Description of County Office
‹‹ back to Elected Offices
Texas County Judge
 PDF version
The county judge is 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. Originally, the term of office for this
position was 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 contains 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 licence to
practice law. After election, however, a county
judge is required to attain thirty hours of judicial
education during their first year in office and
sixteen hours every year thereafter in order to
remain up to date regarding new laws and
procedures related to their judicial
responsibilities.
In many small counties, the county judge
presides over the constitutional county court.
While responsibilities vary from county to
county, a judge may consider criminal, civil,
probate, juvenile and mental competency
matters. In larger counties, county courts-at-law
have been created with separate judges to
handle the large amount of work these cases
generate. Also, in those counties in which the
judge has judicial responsibilities, the judge has
appellate jurisdiction over matters arising from
the justice courts.
The county judge is the presiding officer of the
commissioners court and is required by law to
perform this function when present. In the
judge’s absence, any commissioner may preside
over the court. It is incumbent upon the county
judge to carefully abide by statutes requiring
that meetings of governmental bodies be open to
the public.
The judge is also 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
judge servers as budget officer of the
commissioners court. During budget
development, the judge along with the
commissioners considers the funding necessary
for the other county offices to carry out their
duties.
County commissioners courts are responsible
for many other functions, including: supervision
and control the county courthouse, county
buildings and facilities; determining county tax
rates; and filling vacancies in elected and
appointed positions. Additionally,
commissioners courts are responsible for:
building and maintaining county roads and
bridges; letting contracts in the name of the
county; administering and making key decisions
regarding libraries, county hospitals, welfare
programs, 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 canvassing the election
returns. 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 also represent the county
at ceremonial occasions and on various boards
and committees such as regional councils of
governments. They may also serve as a member
of the governing body or as an officer or
director of another entity, except a publicly
traded corporation or a subsidiary affiliate, or
subdivision of a publicly traded corporation that
does business with the county.
The broad range of responsibilities of county
judge makes this office a very important office
in county government. With a judge’s judicial,
administrative and ceremonial duties, it also a
very high profile position.
Richard O. Avery, Director and Stacy D. Morris, Extension Program Specialist
January 2004 |
