In a previous article, Brownwood News compared the county judge to a president or CEO of the county, but what role do the commissioners play once elected?

Often thought of as a road commissioner, it is widely known that your elected commissioner will be responsible for the improvement of your roads and bridges. However, there is so much more to a commissioner’s position.

All Texas counties are governed by a 5-member Commissioners Court as established in the State Constitution. The commissioners will fill four of the five seats on the court. The county judge is the fifth member of the court. The county judge and commissioners all have an equal voice on the court and all 5 court members participate equally to approve or disapprove any issue that comes before the court. All court members serve staggered four-year terms with no term limits.

The court’s duties include setting tax rates, approving annual budgets, setting precinct boundaries, supervising the courthouses and jails, and overseeing construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, libraries, and parks in Brown County. The court oversees salaries of new hires for the sheriff’s office. They can implement burn bans. They decide how the county uses federal funding – like that given to Brown County for covid relief. The court will decide on property tax rates. The court has policy-making authority in most issues concerning the county.

Issues that have been recently presented in the Brown County Commissioners Court include the solar farm abatement issue, determining how to spend covid relief funds, May, Brookesmith, and Zephyr Water District improvements, and the approval of the Lake Brownwood Water Treatment System being placed on the hospital electric grid. 

The March Primary will determine the next County Commissioner for Precincts 2 and 4 as no Democratic candidates chose to run for the positions.

The candidates for Precinct 2 Commissioner are Joel Kelton (Incumbent), Jeff Hoskinson, and Bo E. Allen.

Precinct 4 Commissioner candidates are Larry Traweek (Incumbent) and George Huseman.

To view a map of the Brown County precincts, click here.