The state’s record-breaking drought has turned Judge Steve Ellis’ fields of coastal Bermuda grass into desert wastelands. Some cows that formerly feasted on the grass and hay are gone now; Ellis says the drought has forced him to sell 20 heifers he wanted to keep.
Regardless of the plight of his cattle operation, Ellis, judge of the 35th District Court in Brownwood, considers himself lucky when he compares his losses to the suffering of other residents of Brown and Mills counties. Ellis connects with his community on many levels outside of his courtroom.
