Commissioners Court Decorum

Some 20 years ago, one of the party chairs from Milam County attended most every meeting of the Milam County Commissioners Court. Regardless of the issue at hand, the gentleman would blurt out his comments in the middle of court, recalled Milam County Commissioner Dale Jaecks.
“He would not wait to be recognized,” Jaecks said.
One day the county judge at the time, a very kind man in his late 70s, walked over to the gentleman and softly said, “You’re not going to do that in my court any more.”
“Oh yeah?” the man replied. “How are you going to stop me?”
“If you do it one more time, I’m going to put you in jail,” said the judge.
“No you’re not,” the man persisted.
The calm-mannered judge looked the man straight in the eye and said, “Just try me.”
“And that was the end of that,” Jaecks said.
Generally speaking, the Milam County Commissioners Court meetings are fairly calm, Jaecks said. Those who take the proper measures to speak in court are allowed to do so, “and we always thank them for their comments and try to act as civilized as we can.”
No legal requirement obligates commissioners court meetings to be conducted under a formal parliamentary procedure. According to Attorney General Opinion DM-228: “A commissioners court may adopt reasonable rules that are consistent with relevant provisions of law to govern the conduct of its meetings. If the court wishes to use Robert’s Rules of Order or some other formal rules, the method chosen must be consistent with law, adopted by a majority vote of the court and applied to all court members.”
The Opinion refers to Sections 81.005 and 81.006 of the Local Government Code which address the time, location, and quorum requirements of commissioners court meetings.
In addition, the Opinion states: “The court is also subject to the Open Meetings Act, but we have found no statute setting out comprehensive procedures for the conduct of commissioners court meetings.”
Legal requirements aside, some counties have decided that it is in their best interest to formally adopt rules of procedure, conduct and decorum for meetings of the county commissioners court.
“I would encourage all counties to not only adopt procedures, but to keep them close by,” said Trinity County Judge Mark Evans. In fact, Evans keeps a copy of the Trinity County rules in his courtroom desk drawer so he can refer to them during court if needed.
These can be helpful when correcting common misconceptions of the public. For instance, people often think the commissioners court meeting is a public meeting.
“The public is allowed to come and watch,” Evans said. But as the Trinity County rules state, there are procedures regarding members of the public who wish to appear before the court. Those who make an appearance are allowed five minutes and must guard their language and manner of speaking.
“If anybody says anything I think is inflammatory or insulting, I will call them down,” Evans said.
Another misconception some people have is that they can call the county office and have something put on the agenda, said Bell County Judge Jon Burrows.
“This sometimes occurs when someone has an issue with another elected official and wants to air it in court,” Burrows said.
This issue is addressed in a model set of rules of procedure, conduct and decorum for meetings of the county commissioners court, developed by Jim Allison, general counsel to the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas.
“Rules of procedure and decorum are very important for an efficient, productive commissioners court meeting,” Allison said. “The rules provide a framework for the transaction of business and inform the public on the proper procedure for presenting comments to the meeting.”
Trinity County’s policy was based on the prototype provided by Allison. Evans said.
“When you need to produce the policy, you can tell the person you are addressing: