Tracking the Lege/p.35 New life for an old cemetery/p.46 Best Practices: Tarrant County/p.48 CountyA Publication of the Texas Association of Counties VOL. 32, NO. 1 / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 COUNTY.ORG/MAGAZINE Goddess of Liberty, Texas State Capitol FIND TAC WHEREVER YOU ARE. At the courthouse, out in the community or on the road… Facebook.com/TexasCounties Twitter.com/TexasCounties YouTube.com/TexasCounties Instagram.com/TexasCounties county.org Stronger Connections = Stronger Counties From Anderson to Zavala and every county in between, you can count on TAC’s extensive legal and legislative resources, educational opportunities, county news and best practices, essential data and invaluable information right at your fingertips. county.org NEW TAC Social Media Ad 2016.indd 2 11/27/17 11:36 AM Contents FIND TAC WHEREVER YOU ARE. At the courthouse, out in the community or on the road… Facebook.com/TexasCounties 48 Twitter.com/TexasCounties YouTube.com/TexasCounties Instagram.com/TexasCounties 39 54 25 35 county.org Highlights Departments IN MEMORIAM p.19 COVER STORY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S Remembering the dedicated county TRACKING THE TEXAS REPORT p.7 officials we lost in 2020. LEGISLATURE p.35 New year, new members, new session. Here’s why TAC is a county official’s Stronger Connections COUNTY ASSOCIATION most trusted source of information on VOICES OF COUNTY LEADERSHIP GUIDE p.32 legislative matters. GOVERNMENT p.25 = Stronger Counties Contact information for all county Q&A with Grimes County Commissioner official associations and their leaders. Barbara Henley Walker. From Anderson to Zavala and every NEW FACES IN THE LEGE p.39 Meet the freshman class of the 87th county in between, you can count on 2020 BEST PRACTICES AWARDS: Texas Legislature. COUNTY INFORMATION TAC’s extensive legal and legislative TARRANT COUNTY p.48 PROGRAM p.59 The first in a yearlong series recognizing p.52 Trends in voter registration. resources, educational opportunities, STATE BUDGET PROPOSALS initiatives in county government. Lawmakers take first budget-writing county news and best practices, essential steps. data and invaluable information right at TECH’S REMOTE CHALLENGE p.54 Tom Green County’s creative solutions your fingertips. to IT issues posed by COVID-19. county.org 3 COUNTY MAGAZINE / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 NEW TAC Social Media Ad 2016.indd 2 11/27/17 11:36 AM Credits County map of Lavaca County. Photo: Laura Skelding TAC Board of Directors & Magazine Staff 2021 Officers & Board of Directors Magazine Staff President Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe Chuck Statler Publisher Renee Couch Hays County Commissioner Taylor County Commissioner Susan M. Redford Comal County Treasurer Executive Director Lisa Johnson Ben Zeller President-Elect Hemphill County District/ Victoria County Judge Senior Communications Manager Kim Halfmann County Clerk Gene Acuña Glasscock County Judge Ex Officio Members Stacey Kemp Larry Gallardo Managing Editor Vice President Collin County Clerk Immediate Past President Jody Seaborn Nathan Cradduck Hidalgo County Constable Tom Green County Auditor Kristen L. Klein Contributing Writers Guadalupe County Auditor NACo Representatives Tim Brown, Erica Macioge, Shiloh Perry, Secretary J.D. Clark Brenda Lincke Fisseler, Jody Seaborn, Cindy Yeatts Brown Carlos B. Lopez Wise County Judge Zelma Smith Denton County Treasurer Travis County Constable, Precinct 5 B. Glen Whitley Art Director Members Tarrant County Judge David Garcia Tim Addison Gary Maddox Yoakum County Commissioner Lamb County Sheriff Senior Graphic Designer Kristen Benavides Rick Bailey Jackie Miller Jr. Johnson County Ellis County Justice of the Commissioner Peace, Precinct 2 On the Cover The Goddess of Liberty atop the Texas Laurie K. English Randy H. Riggs State Capitol. 112th District Attorney McLennan County Tax Photo: Shutterstock.com Assessor-Collector 4 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 / COUNTY MAGAZINE Executive Director's Report Contact Us! We’re here to help. Staff Directory: county.org/whotocontact Main number: (800) 456-5974 TAC Legal Helpline: (888) ASK-TAC4 Texas Association of Counties Mission Statement The mission of the Texas Association of Counties is to unite counties to achieve better solutions. County, a bimonthly magazine, is distributed to every elected county official and county auditor in Texas’ 254 counties. Other readers include purchasing agents, budget and planning administrators, appointed department heads, state legislators and state agency personnel. Reproduction of this magazine, in whole or in part, is permissible only upon express written authorization from the publisher and when proper credit, including copyright acknowledgment, is given to Texas Association of Counties’ County magazine. ©2020, Texas Association of Counties. Published by the Texas Association of Counties, P.O. Box 2131, Austin, Texas 78768-2131. Telephone: (512) 478-8753, Facsimile: (512) 478-0519. www.county.org. Articles in County magazine that refer to issues that could be considered by the Texas Legislature may be interpreted to be “legislative advertising,” according to Texas Gov’t. Code Ann §305.027. Disclosure of the name and address of the person who contracts with the printer to publish the 5 legislative advertising in County magazine is required by that law: Susan M. COUNTYRedford, 1210MAGAZINE San Antonio, / JANUARY-FEBRUARY Austin, Texas 78701. 