Mike D. Brown Justice Center Dedicated to County's Second-Longest Serving Judge

The Tom Green County Jail was officially dedicated as the Mike D. Brown Justice Center Friday, in honor of one of the county’s longest-serving judges. County officials, friends and lawyers gathered before the justice center in the early afternoon as incumbent county judge Steve Floyd read the official dedication of the building to his long-time mentor.

Tom Green County Historical Commission Chairman Golda Foster spoke in praise of Brown, noting a job well done. “Since I’ve been chairman in 1989, I’ve served with six judges and it’s been interesting, it’s been challenging, but the greatest fun and the most reward so far came during my service with judge Mike Brown,” she said. 

Noting the friends of Brown in attendance, Foster said, “Good friends will tell you when you leave a house and your socks don’t match or when you’ve got food in your teeth. But what we’re not really great about is patting somebody on the back and saying ‘you did a great job’. In this case, we expected a great job and he delivered time after time.”

Foster’s sentiments were shared among attendees Friday afternoon, at least one of which had made a trip into San Angelo from out of town just for the dedication. “I’m from Abilene,” said friend and business associate Linda Collins. “I came all the way down here for this.”

Collins met Brown eons ago through her work at an energy company, and said a friendship quickly blossomed out of the business relationship.

“It’s not a vendor-vendor relationship,” she said. “I feel like we’re brothers and sisters. We’ve worked with each other for such a long time. I was sad to see him go, but he looks like he’s doing really good. He’s a dynamic individual that always had the county at heart; he’s so dedicated to it.”

Brown’s mother Beatrice Brown was also present at the dedication Friday and expressed that she was very proud of her son for his achievements. She said as Brown grew up she never imagined he’d become so successful and be admired the way he his in the county, but she said, “I truly give the credit to God for how they turned out.”

Mrs. Brown wishes her son happiness for the future. “All three of my sons have turned out good,” she said. “One of them is a colonel and a pilot and one of them’s an oil man. God’s been good to me.”

Judge Mike Brown sat in the county judge’s seat from 1995 to 2013, the second-longest term in Tom Green County history. F.C. Taylor, the county’s first judge, was sworn into office in 1875. For 82 years, the county judge seat was occupied by 21 different county judges, none of which served more than 9 years. In 1957, Edd B. Keyes was elected county judge, a position he held for 30 years. Since Keyes, six judges have presided over the county, including incumbent judge Steve Floyd who took over at the end of 2013.