judge. She presided over a Jury Trial Court for eight years prior to her recent appointment.

She received her BA from the University of Houston and Doctorate in Jurisprudence from the University of Houston Law Center in 1982. As an attorney in private practice, Judge Garcia specialized in Criminal and Juvenile defense. Prior to law school, Judge Garcia worked as an investigative social worker on the Abuse Team for Harris County Children’s Protective Services.

Judge Garcia has served on the TMCA and TMCEC Board of Directors since 2012, and currently serves as First Vice-President of both organizations. Judge Garcia is involved with many professional and community organizations. She has volunteered with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for 19 years and earned Lifetime Committeeman in 2014. Judge Essie Garcia is a native Houstonian and mother of three children.

TRACIE GLAESER

Ms. Glaeser began her career in municipal court at the City of Round Rock and remained there as Court Administrator for 21 years. In 2007, she moved to the Dallas area and joined the Municipal Court team at the city of Lewisville as the Court Manager. Tracie retired from Lewisville in March 2012 to move back to the Austin area to be closer to her family.

Ms. Glaeser completed her Certified Court Manager’s certificate with the National Center for State Courts, Institute for Court Management in February 2010 and was the 11th clerk in the state of Texas to become a Certified Municipal Court Clerk. Ms. Glaeser achieved her level I certification in 1998, level II certification in 2002 and achieved Level III certification (CMCC) in 2003. Additionally, she completed Leading, Educating and Developing (LEAD), a 40 hour program sponsored by Weldon Cooper and held at the University of Virginia Leadership Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia.

During her career, Ms. Glaeser has been active in the Texas Court Clerk’s Association and the Texas Municipal Courts Association serving in a variety of positions ranging from Chapter President to serving the membership on the Board of Directors as Vice President. She has served the Texas Municipal Courts Association (TMCA) as a member of the TMCEC Education Committee and Texas Court Clerks Association (TCCA) as the Chair of the Certification Program Education Committee from 2006 to 2011.

Ms. Glaeser is a certified instructor for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center for more than 15 years and has continued to serve as faculty for the “New Judges and Clerks”, Court Administrators, Level III Assessment Clinic and the ICM program. Additionally, she has been active as an instructor for Citizens Police Academy, a variety of leadership and management classes and has been a regular panel member for software and imaging instruction with MCCI-Laserfiche. Ms. Glaeser is an approved instructor for the Clerk Certification Program for continuing education hours provided by the TCCA chapters.

Ms. Glaeser joined the TMCEC team in September of 2016 as Program Coordinator.

MARK GOODNER

Mark Goodner is the Deputy Counsel and Director of Judicial Education for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center (TMCEC). Annually, Mark plans, develops, and oversees ten Regional Judges Seminars per year each offering 16 hours of judicial education along with two 32-hour New Judges Seminars. In addition to his work at TMCEC, Mark serves as the Presiding Judge for the City of Woodcreek and as an Associate Judge for the cities of Bee Cave and Leander. Mark is a Certified Court Manager, having completed the Court Management Program of the Institute for Court Management in August 2016. Mr. Goodner graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1997 with a B.A. in Theatre and from the University of Texas School of Law with a juris doctorate and certification in the Graduate Portfolio Program in Dispute Resolution in May of 2007.

JACKIE HABERSHAM

Jacqueline Habersham is Senior Commission Counsel for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. She has been with the Commission since June 2001. In 1985, Jacqueline earned a Bachelor of Science degree in a dual major of Political Science and Public Administration and graduated magna cum laude from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. She earned her law degree in 1992 from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. Prior to joining the Commission staff, she was an attorney in private practice in Houston, Texas concentrating in the areas of criminal defense, family law and personal injury.

CASEY KENNEDY

Casey Kennedy joined OCA as the Director of Information Services in 2010. His team provides direct IT support for the Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, the 14 intermediate appellate courts and several judicial branch state agencies. Additionally, Casey manages the largest volume eFiling system in the known universe.

Casey is also the lead OCA staff for the Judicial Committee on Information Technology or JCIT. The committee is appointed by the Supreme Court and makes recommendations and sets standards for court technology in Texas.