2021 Executive Director's Report Bee County Courthouse 6 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 / COUNTY MAGAZINE Photo: Laura Skelding Executive Director's Report A new year, new members and a new legislative session: TAC is here to help anuary brings closest to the people, and your state representative and about not only a state senator need to hear from you. Our goal is to provide J new year but also you the information you need to better understand the new members to the issues confronting county government to enable you to county family. Welcome engage with your members of the Legislature. We offer to all of our newly elected a wealth of resources, not only in the legislative section county officials! The of our website, but also in our weekly “TAC on the Lege” dedicated staff at the video series and our weekly County Issues newsletter. Texas Association of Counties looks forward Back by popular demand is our Commissioners Court to working with you Administrative Training program. These four-hour sessions through education, legal, were created to help commissioners court members and legislative, health and risk other county officials who are involved in the budget Susan M. Redford issues. There is no better process stay up to date on best practices for budgeting. Executive Director Texas Association of Counties family than the family of In collaboration with the V.G. Young Institute of County elected county officials Government, each workshop will provide an in-depth look in Texas! at county budgeting and the tax rate calculation process, open meeting and posting requirements, recent legislative With January also comes the 87th Texas Legislature, changes, and effectively communicating the budget which gaveled itself into session on Jan. 12. This will be a process to the public. challenging session for local officials on a number of fronts. The Legislature will be facing tough decisions regarding While we are still navigating the waters of COVID-19, the state budget and redistricting. Your TAC Legislative this year’s Healthy County Boot Camp and County Court Services team will be closely watching legislations on these Assistants Training Conference will be held virtually. issues. We will also watch other bills that impose unfunded Healthy County Boot Camp is scheduled for Feb. 11-12 and mandates on counties or attempt to prohibit counties' the County Court Assistants Training Conference will be ability to influence legislation that creates hardships for Feb. 17-19. You can find more information about both on local government or your affiliate associations. www.county.org. We look forward to in-person conferences again in the near future, but until pandemic conditions You can see the bills we are tracking on www.county.org/ improve, your health and safety are our priorities. legislative. We also hope you can join us virtually each Tuesday morning as our team briefs county officials on 2021 is off to a fast start, and it is proving to be yet another these issues. exciting year. We are here to stand for your success as you serve the members of your county. Please do not hesitate This year, more than any previous year, it is critical to call on us at any time. Stay safe. We remain #254Strong! that you as a local elected official get involved in the legislative process. There will be many challenges to the decision-making authority of local county officials. You are representatives of the branch of government that is COUNTY MAGAZINE / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 7 Clipboard / News You Can Use TEXAS A SSOCIAT ION OF C OUNT IES C OUNT Y I NFORMAT ION R ESOURCES A GENCY (TAC CIRA) Technology Solutions for Counties • Website hosting • Email services • Website content management • Website management training • Website posting guide, best practices resources and more • Domain name registration and hosting • Electronic payment services TAC CIRA has provided Texas counties with reliable technology services and experienced support since 2001. We can help you, too. Contact us today! county.org/TAC-CIRA / [email protected] / (800) 456-5974 8 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021 / COUNTY MAGAZINE Clipboard / News You Can Use Healthy County Boot Camp goes online ue to the ongoing said. “Having it online, we are hoping COVID-19 pandemic, the we can get more people to attend. D 2021 Healthy County Boot We want to show them how much Camp will be a virtual conference. we appreciate everything they do During Healthy County Boot Camp, for us.” county officials and employees who serve as wellness points of contacts The conference is a chance to learn about new TAC Health and TEXAS connect with county wellness points Employee Benefits Pool (TAC HEBP) of contact in light of travel limitations WE ARE Healthy County initiatives for STRONG imposed over the past year.