Texas Association of Counties
For 35 years, the Texas Association of Counties (TAC) has worked to ensure that county officials have the support and resources needed to serve their constituents and employees effectively. TAC offers a broad range of member-driven services for counties including government relations, educational programs, technical and legal assistance, self-insurance pooling, as well as resource management, information technology and data services. We encourage our members to call our toll-free number (800-456-5974) with any questions they may have or visit our Web site at http://www.county.org.
Structure
The basic membership of TAC is the county entity itself; therefore, all county officials from a member county enjoy membership status. Dues are based on county population, and the organization has enjoyed 100 percent membership for a number of years. The constitution establishes a board of directors to govern operations to be made up of appointed representatives from each major county official organization. Board members serve one-year terms, and the officers serve two years. TACs risk management programs are governed by individual trustee boards composed of county officials from participating entities appointed by the TAC president with approval of TACs board of directors.
Governmental Relations
TAC takes a leadership role on the big issues that counties face, working closely with members, affiliates, and other organizations to develop and communicate consistent, unified positions on legislative issues where possible. TAC also works to create awareness of county government needs at the state and federal levels, building strong working relationships with county officials and their associations as well as legislators and their staff.
Legal Research and Information
One of county officials’ greatest challenges is ensuring that operations are within the many state and federal guidelines. TAC offers a toll-free legal hotline (888-ASK-TAC4) where TAC legal specialists assist county officials to find statutes, opinions and court cases relevant to a particular county situation. In addition, TAC provides many legal resources through its Web site.
Education
TAC provides a wide variety of training opportunities relevant to the daily challenges of public service, offering instructional programs that cover management skills, use of technology, investment options, law enforcement, judicial education, legislative strategies, and a special program for newly elected officials. TAC staff also works with county affiliate organizations to support continual improvement of their programs.
Most of our educational programs provide county officials with continuing education credit hours and are sanctioned as educationally proficient by the International Association of Continuing Education Trainers. Many TAC programs are co-sponsored by state institutions for higher learning including the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs and Texas Tech University School of Law. TAC also provides on-site training and assistance in safety, law enforcement and human resources.
TACs Web site provides a full listing of TAC and affiliate-sponsored events, online registration, and continuing credit information per county office.
Communications
The Association delivers a wide variety of print and electronic communication vehicles that help counties stay current with issues and effectively communicate with peers on job-related matters.
County, a bi-monthly publication, reaches every elected official and the major department heads in Texas county government. TAC also produces County Issues, a monthly newsletter (more frequent during legislative sessions) on legislative and other policy-related issues.
E-mail discussion groups are used to get answers to questions, share insights, and learn from the experiences of peers. TAC provides administrative support to about 15 county-related list serves, and their popularity continues to grow.
Self-Insurance Pooling and Risk Management Services
For more than 25 years, counties have been banding together through TAC to self-insure against a broad range of liabilities. Owned and managed by counties, the pools save governments and taxpayers significant dollars through combined purchasing power, innovative underwriting, and effective risk management.
County Information Project
TAC has become a central clearinghouse for county-related information. Partnerships with the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the Texas State Data Center, and other agencies provide much of the raw data, which TAC then turns into comprehensible information. A large part of this information is available on TACs Web site. TAC regularly answers questions such as What counties are comparable to mine based upon population, geographic size, tax rates, etc.? Complex questions require TAC to survey counties in order to gather the necessary information.
County Information Resources Agency (CIRA)
TACs County Information Resources Agency provides essential leadership and coordination with state agencies, the Legislature, counties, and other local governments to find solutions by leveraging technology resources and data. To date, more than 217 counties have joined. In addition, CIRA has designed and hosts more than half of all county Web sites. CIRA provides e-mail services free to county officials, and coordination and oversight of the State Office of Court Administration grant to connect county courts to high speed Internet.
Officers
Association staff is housed west of the state capitol in facilities owned by the organization at 1210 San Antonio.
Sam D. Seale, former county judge from Jackson County, has served as the Associations executive director since 1987. Association officers include Palo Pinto County Judge Mickey West, president, and Brazos County district clerk Marc Hamlin, president-elect and vice president.