1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Thursday, January 1, 2009 11 10:00 a.m. 12 District Courtroom #1 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 PRESENT: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge 23 H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 WILLIAM "BILL" WILLIAMS, Commissioner Pct. 2 24 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 25 ABSENT: JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 2 1 I N D E X January 1, 2009 2 PAGE 3 1.1 Approve Bonds of Commissioners-elect -- 4 1.2 Administer Oath to: Judge Keith Williams, 216th Judicial District 5 5 E. Bruce Curry, 216th District Attorney 12 Amos Barton, 198th District Attorney 13 6 1.3 Administer Oaths to Commissioners-elect: 7 H.A. "Buster" Baldwin, Commissioner Precinct 1 10 Jonathan Letz, Commissioner Precinct 3 -- 8 1.4 Approval of Bonds for Mindy Williams, County 9 Treasurer; Rusty Hierholzer, County Sheriff; Diane Bolin, County Tax Assessor/Collector; 10 and Rex Emerson, County Attorney. -- 11 1.5 Administer oaths to all other Officials-elect whose terms of office commence on January 1, 2009 12 Mindy L. Williams, County Treasurer 15 Diane Bolin, Tax Assessor/Collector 16 13 Rex Emerson, County Attorney 17 David J. Billeiter, J.P., Pct. 1 19 14 John Lavender, Constable, Pct. 1 20 Joel Ayala, Jr., Constable, Pct. 2 21 15 Angel Garza, Constable, Pct. 3 22 Bob Terrill, Constable, Pct. 4 23 16 W.R. "Rusty" Hierholzer, Sheriff 25 17 1.6 Approve application of W.R. "Rusty" Hierholzer to appoint deputies -- 18 1.7 Acknowledge existence and continuation of blanket 19 bond in Sheriff's Office -- 20 1.8 Administer oaths to Sheriff's Office deputies 26 21 1.9 Approve application of Diane Bolin, Tax Assessor/Collector, to appoint deputies -- 22 1.10 Acknowledge existence and continuation of blanket 23 bond in Tax Assessor/Collector's Office -- 24 1.11 Administer oaths to 198th Judicial District Attorney's staff 28 25 3 1 I N D E X (Continued) January 1, 2009 2 PAGE 3 1.11 Acknowledge existence and continuation of all other bonds -- 4 1.12 Swearing in members of the Headwaters Board 29 5 1.13 Approve application(s) to appoint deputies or 6 assistants of all other officials-elect whose terms of office commence on January 1, 2009 30 7 1.14 Approve bonds of all other officials-elect whose 8 terms of office commence on January 1, 2009 31 9 --- Adjourned 32 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 On Thursday, January 1, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., a special 2 meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in 3 District Courtroom #1, Kerr County Courthouse, Kerrville, 4 Texas, and the following proceedings were had in open court: 5 P R O C E E D I N G S 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. 7 It's a pleasure to see all of you here today. We're really 8 excited about the crowd that we drew. I don't know what the 9 publicity may have indicated was going to go on here today, 10 but based on what I'm looking at, it doesn't appear like it's 11 going be that exciting, but we're glad to have all of you 12 here, and happy new year to all of you. Let me call to order 13 this special meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court 14 posted and scheduled for this date and time, Thursday, 15 January the 1st, 2009, at 10 a.m. It is that time now. So, 16 we're privileged to have all of you with us here today. I'd 17 like to first call on Dr. Bill Blackburn to offer a prayer to 18 begin this new year, and to help us launch the careers of -- 19 or continued careers of some of our fine elected officials in 20 Kerr County. Dr. Blackburn? 21 DR. BLACKBURN: All right. Right here? Okay. May 22 we join together in prayer? 23 (Prayer.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. The first item on the 25 agenda is the approval of the bonds of Commissioners-elect. 1-1-09 5 1 I would note for the record that those bonds were, in fact, 2 approved by Court Order Number 31139, and that was 3 accomplished on the 22nd day of December of last year. So, 4 at this time, we'll move to the second item on the agenda, 5 which is the administering of the oath to Judge Keith 6 Williams, the new District Judge of the 216th Judicial 7 District Court, and I believe Judge -- Senior Judge Robert R. 8 Barton will administer the oath to Judge Williams. 9 JUDGE BARTON: Judge, where do you want us? 10 JUDGE TINLEY: Why don't you come on up here so 11 that everyone can see? 12 (Discussion off the record.) 13 JUDGE BARTON: After the oath has been 14 administered, then Judge Williams will be robed by his wife, 15 Debbie, and Debbie's going to hold the Bible for the 16 administration of the oath. Raise your right hand, please, 17 and repeat after me: "I, Keith Williams, do solemnly swear." 18 MR. WILLIAMS: I, Keith Williams, do solemnly 19 swear. 20 JUDGE BARTON: "That I will faithfully execute the 21 duties of the office." 22 MR. WILLIAMS: That I will faithfully execute the 23 duties of the office. 24 JUDGE BARTON: "Of District Judge, 216th Judicial 25 District." 1-1-09 6 1 MR. WILLIAMS: Of District Judge, 216th Judicial 2 District. 3 JUDGE BARTON: "Of the state of Texas." 4 MR. WILLIAMS: Of the state of Texas. 5 JUDGE BARTON: "And will, to the best of my 6 ability." 7 MR. WILLIAMS: And will, to the best of my ability. 8 JUDGE BARTON: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 9 MR. WILLIAMS: Preserve, protect, and defend. 10 JUDGE BARTON: "The Constitution and laws of the 11 United States." 12 MR. WILLIAMS: The Constitution and laws of the 13 United States. 14 JUDGE BARTON: "And of this state." 15 JUDGE WILLIAMS: And of this state. 16 JUDGE BARTON: "So help me God." 17 MR. WILLIAMS: So help me God. 18 MR. BARTON: Congratulations. 19 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Thanks. 20 (Applause.) 21 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Maybe I should have taken my 22 jacket off first. 23 JUDGE BARTON: Some things you learn from 24 experience. (Laughter.) You realize that won't work. You 25 may now address him as Judge Williams. 1-1-09 7 1 (Applause.) 2 JUDGE WILLIAMS: I know the Commissioners have some 3 other business this morning, but I wanted make a few brief 4 remarks, and thank you so much for being here. So many of 5 you friends have been with me through the -- over the years, 6 and in particular this last year. I want to thank Debbie, 7 who, of course, has been with me for at least 34 years as my 8 wife, and this is a wonderful community to be in, to serve, 9 and to have friends in. I chose Robert Barton -- where's 10 Judge -- Judge Barton to swear me in because in 1978, when I 11 was a practicing lawyer in San Antonio, I had a few lawsuits 12 in the hill country, and began appearing before Judge Barton. 13 And thus began my desire and the real challenge of possibly 14 getting back to the hill country to serve up here in some 15 capacity, as an attorney or in the community or whatever. 16 And sure enough, the Lord led Debbie and I here in 1986, and 17 I've always been fond of Judge Barton and have respected his 18 wisdom and integrity on the bench all these years. 19 I want to thank Steve Ables, who is my predecessor 20 for 20 years, and Steve has served ably and well, and has 21 served all four counties and worked very hard in many 22 different capacities, not only in this capacity as 216th, but 23 as administrative judge as well, and I thank him. And I'm 24 going to be glad to be able to continue to work with him and 25 Judge Karl Prohl for the 198th District Court, to have them 1-1-09 8 1 as mentors to help me in these initial stages. I tell you, 2 I've been trying lawsuits around the state for 30 years 3 before a lot of different judges. This is going to be a real 4 unique challenge from an entirely different perspective, and 5 I relish it. I look forward to it, and I'm excited by it. 6 But I've been told by many judges, and including the judicial 7 school a few weeks ago, that this is a real -- real 8 eye-opener in terms of making the effort and serving well in 9 terms of serving justice to everybody in your communities 10 when so much is at stake, whether it's in criminal cases or 11 in civil cases. And I seek my guidance, you know from our 12 Lord. 13 I was reading last night in Deuteronomy. So many 14 of the statutes that are in Deuteronomy which God gave to 15 Moses are and remain in our -- in our system of laws today in 16 this state of Texas, and throughout the United States. So 17 many of them you can date directly back to there, but one 18 thing I kept repeating to myself and kept reviewing in the 19 Bible, in the Old Testament, is seek justice, seek justice, 20 and seek justice. And in Deuteronomy, it tells Moses, don't 21 ever, ever, ever pervert justice. Don't let, ever, in your 22 mind partiality come into play in dealing with any person 23 because of his stature, whether poor or whether rich. To 24 always seek justice, and to always treat your neighbor 25 fairly. That is my goal and that is my desire. I pledge to 1-1-09 9 1 you and all four counties of this district, in Kerrville, in 2 Fredericksburg, in Boerne, and in Bandera, that I will serve 3 to the best of my ability with integrity and fairness, and I 4 look forward to being held accountable to do that. 5 And, again, I thank you all for being here, and 6 look forward to working with those other folks that are going 7 to be sworn in today, or continuing their service. And also 8 look forward to serving with Bruce Curry and his staff, who 9 is the 216th District Attorney; has been serving in that 10 capacity so well for so many years. So, thank you so much. 11 Bruce, look forward to working with you and all of the 12 others, and thank y'all for being here. 13 (Applause.) 