Fort Bend County judge retiring after 12 years on bench

SUGAR LAND, TX (KTRK) -- A Fort Bend County judge who's been on the bench for 12 years is retiring.

Judge Pedro Ruiz is leaving the public service to build a Mediation and Business Law practice as Of Counsel to the Roberts Markel Weinberg Butler Hailey Law Firm.

Ruiz was an associate judge serving Fort Bend County for the 240th, 268th, 400th and 434th Judicial District Courts. During his time as judge, Ruiz created a case management system to coordinate hearings in felony cases and organized and presided over many civil, tax, magistrate and foreclosure proceedings.

Ruiz presided as a judge in nearly 5,500 tax trials and 3,000 pre-trial hearings in civil cases in Fort Bend County. He also presided as a magistrate in more than 25,000 hearings involving criminal cases, extradition proceedings and emergency protective orders.

Before he became judge, Ruiz was a lead attorney in over 140 jury trials and nearly 5,000 criminal and juvenile cases.