An ambulance desert is defined as an area in which people are more than 25 minutes from an ambulance station. According to a national study and related research report, “Geographic Disparities in the Provision of Ambulance Services,” 94.9 percent of Texas counties include an ambulance desert. The data, released in May 2023, also indicated that Texas has the third-highest … [Read more...] about Resolution Spotlight: Rural Ambulance Funding
CJCAT Resolutions
Resolution Spotlight: Regulating Fireworks
Texas has a very diverse landscape, and the Panhandle’s fire season is basically 365 days a year, said Hutchinson County Judge Cindy Irwin. Hutchinson County is well aware of the devastation fire can cause. The Smokehouse Creek Fire, which started in Hutchinson County on Feb. 26, 2024, eventually burned more than 1 million acres across the Panhandle making it the largest … [Read more...] about Resolution Spotlight: Regulating Fireworks
Resolution Spotlight: Elections and Countywide Polling
Countywide precincts, or vote centers, allow voters the option of voting at any of the countywide polling places on Election Day instead of their assigned precinct polling location. A pilot program to test vote centers was authorized by the 79th Legislature’s House Bill 758. Vote centers have been reauthorized by the Texas Legislature ever since. Lubbock County participated … [Read more...] about Resolution Spotlight: Elections and Countywide Polling
Resolution Spotlight – County Land Use Authority
Texas counties operate within the scope of the Texas Constitution, meaning any action taken by the county must be authorized by a statute; this applies to county land use authority. Chapter 232 of the Local Government Code outlines a county’s regulatory authority related to subdivisions beginning with the following: Sec. 232.001. PLAT REQUIRED. The owner of a tract … [Read more...] about Resolution Spotlight – County Land Use Authority