Casey is currently the vice-chair of the Court Information Technology Officer Consortium, a national organization of Court IT professionals.

He holds a BA in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin.

MATT KING

Bachelor of Science degree, where he was elected as a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and Alpha Zeta Honor Fraternity. He received his Doctors of Jurisprudence in 1983 from Texas Tech University School of Law. He started his career in the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's office and worked in both the civil and criminal divisions. In 1987 he entered private practice and specialized in criminal defense. Judge King is admitted to practice in Federal Court for the Northern District of Texas, and in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge King was first appointed as a relief Judge for the City of Keller in 1993, and beginning in 1995 served as the Presiding Municipal Judge. In 2007 he resigned this position after being been appointed a Tarrant County Criminal Magistrate. Handling all aspects of the criminal justice system, his responsibilities include jury selection, probation revocation hearings, bond forfeitures, bond reductions hearings, motions to suppress, pre-trial motion hearings, plea bargains, and the magistration of inmates.

A frequent presenter for TMCEC, he has presented programs on family violence, Youthful Drivers, DWI Bond Conditions, Impaired Driving, interlocks, expunctions, and Bail and Bond Conditions .

TIMOTHY KIRWIN

Judge Timothy Kirwin has been an Associate Municipal Court Judge for the City of Hedwig Village, Texas, for over 5 years. He also served as a special appointed Judge for the City of Hardin, Texas.

He represents several municipalities as City Attorney and Chief Legal Officer performing general and special legal services as well as litigation services.

Judge Kirwin has presented at the Texas City Attorneys Association’s Annual Conference twice and has spoken for TMCEC at prosecutors’ conferences as well as being a past speaker for the TMCEC’s Regional Judges Seminars.

He received the Houston Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Award in 2012 and was named Appellate Lawyer of the Week by Texas Lawyer Magazine.

STEWART MILNER

Stewart Milner is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington and the Oklahoma City University School of Law. He began his employment with the City of Arlington in 1992 as an Assistant City Attorney and became Chief Prosecutor for the City of Arlington in 1994. From 1997 to the present, he has served as the Chief Judge for the City of Arlington Municipal Court.

Judge Milner has taught classes for the North Texas Council of Governments, City of Arlington Police Academy, Texas Court Clerks Association, the Building Professional Institute, The National Judicial College and the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center.

He is a current board member and past president of the Texas Municipal Courts Association.

NED MINEVITZ

Ned Minevitz, a Massachusetts native, has served as TxDOT Grant Administrator and Program Attorney at the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center since November, 2013. Mr. Minevitz also serves as General Counsel for Everthin, LLC, a startup company based in Massachusetts. He received his B.A. from Connecticut College in New London, CT where he majored in East Asian Studies. Spending extensive time in China after college, Mr. Minevitz is proficient in Mandarin Chinese. In 2013, Mr. Minevitz earned his J.D. from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law in Tempe, AZ. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, golf, and squash.

LAURA MUELLER

Laura Mueller is an attorney with the Bojorquez Law Firm, PC. Previously, she worked at the Texas Municipal League for nine years, serving the last six as Assistant General Counsel. She authored amicus curiae briefs on the following subjects: Billboard Regulation, Reserved Powers Doctrine, Civil Service, Elections, Unions, Takings, Open Meetings, Public Official Liability, Land Use, and Annexation. While with TML, Laura participated in over 100 speaking engagements including: Types of Texas Cities, Open Government Laws and Social Media, Ethics and Public Official Liability, Sign Regulation, Texas Tort Claims Act, Recent State Cases, Employment Law, and Legislative Update.

KIMBERLY PIECHOWIAK

Kimberly Piechowiak is the Domestic Violence Training Attorney for the Texas Office of Court Administration. She received her B.A. in Criminal Justice in 1989 from UTSA and her J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1992. Before coming to the OCA, Kimberly prosecuted domestic violence cases for 20 years, first with the Bexar County District Attorney and then the San Antonio City Attorney’s Office. While with the City, Kimberly implemented and supervised the family violence prosecution program at San Antonio Municipal Court. She is a TCLEOSE Certified Police Instructor who has been training law enforcement officers, attorneys, and judges since 1997 on the issue of domestic violence for many local, state, and national agencies, including the San Antonio Police Training Academy, the National District Attorneys Association, the Texas Center for the Judiciary, Texas Municipal Courts Education Center, the Texas Council on Family Violence, and the Texas Victim Services Association.

