By Joycelyne Fadojutimi

Donna Blalock is married to John. Donna is an immensely proud of her college-age son Jack and his high school-age brother David. Donna’s parents were born in Mexico and have lived in Texas for more than fifty years. Like them, she speaks Spanish and English flawlessly and uses this ability to serve others. Her mother and father also taught her to be self-sufficient.

“My parents taught my two sisters, my brother and I very strong work ethic – not to not ask for handouts from anyone,” she says. “We were taught to obtain a second job to make ends meet; and/or to have extra cash and to help someone else in extreme need. I feel they taught me to ‘be a giver, not a taker.'”

Her mother’s influence remains a powerful guiding force as she is careful never to judge others, to be gracious and provide advice to improve the lives of those around her. This includes her own extended family as all twenty-four of them stay in close touch, getting together on holidays and always being available for each other in times of crisis. Her splendid education prepared her for a career in public service.

Donna holds a B.S.E. in secondary education with a major in Spanish and minor in sociology. She became (and is) certified as a Spanish teacher, but after one year in the classroom she changed direction.

“I chose education because I thought I wanted to be a public-school teacher,” she says. “A friend told me about applying at Gregg County Community Supervision because they were seeking a bilingual officer.”

That was in 1997. She is still there, working as a Misdemeanor Community Supervision Officer. She oversees defendants, insuring they follow court orders while she reports violations and participates in the imposition of intermediate sanctions. This is all part of her goal for rehabilitation. Her twenty-seven years of serving in this capacity have been a great help in her after-hours job as a municipal judge for the past twenty-one years. Being bilingual and familiar with the court system make her a natural for this position.

“I began moonlighting as an associate municipal judge in the evenings in nearby small towns,” she says. “I currently serve as the presiding municipal judge in Big Sandy on Wednesday evenings twice a month.”

She is the region’s only bilingual judge certified in interpreting. She savors her work in the courtroom, performing weddings in English and Spanish and assisting in every way possible for those who enter her courtroom. In addition, she assists East Texans by providing them with information on referral agencies, directs them to rehabilitation and outpatient programs, helping them find work, re-earning driver’s licenses, serving year-round as an instructor in the probation department, and in making better life decisions in general. She is joyful when she sees those, she helped (defendants) make better life choices, and saddened when they return to drugs, liquor, and unsavory lifestyles in general.

“I tell all my defendants that ‘addiction is picking that one thing over everything, and that recovery is picking everything over that one thing,'” she says. “I encourage them to pick everything (life, freedom, job, family, etc. etc.).”

Despite all she has accomplished in classrooms and courtrooms she is versatile and industrious in everything she does.

Here are somethings many do not know about Presiding Municipal Judge Donna Blalock:

1.) She knows how to use a roto rooter. Her parents taught her to use one.

2.) She was raised on a farm in Llano, Texas, where she was born.

3.) Due to her long career in working at Community Supervision and municipal court positions, she plans to run for Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 in 2027.

But wait, that is not all. There is more. Her faith plays a particularly important role in her life.

Her faith in her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ insures she realizes no one is better than anyone else (herself included), but His guidance places her in a position to generally make wiser decisions than those she interacts with on her jobs. She is also careful to treat others the way she expects to be treated. This leads her to participate in various public service capacities.

In the past, she participated in the following:

*Longview Cattle Barons’ Ball

*Sat on the board of directors of the Longview Room

*Worked with Longview Child Development

*The  Boys and Girls Club

*Served as a celebrity dancer for seven years in the CASA Blue Jeans and Ballgowns.

Her current capacities are equally impressive. She serves on various Boards including:

*Wellness Pointe

*Education by Design as it strives to provide youth and adult indigenous training in an effort to achieve redevelopment of blighted communities

*Board secretary for the Martin’s House Children’s Advocacy Center and assist in its campaigns to raise positive awareness of child abuse and to insure no children who are affected by abuse fall through the cracks, but are heard from, rescued, and provided all services needed to achieve their future safety and well-being.

She even finds time to further this Longview’s cultural enrichment.

“I participate in Artsview Longview Broadway Show and serve as Princess Jasmine for events/community in my spare time,” she says.

It is amazing she has any spare time with everything she eagerly keeps on her plate. She ardently invites all East Texans to these upcoming events:

1. Princess and Hero Toy Drive for Upshur County Blue to benefit the Upshur County  Blue Santa, Thursday, August 15, 2024, at Gilmer Civic Center from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

2. Artsview Theater: Broadway at the View, September 13-15, 2024.

3.  Downtown Longview Treasure Hunt, Saturday, March 22, 2025.

4. The Martin House Bags, Boots and Bingo–Tuesday, April 25, 2025, at Maude Cobb        Convention Center.

5. Princess in the Park, May 10, 2025, at Longview Arboretum.

For additional information call Gregg County at (903) 237-2643 or the city of Big Sandy at (903) 636-5534 or follow her on Jasmine’s ETX Ventures on Facebook.