SAN ANTONIO – Attorney Kevin O'Connell has nearly 25 years of experience as a lawyer -- most recently as a prosecutor in the District Attorney's Office.
On New Year's Day, he was sworn in as judge in the 227th District Court.
O'Connell's first observation as he took over his bench was that there was more to the job than presiding over a trial.
"It's administrative," he said. "It's signing paperwork and going over lots and lots of documents."
Sitting on the bench, he said, is a daunting challenge.
"It's very heady for me because you are determining whether somebody goes to jail or gets probation," O'Connell said. "You're here to keep the citizens safe but you also want to show mercy when it is appropriate."
Being a judge is a total role-reversal, he said: As an attorney, you are an advocate and do most of the talking.
"Now I have to be a listener," he said. "And I have to be a referee."
Former defense attorney Jefferson Moore is the newly elected judge in the 186th District Court. He brings judicial experience to the bench having served as a military magistrate.
"It really isn't that difficult to make the transition," Moore said. "You know the law and you know what you have to do -- it's just a matter of applying the law."
Moore said making the decision to run for judge was easy.
"I've got service in my blood, so to speak, so it was time to shut down my practice and some here to the bench," he said.