CATHY RIEDEL

Cathy Riedel is the Presiding Municipal Judge for the City of Leander. She has worked as a municipal judge for the cities of College Station, Liberty Hill and Leander. She has also worked as a municipal court prosecutor for several cities including West Lake Hills, Johnson City, Liberty Hill and Nolanville. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Political Science and obtained her law degree from St. Mary’s University. After graduating from law school, she worked for the Court of Criminal Appeals as a briefing attorney and research assistant. Her legal practice has focused primarily on municipal law issues for the last 20 years. She has worked as City Attorney or assistant city attorney for the cities of Topeka, Georgetown, and Round Rock. Ms. Riedel taught trial advocacy and supervised third year law students in the Legal Clinic at Washburn University Law School. Ms. Riedel is a certified Master Gardener and enjoys gardening and teaching her two-year-old grandson the difference between yucky and yummy in the garden and yard.

DANNY RODGERS

Danny Rodgers was born and reared in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas. He is a Graduate of Eastern Hills High School, Baylor University, and Baylor School of Law. Mr. Rodgers currently serves as Deputy Chief Judge of the Fort Worth Municipal Court. He is the husband of Jill Rodgers and the proud father of son, Matthew, 30, a 2007 and 2012 graduate of Baylor University who is married to Sarah, (Baylor 2007) and daughter, Caitlin, 27, a 2010 graduate of Baylor University and a 2012 graduate of the American University of Paris, France. Mr. Rodgers is also the proud grandfather of Grayson Matthew Rodgers and Rhett William Rodgers and a member of the Breakfast Optimist Club of East Fort Worth, where he has maintained perfect attendance for 28 years. Mr. Rodgers served as the 2010 – 2011 President of Optimist International, and his hobbies including reading, backpacking in the wilderness, and yoga. Danny and Jill are active members of Christ Chapel Bible Church, Fort Worth, Texas.

RYAN KELLUS TURNER

Ryan Kellus Turner is General Counsel and Director of Education for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. Prior to joining the Center in 1999, he served as Briefing Attorney for Judge Sharon Keller at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Turner obtained his juris doctorate from Southern Methodist University School of Law. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with highest honors from St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, where he now teaches as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences. In 2004 and 2013, he was the recipient of the School’s Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award and a finalist for the University Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award in 2014.

Mr. Turner previously served as a Special Assistant County Attorney for Kendall County. He is currently Deputy City Attorney for the City of Dripping Springs and also serves as a Substitute Associate Judge on the Austin Municipal Court.

In 2011, he was an advisory member on the Texas Judicial Council’s Juvenile Justice Committee. In 2012, Mr. Turner was named Co-Chair of the Texas Judicial Council Legislative Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice. He is current an advisory member on the Texas Judicial Council’s Pretrial Justice Committee.

A native Texan, Mr. Turner was raised in the north Texas town of Vernon. He is the co-author of the books Lone Star Justice: A Comprehensive Overview of the Texas Criminal Justice System and The Municipal Judges Book.

STEPHEN VIGORITO

Judge Stephen Vigorito currently serves as an Associate Municipal Judge for the City of Austin. Judge Vigorito received his B.A. in political science from Louisiana State University in 1990 and his Jurisprudence Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law in 1997. He practiced as a criminal defense attorney from 1998 - 2010 in Travis County and surrounding counties. In addition, during that time, Judge Vigorito served as the legislative liaison and interim Director of Enforcement for the Texas Cosmetology Commission from 2002- 2004 and as the Legislative Director for former State Representative Dora Olivo (Missouri City, Sugarland, Richmond) during the 2009 Texas Legislative Session. From 2010-2013, Judge Vigorito served as a part-time municipal judge for the City of Austin and the City of Tomball, Texas. He was appointed as a fulltime judge for the City of Austin in December, 2013.