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, Judge Williams. The next 15 item on the agenda is to administer the oath to 16 Commissioners-elect, those being H.R. Buster Baldwin, 17 Commissioner, Precinct 1, and Jonathan Letz, Commissioner, 18 Precinct 3. Commissioner Letz was reelected. He was unable 19 to be with us today; he will be sworn in at a later date. 20 But at this time, the oath of office will be administered to 21 Precinct 1 Commissioner Buster Baldwin. 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Are you changing your mind? 23 JUDGE WILLIAMS: I'm backing out again. 24 (Laughter.) 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Do you want to wait a minute 1-1-09 10 1 to stop and do that? 2 JUDGE TINLEY: No, go ahead. Go ahead. 3 (Discussion off the record.) 4 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Raise your right hand. Repeat 5 after me: "I, H.A. 'Buster' Baldwin." 6 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I, H.A. "Buster" Baldwin. 7 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Do solemnly swear that I will 8 faithfully execute the duties." 9 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Do solemnly swear that I 10 will faithfully execute the duties. 11 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Of the office of Kerr County 12 Commissioner, Precinct 1." 13 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Of the office of Kerr County 14 Commissioner, Precinct 1. 15 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Of the state of Texas." 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Of the state of Texas. 17 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "And will, to the best of my 18 ability." 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And will, to the best of my 20 ability. 21 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Preserve, protect, and 23 defend. 24 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "The Constitution and laws of the 25 United States." 1-1-09 11 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The Constitution and laws of 2 the United States. 3 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "And of this state." 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And of this state. 5 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "And will not be interested, 6 directly or indirectly." 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And will not be interested, 8 indirectly or directly. 9 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "In a contract with or claim 10 against the County." 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: In a contract with or a 12 claim against the County. 13 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Except a contract or claim." 14 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Except a contract or claim. 15 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Expressly authorized by law." 16 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Expressly authorized by law. 17 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Or a warrant issued to the 18 Judge." 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Or a warrant issued to the 20 Judge. 21 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Or Commissioner." 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Or Commissioner. 23 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "As a fee of office." 24 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: As a fee of office. 25 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "So help me God." 1-1-09 12 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So help me God. Thank you, 2 sir. Thank you very much. 3 (Applause.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: Well, I've already made my first 5 mistake for the year. I overlooked, immediately after Judge 6 Williams was sworn in, the swearing in of our two District 7 Attorneys, so at this time, if Bruce Curry, 216th District 8 Attorney, will come forward, he will be sworn in in that 9 capacity. 10 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Bruce, would you raise your right 11 hand? Repeat after me: "I, E. Bruce Curry." 12 MR. CURRY: I, E. Bruce Curry. 