Roles and Responsibilities
The roles and responsibilities of the County Judge and County Commissioner are spelled out in the statutes.
The County Judge is frequently the most visible official in county government. Often thought of as the county’s chief executive officer, a County Judge has broad judicial and administrative powers, including serving as the presiding officer of the county’s policy-making body, the Commissioners Court. Referred to as “chief justice” by early Texas constitutions, the current office of County Judge was established by the Texas Constitution of 1876.
County Judges are elected on a countywide basis. The term of office for this position was originally two years, but in 1954 the Texas Constitution was amended to increase the term of office to four years. Article V, Sections 15-18 of the Texas Constitution contain the legal basis for the office of County Judge as we know it today: There shall be established in each county in this state a County Court, which shall be a court of record; and there shall be elected in each county, by the qualified voters, a County Judge, who shall be well informed in the law of the state; shall be a conservator of the peace; and shall hold office for four years, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified…
Although they must be well informed in the law, there is no requirement for County Judges to have a formal legal education or a license to practice law.
A Constitutional County Judge is exempt from the continuing judicial education requirement for any fiscal year for which the County Judge files an affidavit with the registrar stating that the County Judge does not perform judicial functions.
In most counties, the County Judge presides over the constitutional county court. While responsibilities vary from county to county, a County Judge may consider criminal, civil, probate, juvenile, and mental competency matters and has appellate jurisdiction over matters arising from the justice courts. In some counties, county courts at law have been created with separate judges to relieve the county judge of some or all of the judicial duties of the office.
The County Judge is the presiding officer of the Commissioners Court and is required by law to perform this function when present. In the County Judge’s absence, any Commissioner may preside over the court. It is incumbent upon the County Judge to carefully abide by statutes that require meetings of governmental bodies be open to the public.
The Judge is a voting member of the Commissioners Court and works with the other four members of the court to approve the county budget and exercise administrative authority over county government operations.
County Judges do not have autonomous authority to set the business of the Commissioners Court or decide what motions will be heard; the entire court makes these decisions.
A major responsibility of the Commissioners Court relates to setting the county budget. In counties with a population under 225,000, the County Judge serves as budget officer of the Commissioners Court. During budget development, the County Judge and the Commissioners consider the funding necessary for the other county offices to carry out their duties.
County Commissioners Courts are responsible for many other functions, including:
- supervising the control of the county courthouse, county buildings, and facilities;
- determining county tax rates;
- filling vacancies in most elected and appointed positions;
- building and maintaining county roads and bridges;
- canvassing election returns;
- letting contracts in the name of the county; and
- administering and making key decisions regarding libraries, county hospitals, indigent health care, parks, and playgrounds.
County Judges perform a wide range of other administrative duties. These responsibilities include conducting hearings for beer and wine license applications, calling elections, posting election notices, and overseeing election recounts. The County Judge also serves as the county’s emergency management director and has the authority to designate an emergency management coordinator to serve as an assistant for emergency management issues.
The County Judge may represent the county at ceremonial occasions and on various boards and committees such as regional councils of governments.
The broad range of responsibilities of County Judge makes this office a very important one in county government. With a Judge’s judicial, administrative, and ceremonial duties, it also is a very high profile position.
The education requirements for both the County Judge and the County Commissioner are available on this website.
County Commissioner
The County Commissioners Court serves as the governing body in each of Texas’ 254 counties. This administrative body was established by the Texas Constitution of 1876 and is comprised of a County Judge and four County Commissioners. The major duties of the Commissioners Court involve overseeing the budgetary and policy-making functions of county government. In addition, in many counties Commissioners have extensive responsibilities related to the building and maintenance of county roads. Article V, Section 18 of the Texas Constitution contains the legal basis for the office of County Commissioner as we know it today:
Each county shall, in the manner provided for justice of the peace and constable precincts, be divided into four Commissioners precincts in each of which there shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof one County Commissioner, who shall hold his office for four years and until his successor shall be elected and qualified. The County Commissioners so chosen, with the County Judge as presiding officer, shall compose the County Commissioners Court, which shall exercise such powers and jurisdiction over all county business, as is conferred by this Constitution and the laws of the State, or as may be hereafter prescribed.
Each Commissioner is directly elected by the voters in the Commissioner’s precinct to a four-year term. Commissioners are elected on staggered terms with two precincts voting for the office of Commissioner in each general election. Precincts 2 and 4 of every county elect Commissioners the same year the Texas gubernatorial election takes place, while Precincts 1 and 3 elect their Commissioners in presidential election years. To be eligible to run for a County Commissioner seat, an individual must be a qualified voter, a resident of that precinct, and have never been convicted of a felony.
As the Commissioners Court meets to fulfill its budgetary and administrative responsibilities, each Commissioner, along with the County Judge, participates in all of the decisions and work of the court. Passing a county budget is a major undertaking for the Commissioners Court. During the budget process, Commissioners approve the employment level of the county and consider the level of funding necessary for the other county offices to carry out their duties and responsibilities.
In addition to approving the county budget, Commissioners Courts have other financial responsibilities. The Commissioners Court sets the county’s property tax rate and has the authority to grant tax abatements for economic development and authorize contracts in the name of the county.
Beyond their budget duties, Commissioners have the responsibility of providing oversight of the county’s infrastructure. They are responsible for overseeing the construction, maintenance, and improvement of county roads and bridges, establishing long-range thoroughfare, open space, and land-use plans, and acquiring property for rights of way or other uses determined to be in the public’s best interest. Commissioners serve as the road and bridge administrator in their precinct except in counties where a county unit road system has been adopted by local election. Other responsibilities include reviewing and approving subdivision platting and wastewater treatment for rural areas. Some Commissioners are also responsible for providing rural ambulance services and subsidizing rural fire protection.
Additional personnel and operating responsibilities fall under the job duties of a County Commissioner. Some of these duties include financial and law enforcement/jail needs planning, establishing Commissioner and justice of the peace precinct boundaries, and setting employment and benefit policies for the county. Commissioners Courts may also call, conduct, and certify elections, including bond elections, and appoint non-elected department heads and standing committees. Finally, as a member of the Commissioners Court, a County Commissioner may be called upon to fill vacancies in elective and appointive positions in the county and supervise and control the county courthouse, county buildings, and other county facilities.
County Commissioners have a broad range of duties. From their positions on the county’s policy-making body to their responsibility for maintaining county roads and bridges, County Commissioners are very visible representatives in county government. – Henderson County Judge Wade McKinney, also a former County Commissioner, assisted with this article.