After about two decades, Judge James R. DePiazza is leaving the Precinct 2 justice of the peace court, and the two people running to succeed him on Nov. 3 come from different corners of the law.
Precinct 2 lies on the east side of Lewisville Lake. It includes southern Little Elm, western Frisco, Hackberry and Lakewood Village, according to a Denton Record-Chronicle guide to the county's justice court races published Friday. Northern Little Elm votes in a separate race, Precinct 5.
Chris Pochyla, Republican
Pochyla works as an associate magistrate judge for Frisco and The Colony and has worked in law for 25 years, the Record-Chronicle reported. He has represented landlords and has also represented low-income people in debt and eviction cases.
His campaign says he would follow the law faithfully, be fair to both sides, tighten court schedules and resolve cases promptly, and give plain information to people who come to court without a lawyer. He is a member of The Colony's chamber of commerce and for seven years advised Richardson High School's mock trial team as a volunteer lawyer.
Katrina Moore, Democrat
Moore works at a Dallas law firm as both a senior attorney and its operations administrator; the firm handles citizenship cases and family- and employment-based immigration. She has not worked on debt or eviction cases, the Record-Chronicle noted.
Her husband is a first-generation immigrant, and she helped her family through the immigration process, experience her campaign says has prepared her to help people who come to court without a lawyer. She served on Little Elm's 2025 Charter Review Committee and has volunteered with groups working on college debt and food insecurity.
Her campaign says she would weigh competing interests and steer vulnerable litigants to resources.
