Bexar County Specialty Court Symposium

The Hon. Judge Erica Dominguez, J.D., of County Court at Law No. 6, Cadena-Reeves Justice Center

https://www.bexar.org/1998/County-Court-6

Dominguez is a veteran of the United States Air Force. She proudly served her country for nearly eight years as a 2W1-Weapons Loader and deployed twice in support of both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002 and 2003. In 2011, she earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada – Las Vegas and law degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in 2014.  She volunteered at the Michael DeBakey VA Hospital assisting Veterans with legal issues. In 2015, Dominguez began working for the Bexar County Public Defender’s Office and devoted countless hours to ensuring those who cannot afford legal counsel still receive zealous representation. Equipped with this experience, in January 2023, she was elected as Judge of Bexar County Court at Law No. 6.  Dominguez has voluntarily added the responsibility of serving as the Veterans Treatment Court Judge.

The Hon. Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez (J.D. ’01) of County Court at Law No. 13, Cadena-Reeves Justice Center

https://www.bexar.org/1834/County-Court-13

Speedlin Gonzalez was born in Brownsville, Texas, to parents who instilled in her a love for both her culture and country and learned the importance of service to her community and the value of people in her life. She graduated from St. Mary’s University Law School in 2001, then practiced law for almost 17 years, becoming the only lawyer in South Texas to be certified as a Child Welfare Specialist by the National Association of Counsel for Children prior to taking the bench.  In her law career, she represented hundreds of foster children in the CPS system. The judge had a solo practice, where she committed to hard work and service to her clients. After a successful campaign, she took the bench in January 2019. She now oversees the Specialty Drug Court within Bexar County Court at Law No. 13’s Domestic Violence Docket. The court is now known as the Reflejo Court.

The Hon. Judge Yolanda Huff (J.D. ’96) of County Court at Law No. 12, Cadena-Reeves Justice Center

https://www.bexar.org/1833/County-Court-12

Huff presides over County Court 12 and the Mental Health Court. Before running for Judge in 2018, Huff was a solo practitioner in Bexar County for 22 years. One of Huff’s greatest accomplishments since taking the bench has been the founding of the Bexar County Specialty Courts Coalition. Huff chairs this coalition with the goal to educate the community about specialty courts. In 2021, Huff was invited by the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to serve on the Texas Judicial Commission on Mental Health. Huff was awarded the Distinguished Jurist Award in 2023 by the AA Section of the State Bar of Texas and the Judicial Outstanding Specialty Court Award by Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities (TASC). The Zeta Phi Beta Sorority award Huff the Peace and Justice award in spring of 2023. Huff was inducted into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame in 2024.

The Hon. Judge Erica Pena (J.D. ’12) of County Court at Law No. 11, Cadena-Reeves Justice Center

https://www.bexar.org/1832/County-Court-11

Born and raised on the west side of San Antonio, Pena attended The University of Texas at San Antonio until her husband’s U.S. Air Force career took them to Guam. In Guam, she attended the University of Maryland’s Global Campus, completing her Bachelor of Science degree and becoming the first college graduate in her family. Peña began her career as a Case Manager with Catholic Charities in San Antonio. She left her position there to attend the St. Mary’s University School of Law. She graduated in 2012, worked briefly as a solo practitioner and then began her career as an Assistant District Attorney at the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.  Peña served as a Staff Attorney for the Bexar County Criminal District Courts before being elected as the Judge of County Court at Law No. 11 in January 2023. She presides over the Camino Court, which focuses on the treatment and rehabilitation of individuals struggling with substance use disorder.

The Hon. Judge Helen Petry Stowe (J.D. ’07) of County Court at Law No. 1, Cadena-Reeves Justice Center

https://www.bexar.org/1824/County-Court-1

Stowe is a proud native San Antonian who received her Bachelor of Arts in English from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 1999. During college, she was a young single mom, working her way through school.  After college, she taught English at S.J. Davis Middle School in the San Antonio Independent School District before attending St. Mary’s University School of Law and graduating in 2007. In 2008, Stowe joined the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney, where she sought justice until 2018 when she was elected to be a Bexar County Judge. She was re-elected in 2022. Stowe has spent her entire career serving Bexar County and has also served as the presiding judge of the Treatment Recovery Accountability Court D (TRAC-D) since the summer of 2020.

Anthony Arnold, J.D., Assistant District Attorney, Bexar County District Attorney’s Office

Arnold attended the University of Michigan before deciding to withdraw to enlist in the military so that he could serve in his generation’s call to service. He served in the U.S. Navy as a Cryptologic Technician from 2005 to 2009, deploying on ships, submarines, and attached to the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. After completing his enlistment, he continued in the Navy Reserves while finishing an undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctorate at Indiana University. He then moved to Texas, joined the U.S. Army National Guard, and started his career at the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office. At the DA’s Office, Arnold has been involved in both the Misdemeanor and Felony Veterans Treatment Court.

Stacy Speedlin Gonzalez, Ph.D., of Salient Clinical Services

https://www.salientclinicalservices.com/team-3

Speedlin Gonzalez is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and licensed chemical dependency counselor (LCDC). She has published in peer-reviewed journals, including the St. Mary’s Scholar on the subject matter of addiction, family violence, and the legal system. She has also conducted evaluations on two of the drug courts in Bexar County and assisted her wife, Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez, on starting the Reflejo Court (a drug court for first-time offenders of domestic violence). Speedlin Gonzalez values the lens of therapeutic justice and the role of both the judicial system and the therapeutic profession coming together to improve lives and communities.

Patricia Roberts, J.D., Dean of the St. Mary’s University School of Law

https://law.stmarytx.edu/academics/faculty/patricia-roberts

Roberts became the tenth dean of St. Mary’s School of Law on June 1, 2020. A legal educator for two decades, the majority of her career has been spent in clinical teaching, supervising law students in providing assistance to underserved members of the community. She is in her fourth year as dean and is a Marianist Educational Associate.  Roberts’ initial term as dean included the Law School’s creation of the first entirely online J.D. program accredited by the American Bar Association, increased applications and financial aid awarded to entering classes, improvements in LSAT and GPA medians, advocacy team ranking of 12th in the nation, higher graduate employment, and hosting of the inaugural Lawtina Network Summit to increase the presence of, and support for, Latinas in the legal profession. The last three years also included creation of a First-Generation Bootcamp for entering students.