Judge Frieda J. Pressler, Kendall County's Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace for Nearly Four Decades, Passes Away

COMFORT, Texas — Judge Frieda J. Pressler, who served as Kendall County's Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace from 1986 until her death, has passed away.

Her passing was announced Monday, September 7, 2026 by the Kendall County Sheriff's Office.

For a large portion of Kendall County, Judge Pressler was more than a judge. She used her position in a manner to always act in the best interest of all in the community she served and loved. She held the Precinct 4 bench out of the courthouse office at 105 Amber Drive in Comfort for nearly forty years — long enough to marry couples whose parents she had married, and long enough that a generation of Comfort residents never knew anyone else in the job.

Forty years on the county's payroll, and she started in the back of an ambulance

Judge Pressler's public service in Kendall County did not begin on the bench. It began with Kendall County EMS in the early 1980s, running calls for her neighbors before she ever wore a robe.

In May 2024, Kendall County Commissioners Court recognized Pressler for 40 years of county service — a milestone that reaches back past her 1986 swearing-in to the EMS years that came before it.

She took office as Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace in 1986 and was returned to it by Precinct 4 voters election after election, most recently appearing on the ballot in 2022. Her current term runs through December 31, 2026.

What the job actually asked of her

The title "justice of the peace" undersells the work, especially in a county like Kendall.

A Texas JP issues search and arrest warrants, conducts preliminary hearings, administers oaths, performs marriage ceremonies, and presides over small claims and civil matters where the amount in dispute does not exceed $20,000. Her court also handled Class C matters involving juveniles, including referrals to the county's Youth Diversion program — an option meant to intervene with a child without harming their future chances of success by running them through the criminal system.

And in a county with no medical examiner, the justice of the peace serves as coroner.

That is the part of the job people outside the courthouse rarely think about. For nearly four decades, when someone in Precinct 4 died unexpectedly — on a highway, in a field, at home — Judge Pressler was the one called out to conduct the inquest. She stood in living rooms and on roadsides at every hour of the night and did the paperwork that lets a family bury someone. She did it for her neighbors. She did it for people she knew by name.

Nobody runs for that. She kept showing up for it anyway.

A familiar face outside the courtroom, too

Pressler was a regular presence in county civic life. In April 2022, she and Precinct 4 Constable Brian Vaughan taught a session of the Kendall County Sheriff's Office Citizens Academy, where she walked residents through the duties and the weight of her office. The sheriff's office said afterward that the two of them did a fantastic job.

She performed marriages on request, and her office door in Comfort stayed open to anyone who needed to figure out what to do next.

"A true servant's heart"

The statement announcing her death described a judge who never simply held a position, but embraced the responsibility that came with it — someone whose compassion, wisdom, kindness, and dedication touched countless lives across Kendall County.

Her legacy, it said, is not measured only by the years she served, but by the people she helped, encouraged, and cared for along the way.

Kendall County has lost a dedicated public servant, a compassionate leader, and a friend, to everyone and everything good.

Thank you, Judge Pressler, for a lifetime of service to this community. Your service has come to an end. Your legacy of service will live on in the hearts of the people you touched.

Kerrville Breaking News extends its condolences to Judge Pressler's family, her court staff, her colleagues in Kendall County, and everyone who had the privilege of serving alongside her.