{"id":468227,"date":"2026-10-16T22:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T22:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/468227\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T22:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T22:06:10","slug":"after-32-years-on-the-bench-judge-henry-santana-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/468227\/","title":{"rendered":"After 32 years on the bench, Judge Henry Santana retires"},"content":{"rendered":"

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 Santana, first elected in 1994 and sworn in in 1995, has been repeatedly re-elected, including a narrow 2022 victory. He did not seek re-election in 2026. Before taking the bench, he spent decades in education with Corpus Christi ISD as a biology teacher, science consultant, planning and evaluation consultant, and mentor. He holds degrees from Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M\u2013Kingsville) and a doctorate from the University of Houston. A certified mediator, he has long been involved in youth mentorship and community programs.<\/p>\n

\"Santana\"<\/p>\n

KRIS 6<\/p>\n

Judge Joe Benavides, whose court is across the hall, spoke of Santana\u2019s lasting example. \u201cToday we honor a man who has dedicated 32 years of his life to serving the people. Of the justice of the of the peace, and I\u2019m talking about Henry Santana. For more than 3 decades, Judge Santana has been the definition of a steady hand, a mentor, and a colleague, and above all a true public servant. He has earned the respect from me, from this community, and not just through his decisions, but through the fairness. Humility and professionalism, he demonstrated every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Santana\"<\/p>\n

KRIS 6<\/p>\n

Benavides continued: \u201cJoe Santana. You have been a people\u2019s judge in every sense of the phrase. You listened, you guided. You brought dignity to the bench and compassion to the courtroom. And for those of us. Who have been fortunate enough to work beside you, you have been a mentor whose influence will last long after this moment.\u201d He added that as he prepares to take on added responsibility, \u201cI do so fully aware that I will be stepping into very Laura\u2019s shoes and stepping in with less manpower than the role deserves, but like you, I have learned that leadership isn\u2019t about the ideal conditions. It\u2019s about how we respond when conditions aren\u2019t ideal.\u201d Drawing on his Marine Corps experience, Benavides said the office would \u201cwork hard, we will stay resilient, and we will build an office that continues to make you proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner John Marez spoke of a lifelong connection. \u201cI\u2019ve been blessed to know you my whole life. My family knows you, loves you, my parents, you know, care a lot about you. So does my wife Gina and her children, and we thank you, uh, for, for always thinking about them.\u201d Marez called Santana \u201ca mentor of mine\u201d and \u201can excellent example of a servant leader. Someone who can balance, uh, their, their commitment and faith, their commitment to their family, and of course their commitment to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled Santana\u2019s earlier career: \u201cI remember your, your time at CCISD. That was a big deal. I mean, you started young as an educator and put in 3 decades, I believe there at CCISD and we all thought you were gonna retire, right? \u2026 You were, you were barely in your 50s, I think when you got elected as judge. And then, no, you wanted more.\u201d Marez said Santana had sworn him in for school board and each of his terms on Commissioners Court, describing him as \u201cfamily.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Santana\"<\/p>\n

KRIS 6<\/p>\n

State Representative Todd Hunter, a longtime friend, kept his remarks brief. \u201cThis is Judge, you and I\u2019ve served with each other for many, many years since the 80s. Uh we\u2019ve been very close friends. Uh the great thing that I want to say in front of this crowd is you have an honor, you have a respect, and you are a great friend of South Texas as well as the entire state of Texas. Keep up your good work. You and I always have worked together. \u2026 and I just wanna say you have a lovely family. It\u2019s an honor to be here and you\u2019ve kept your hair and I\u2019ve lost mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santana himself thanked the large crowd and his staff for organizing the event against his preference for a quiet exit. \u201cAbout 4 months ago, I told my staff, I\u2019m retiring this time and I mean it, you know, I\u2019ve been retiring. I said, but you know, uh, I just want you to know ahead of time that this is what I, I would like to do. I said, I want to just Take off my badge. Take my keys out. Turn them in and walk out the door. That\u2019s all it takes to, to leave. Well, they wouldn\u2019t hear about it.\u201d He introduced court manager Lynn and staff members Norma, Bee, and Sylvia; Adrian, who helped prepare the celebration; former staff; his three daughters\u2014Lisa, Nikki, and Gina\u2014grandsons Matthew and Alex; and other family.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on how he hopes to be remembered, Santana said: \u201cif, if you were to ask me now or whenever, how would I like to be remembered, I would like to be remembered as a good husband and a good father. That\u2019s all. That\u2019s all.\u201d Of his time on the bench he added, \u201cBeing a being a judge for the last 32 years has been a great experience for me. I, I know, uh, after a while I\u2019m still in good mind and good health that it\u2019s time to stop and so I am retiring at the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

He closed with simple advice: \u201cI wanna leave with you, uh, just a few words of wisdom from an old man. Enjoy every moment of life that God\u2019s given you. You know, life is short. It, it just, you know, 32 years for me is short. I, I just, it just came by. Enjoy life every day, every moment. Enjoy life. Stay close to your family. Your family is important. Stay close to them. Be with them, uh, help them, be a part of them. And the third one is to stay close to God. God is important. I wanna say thank you for being here today, and God bless you all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santana\u2019s term ends at the end of the year.
For the latest local news updates, click here<\/a>, or download the KRIS 6 News App.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 Santana, first elected in 1994 and sworn in in 1995, has been repeatedly re-elected,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[155,157,156,2344],"class_list":["post-468227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news","tag-downtown-corpus-christi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}