Plano City Council, meeting remotely April 13 through videoconference, approved the reappointment of eight judges to the municipal court. (Screenshot via Plano TV)

Eight judges were reappointed April 13 to the Plano Municipal Court, where they will each serve a four-year term.Plano City Council approved the appointments of Chief Municipal Judge Donald Stevenson as well as seven other judges with a combined 146 years of experience.Council members Maria Tu and Shelby Williams opposed the measure on the grounds that they preferred the judges be appointed to terms of two years instead of four.Shorter terms would allow the judges to interact more with the council and possibly promote the advancement of judges with less tenure, Tu said.But Stevenson told council members he believed shorter terms would make it more difficult to recruit attorneys to fill open judge positions, since they are required to leave their private practice to join the court.Council members approved the measure by a 6-2 vote. The vote was held remotely via videoconference as a precaution against the coronavirus.Chief municipal judge—Donald J. Stevenson, 23 yearsSenior associate judge—James Michael McCarthy, 24 yearsSenior associate judge—Paul F. McNulty, 12 yearsSenior associate judge—Cathy D. Haden, 23 yearsAssociate judge—Gwen A. Baumann, 22 yearsAssociate judge—Efren Ordoñez, 20 yearsAssociate judge—Aaron S. Kaufman, 19 yearsAssociate judge—Esther A. Grossman, 3 years