Texas County Courthouse Becomes First in State to Add 'In God We Trust'

"In God We Trust." On Tuesday, those four simple words were added to the walls of the Smith County Courthouse in northeast Texas.

There is a curious fact about this story, though: apparently the Smith County Court House is the first county courthouse in the history of the state of Texas to have the motto that appears on all American money, printed or minted, put on its walls. The effort was assisted by "In God We trust America," a group calling for elected officials in cities, towns and counties all across the country to post America's officially adopted national motto on the walls of their buildings.

In the case of Smith County, the addition of "In God We Trust" was voted on and approved by city commissioners last month and Tuesday was the first day that the motto appeared on the walls of the courtroom.

KLTV in Lindale, TX covered the story and spoke with Judge Joel Baker about the installation:

"We had to go through some legal channels to make sure it covered every base. We know that there may be some challengers, we've already heard some criticism but it's something that, as I said, this nation was founded on, we believe in it and supported it and we're glad it's here," says Baker.

There are over 250 counties in Texas and Smith County can claim the honor of being the first in the Lone Star State to proudly display "In God We Trust" on the walls of its courtroom.

As Judge Baker speculated above, there may be challenges to the motto coming down the pike. We will follow the story and update as needed.

(H/T - Garth Maier at KTBB in Tyler, TX)