Bunkie city judge ending 36 years on the bench

There will be a new judge in Bunkie on January 1. Bunkie Judge James Mixon will be retiring as city judge after serving 36 years -- six terms -- on the bench.
Mixon, 70, decided not to seek re-election in November and Digger Earles was elected to replace Mixon. A ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. on Dec. 29, to swear in Earles. Mixon will serve until Dec. 31. The ceremony will be held at the City Court Room.
Mixon is only the second judge to serve as Bunkie’s City Judge since the court was formed in 1956. Judge James N. Lee served as the first judge for 22 years before being elected to the 12th Judicial District judgeship in 1978.
Mixon won his first race for the judgeship by 119 votes. In the other five elections, Mixon was only opposed once -- by Dan McKay in 1990.
“When I started in the court room, I was by myself,” Mixon said. “We didn’t have a city prosecutor, so everything was heard in open court.” Mixon said there were six bars in Bunkie when he took office and each Monday most of the cases heard in court dealt with issues from the bars the previous weekends. The courtroom would be packed with spectators wanting to hear what happened over the weekend.
Today, Renee Roy is the city prosecutor, there are no bars in the city Bunkie and hardly any spectators come to the courtroom.
There was one case heard in Mixon’s courtroom in the early 1980’s that drew regional attention. The late John K. Snyder, then the mayor of Alexandria, was arrested by Bunkie Police on a charge of criminal damage to property. The colorful mayor was dating a Bunkie woman and was accused of breaking a lock on a door. When the case went to Bunkie City Court, Snyder first called Mixon a “two-bit judge.”
Mixon determined that someone with Snyder had actually broken the lock. Charges against Snyder were dropped, but the case attracted attention from newspapers and local television stations.
“You hear some very interesting things sitting on the bench in a city court,” Mixon said. “Most cases were very serious, but there were times when things would make you laugh while you kept a serious look on your face.”
After 41 years of practicing law, many people don’t realize that Mixon taught and coached at Bunkie High School for four years after he finished college. He then went to LSU Law School for three years and started his law practice in 1973.
“Getting a law degree, I thought I was going to make the big bucks. That didn’t happen,” Mixon said. “So I went to work with Tom Durham, working with oil leases.” He then went to work with W.A. Moncrief, who was trying to develop oil leases with the Tuscaloosa Trend before there was fracking and horizontal drilling.
“Mr. Moncrief was ahead of his time with the oil exploration, but after two years, I realized he was fixing to move me away from Bunkie because nothing was developing with the oil exploration,” Mixon recounted. “It was then that the judgeship for Bunkie became open.”
Mixon had some political experience because he ran for mayor in 1974 against incumbent Warren Constant. Mixon finished second in the race, but did not receive enough votes to force a runoff.
Mixon went 35 years without one of his cases being appealed to the Court of Appeals in Lake Charles. This year he had two. One decision was upheld and a decision in the other is still pending.
He has served 32 years on the Red River Law Enforcement District (RRLED), the last five as president. RRLED serves an eight-parish area of central Louisiana and awards grants to law enforcement agencies and crime victim organizations. Bunkie Mayor Mike Robertson will replace Mixon on the RRLED board.

“It has been a good ride and lot of fun,” Mixon said. “The practice of law can be fun and enjoyable, plus the people of Bunkie have allowed me to serve as judge for six terms. I thanked them for that honor." He will continue his private law practice in Bunkie.

"Having served 36 years is long enough,” he continued. “I am ready to go fishing on Mondays -- if my wife lets me.”