Could Dallas County government be the best-kept secret in Dallas?
Most people are familiar with their City government because it is so close to them and it deals with issues that directly affect their lives, such as police, fire, trash collection, disposal of grass clippings and zoning.
County government sometimes seems further removed and is not as noticeable, but it definitely has a direct impact on everyone’s life.
Everyone who is involved in a lawsuit, records a deed to his or her house, gets married, divorced or dies in the County, serves jury duty, is a victim of criminal offense, votes, registers a car, or pays County and Parkland Hospital taxes, just to mention a few, is affected by County government.
During the next few months in the Advocate, I will have the opportunity to discuss the operations of County government and some of the current issues we on the Commissioners Court are addressing.
The governing body of the County is the Commissioner Court. The name gives the impression of a “judicial court,” but the Commissioners Court is not a “court” in the usual sense in that it functions as an “administrative” body responsible for county matters not assigned to other county elected officials.
Every County in Texas has exactly the same structure for its Commissioners Court. Each county is divided into four commissioners’ precincts, and in each of these precincts, the qualified voters elect one County Commissioner.
Lake Highlands is in Precinct 2, which also includes Lakewood, White Rock, Garland, Rowlett, Sachse, Sunnyvale and Mesquite. The entire County elects the County Judge, who is the presiding officer of the Court.
The Court is made up of four elected Commissioners and the County Judge, and each is elected to four-year terms.
The Court has specific constitutional and statutory powers and performs legislative, executive and administrative functions. The Court, as the general coordinating and administrative body for Dallas County, sets the county’s annual tax rate, and approves the county’s budget and the expenditures of all county money. It also approves Parkland Hospital’s budget and sets the hospital tax rate.
The Court appoints a number of department heads, including the Elections Administrator, Health Officers, Public Defender, Veterans Service Officer, Fire Marshall, Medical Examiner, Budget Director, Personnel Director, Public Works Director, and the Human Services Director. The Court performs a multitude of other administrative duties required by law and establishes policies and procedures for the operation of the various county departments.
It does not set nor direct the policies of the various elected officeholders or their offices, but does set each of their budgets. There are currently 91 elected officials at the County level.
Since Jan. 1, 1995, I have had the opportunity to represent the citizens of District 2 on the Commissioners Court. This has been a challenging and exciting experience. I expected the position to be hard work and to deal with issues that were controversial and subject to close public scrutiny. I haven’t been disappointed.
While most items on the court agenda have been routine and business-like, some have brought forth a great deal of soul-searching and emotion, both from the citizens of Dallas County and from the Commissioners themselves. I look forward to covering those issues with you in future articles.
The Commissioners Court is held every Tuesday morning beginning at 9 a.m. with a formalized agenda. All of you are welcome to attend our meetings. When you stop by, make sure you say hello to me.
