Texas Border Business
CORPUS CHRISTI – 5th Administrative Judicial Region Presiding Judge Missy Medary is pleased to announce the appointment of Nereida Lopez-Singleterry as the new Associate Judge of the Title IV-D Court, Master Court 1 in Hidalgo County, with jurisdiction also in Starr County and Jim Hogg County. Judge Medary states; “Nereida Lopez-Singleterry’s care and concern for her community and children shines through everything she has done. Nereida will be a wonderful asset to the judiciary as an associate judge, and will continue to make the citizens of South Texas proud as she has in the past. ”
The Title IV-D Court hears cases that the Texas Attorney General has provided services under Part D, Title IV of the Federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq., which include locating an absent parent, determining parentage, or the establishment, modification, or enforcement of child support or medical support.
The official swearing in of Nereida Lopez-Singleterry will take place March 24, 2016 at the Hidalgo County Courthouse in Edinburg, Texas. The Honorable Gina Benavides will be master of ceremonies at 1:30 p.m. in the Courthouse Auditorium, on the 1st Floor of the Hidalgo County Courthouse. The 5th Administrative Judicial Region Presiding Judge Missy Medary will conduct the swearing in. Food and Refreshments to follow the ceremony in the Master Court #1 Courtroom in the Judicial Annex Building.
Judge Lopez-Singleterry, who was previously with the Hidalgo County Public Defender’s Office, has been practicing law since 2009 and is licensed by the Texas Bar Association. She graduated from University of Texas Pan American in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. She received her Juris Doctor from Michigan State College of Law in 2008.
In 2009, Judge Lopez-Singleterry returned to Texas and opened her own private law practice. While in private practice Judge Lopez-Singleterry litigated cases in many areas of the law including Family Law, Criminal Law, Personal Injury and Real Estate Transactions. She was elected President of the Hidalgo County Young Lawyers Association and has been a member of the State Bar of Texas Leadership Class, Hidalgo County Bar Association, Women’s Bar Association, Hidalgo County Criminal Law Association and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Judge Lopez-Singleterry worked with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid though their Private Attorney Involvement program representing victims of domestic violence who do not have financial resources to hire legal counsel.
Judge Lopez-Singleterry will be joining Judge Ismael “Kino” Flores, Jr., Associate Judge, Title IV-D Master Court 2 of Hidalgo County, and Judge Carlos Villalon, Associate Judge, Child Protection Court of Hidalgo County.
