Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham has named a panel of 36 business and civic leaders to rate candidates seeking appointment as Fannin County Commissioner Precinct #1.
Panelists include the mayors of Bonham, Savoy, Ravenna and hopefully Ector, church and business leaders, and other respected citizens. Panelists do not include members of the press, county employees, county officials, or candidates running for county office.
The Panel has already begun reviewing applications submitted by qualified candidates, and advising the judge. While no deadline has been set to complete the selection process, qualified candidates are encouraged
to submit their applications as soon as possible.
To be qualified, a candidate must meet the requirements set out at Section 141.001 of the Texas Election Code. The code generally provides that in order to be eligible for public office, a candidate must be a US citizen, over 18 years of age; must not have been determined to be mentally incapacitated or be convicted of an unpardoned felony; must have resided continuously in Texas for 12 months, and in Precinct #1 for 6 months.
While important, county road and bridge building and maintenance is only part of a county commissioner¡¦s job.
The job includes:
- Serving as a member of the commissioners court
- Representing one of four precincts within the county
- Typically responsible for building and maintaining county roads and bridges within that precinct.
The commissioners court conducts the general business of the county and consists of the county judge and four commissioners.
The court:
- „h Adopts the county¡¦s budget and tax rate
- „h Adopts ordinances and zoning
- „h Approves all budgeted purchases of the county
- „h Fills vacancies in most elective and appointive offices
- „h Sets all salaries and benefits
- „h Has exclusive authority to authorize contracts
- „h Provides and maintains all county buildings and facilities
- „h Plans and sets policies
Again, Judge Cunningham is asking for any qualified candidate, willing to serve, to step forward and submit an application for consideration.
Applications are available through the county judge¡¦s office which can be contacted by telephone at 903-583-7455 or by email at countyjudge@fanninco.net.
The application may also be downloaded from the Fannin County website homepage: https://www.co.fannin.tx.us/ .
The selection process is intended to be transparent and will be conducted pursuant to Section 87.042 of the Texas Local Government Code.
