Staff Report
Gainesville —
Newly elected or reelected Cooke County public officials will take oaths of office at a ceremony set for 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Cooke County Courthouse in Gainesville.
Local county officials scheduled to be sworn in at the ceremony include District Judge Janelle Haverkamp, District Attorney Janice Warder, County Attorney Ed Zielinski, Sheriff Terry Wayne Gilbert, Tax Assessor-Collector Billie Jean Knight, County Treasurer Patty Brennan, Commissioner Precinct 1 Gary Hollowell, Commissioner Precinct 3 Al Smith, Constable Precinct 1 Chris Watson and Constable Precinct 4 Russ Harper.
The public is encouraged to attend this community event sponsored by the Cooke County Republican Party.
The Republican Women's club will host a reception immediately following the ceremony.
The first official to be sworn in, however, will be Justice Bob McCoy, newly reelected to Place 4 of the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth. County Court-at-law Judge John Morris will administer the oath to McCoy, who will then administer oaths to local officials.
The Second Court of Appeals serves 12 counties in north central Texas, including Cooke County. McCoy was appointed to the court by Governor Rick Perry in 2003.
He was subsequently elected and reelected, most recently in November.
McCoy earned his J.D. (cum laude) from the University of Houston in 1981.
After a brief stint as a briefing attorney at the Supreme Court of Texas, he spent 12 years in a private law firm.
In 1995, Governor George Bush appointed him judge of the 48th District Court in Fort Worth, where he served until his 2003 move to the Court of Appeals.
He has also been an adjunct instructor at Texas Wesleyan School of Law since 1999.
Law was not McCoy's first career. He began in the field of engineering, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas Tech University in 1970 and 1972, respectively. He worked as an engineer for eight years.
