Richard Cortez officially started his second term as Hidalgo County judge after he was sworn into office Tuesday.

Voters elected Cortez to serve Hidalgo County for another four years in November.  A crown of people lined the county courthouse to witness the re-elected judge take his oath to continue serving Hidalgo County.

Cortez said the county faced many challenges during his first term, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the winter freeze and major flooding. Cortez said he plans to tackle poverty, which affects about 40% of the county.

"We have a lot of people here that are capable and want to work with those businesses that need labor,” Cortez said. “We know that there are labor shortages in the United States, and we think that's one of our assets that we are going to be able to provide. So that's my pledge for the next four years to try and bring investment to this area, so we can give opportunities to all of our citizens.”

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