13 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Do solemnly swear." 14 MR. CURRY: Do solemnly swear. 15 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "That I will faithfully execute 16 the duties." 17 MR. CURRY: That I will faithfully execute the 18 duties. 19 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Of the office of District 20 Attorney." 21 MR. CURRY: Of the office of District Attorney. 22 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "216th Judicial District." 23 MR. CURRY: 216th Judicial District. 24 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Of the state of Texas." 25 MR. CURRY: Of the state of Texas. 1-1-09 13 1 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "And will, to the best of my 2 ability." 3 MR. CURRY: And will, to the best of my ability. 4 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 5 MR. CURRY: Preserve, protect, and defend. 6 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "The Constitution and laws of the 7 United States." 8 MR. CURRY: The Constitution and laws of the United 9 States. 10 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "And of this state." 11 MR. CURRY: And of this state. 12 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "So help me God." 13 MR. CURRY: So help me God. 14 (Applause.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: And now, if Amos Barton, 198th 16 Judicial District Attorney-elect, will come forward and be 17 sworn in. 18 JUDGE PROHL: Ron, I'm not going to say this is out 19 with the old and in with the young, but it's close. 20 (Laughter.) Raise your right hand and repeat after me: "I, 21 Amos Barton, do solemnly swear." 22 MR. BARTON: I, Amos Barton, do solemnly swear. 23 JUDGE PROHL: "That I will faithfully execute the 24 duties of the office of District Attorney, 198th Judicial 25 District." 1-1-09 14 1 MR. BARTON: That I will faithfully execute the 2 duties of the office of 198th Judicial District Attorney. 3 JUDGE PROHL: "Of the state of Texas." 4 MR. BARTON: Of the state of Texas. 5 JUDGE PROHL: "And will, to the best of my 6 ability." 7 MR. BARTON: And will, to the best of my ability. 8 JUDGE PROHL: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 9 MR. BARTON: Preserve, protect, and defend. 10 JUDGE PROHL: "The Constitution and laws of the 11 United States and of this state." 12 MR. BARTON: The Constitution and the laws of this 13 state and the United States. 14 JUDGE PROHL: "So help me God." 15 MR. BARTON: So help me God. 16 (Applause.) 17 MR. BARTON: I'd like to echo just a couple of 18 things that Judge Williams said, and -- and recognize my 19 wife. She is very, very special to me, and she's sitting 20 there with my three kiddoes. Courtney, I just want to 21 publicly acknowledge the significance that you have in my 22 life, and in turn, the significance that you have to this 23 whole community. Thanks. 24 (Applause.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: The next item on the agenda is the 1-1-09 15 1 approval of bonds for Mindy Williams, County Treasurer; Rusty 2 Hierholzer, County Sheriff; Diane Bolin, County Tax 3 Assessor/Collector; and Rex Emerson, County Attorney. I 4 would note for the record that those bonds were, in fact, 5 approved on the 22nd day of December of 2008, pursuant to 6 Court Order 31139. Also, the bonds of John Lavender, Joel 7 Ayala, Angel Garza, and Bob Terrill, Constables 1, 2, 3, and 8 4, respectively, were also approved by that same court order. 9 At this time, any other elected officials whose terms 10 commence on January 1, 2009, if -- if those individuals would 11 come forward, and we will conduct the swearing in of those 12 particular county officials. 13 (Discussion off the record.) 14 JUDGE TINLEY: I will first administer the oath to 15 Mindy L. Williams, County Treasurer-elect. If you'd raise 16 your right hand and repeat after me: "I, Mindy L. Williams." 17 MS. WILLIAMS: I, Mindy L. Williams. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 19 MS. WILLIAMS: Do solemnly swear. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute." 21 MS. WILLIAMS: That I will faithfully execute. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: "The duties of the office of Kerr 23 County Treasurer." 24 MS. WILLIAMS: The duties of the office of Kerr 25 County Treasurer. 1-1-09 16 1 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 2 MS. WILLIAMS: Of the state of Texas. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 4 ability." 5 MS. WILLIAMS: And will, to the best of my ability. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 7 MS. WILLIAMS: Preserve, protect, and defend. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 9 United States." 10 MS. WILLIAMS: The Constitution and laws of the 11 United States. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 13 MS. WILLIAMS: And of this state. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 15 MS. WILLIAMS: So help me God. 16 (Applause.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Diane Bolin will now be sworn in as 18 the Kerr County Tax Assessor/Collector. If you'd raise your 19 right hand. "I, Diane Bolin." 20 MS. BOLIN: I, Diane Bolin. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 22 MS. BOLIN: Do solemnly swear. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 24 duties." 25 MS. BOLIN: That I will faithfully execute the 1-1-09 17 1 duties. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County Tax 3 Assessor/Collector." 4 MS. BOLIN: Of the office of Kerr County Tax 5 Assessor/Collector. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 7 MS. BOLIN: Of the state of Texas. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 9 ability." 10 MS. BOLIN: And will, to the best of my ability. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 12 MS. BOLIN: Preserve, protect, and defend. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 14 United States." 15 MS. BOLIN: The Constitution and laws of the United 16 States. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 18 MS. BOLIN: And of this state. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 20 MS. BOLIN: So help me God. 21 (Applause.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Mr. Emerson? Rex Emerson will now 23 be sworn in as the Kerr County Attorney. "I, Rex Emerson." 24 MR. EMERSON: I, Rex Emerson. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 1-1-09 18 1 MR. EMERSON: Do solemnly swear. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 3 duties." 4 MR. EMERSON: That I will faithfully execute the 5 duties. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 7 Attorney." 8 MR. EMERSON: Of the office of Kerr County 9 Attorney. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 11 MR. EMERSON: Of the state of Texas. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 13 ability." 14 MR. EMERSON: And will, to the best of my ability. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 16 MR. EMERSON: Preserve, protect, and defend. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 18 United States." 19 MR. EMERSON: The Constitution and laws of the 20 United States. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 22 MR. EMERSON: And of this state. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 24 MR. EMERSON: So help me God. 25 (Applause.) 1-1-09 19 1 JUDGE TINLEY: Judge Billeiter? Judge Billeiter, 2 David Billeiter will now be sworn in as Justice of the Peace 3 for Precinct 1 in Kerr County. "I, David J. Billeiter." 4 JUDGE BILLEITER: I, David J. Billeiter. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 6 JUDGE BILLEITER: Do solemnly swear. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 8 duties." 9 JUDGE BILLEITER: That I will faithfully execute 10 the duties. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 12 Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1." 13 JUDGE BILLEITER: Of the office of Kerr County 14 Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 16 JUDGE BILLEITER: Of the state of Texas. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 18 ability." 19 JUDGE BILLEITER: And will, to the best of my 20 ability. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 22 JUDGE BILLEITER: Preserve, protect, and defend. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 24 United States." 25 JUDGE BILLEITER: The Constitution and laws of the 1-1-09 20 1 United States. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 3 JUDGE BILLEITER: And of this state. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 5 JUDGE BILLEITER: So help me God. 6 (Applause.) 7 JUDGE TINLEY: John Lavender will be sworn in as 8 Constable, Precinct 1. "I, John Lavender." 9 MR. LAVENDER: I, John Lavender. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 11 MR. LAVENDER: Do solemnly swear. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 13 duties." 14 MR. LAVENDER: That I will faithfully execute the 15 duties. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 17 Constable, Precinct 1." 18 MR. LAVENDER: Of the office of Kerr County 19 Constable, Precinct 1. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 21 MR. LAVENDER: Of the state of Texas. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 23 ability." 24 MR. LAVENDER: And will, to the best of my ability. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 1-1-09 21 1 MR. LAVENDER: Preserve, protect, and defend. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 3 United States." 4 MR. LAVENDER: The Constitution and laws of the 5 United States. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 7 MR. LAVENDER: And of this state. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 9 MR. LAVENDER: So help me God. 10 (Applause.) 11 JUDGE TINLEY: Joel Ayala will be sworn in as Kerr 12 County Constable, Precinct 2. "I, Joel Ayala, Jr." 13 MR. AYALA: I, Joel Ayala, Jr. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 15 MR. AYALA: Do solemnly swear. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 17 duties." 18 MR. AYALA: That I will faithfully execute the 19 duties. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 21 Constable, Precinct 2." 22 MR. AYALA: Of the office of Kerr County Constable, 23 Precinct 2. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 25 MR. AYALA: Of the state of Texas. 1-1-09 22 1 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 2 ability." 3 MR. AYALA: And will, to the best of my ability. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 5 MR. AYALA: Preserve, protect, and defend. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 7 United States." 8 MR. AYALA: The Constitution and laws of the United 9 States. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 11 MR. AYALA: And of this state. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 13 MR. AYALA: So help me God. 14 (Applause.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Angel Garza will now be sworn in as 16 Constable, Precinct 3. "I, Angel Garza." 17 MR. GARZA: I, Angel Garza. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 19 MR. GARZA: Do solemnly swear. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 21 duties." 22 MR. GARZA: That I will faithfully execute the 23 duties. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 25 Constable, Precinct 3." 1-1-09 23 1 MR. GARZA: Of the office of Kerr County Constable, 2 Precinct 3. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 4 MR. GARZA: Of the state of Texas. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 6 ability." 7 MR. GARZA: And will, to the best of my ability. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 9 MR. GARZA: Preserve, protect, and defend. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 11 United States." 12 MR. GARZA: The Constitution and laws of the United 13 States. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 15 MR. GARZA: And of this state. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 17 MR. GARZA: So help me God. 18 (Applause.) 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Bob Terrill, Constable, Precinct 4. 20 Raise your right hand. "I, Robert 'Bob' Terrill." 21 MR. TERRILL: I, Robert "Bob" Terrill. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 23 MR. TERRILL: Do solemnly swear. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 25 duties." 1-1-09 24 1 MR. TERRILL: That I will faithfully execute the 2 duties. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 4 Constable, Precinct 4." 5 MR. TERRILL: Of the office of Kerr County 6 Constable, Precinct 4. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 8 MR. TERRILL: Of the state of Texas. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 10 ability." 11 MR. TERRILL: And will, to the best of my ability. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 13 MR. TERRILL: Preserve, protect, and defend. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 15 United States." 16 MR. TERRILL: The Constitution and laws of the 17 United States. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 19 MR. TERRILL: And of this state. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 21 MR. TERRILL: So help me God. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations, Bob. 23 (Applause.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: And at this time, Judge Karl Prohl 25 will swear in W.R. "Rusty" Hierholzer as County Sheriff. 1-1-09 25 1 (Discussion off the record.) 2 JUDGE PROHL: "I, W.R. 'Rusty' Hierholzer." 3 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I, W.R. "Rusty" Hierholzer. 4 JUDGE PROHL: "Do solemnly swear." 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Do solemnly swear. 6 JUDGE PROHL: "That I will faithfully execute the 7 duties of the office of Kerr County Sheriff." 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That I will faithfully execute 9 the duties of the office of Kerr County Sheriff. 10 JUDGE PROHL: "Of the state of Texas." 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Of the state of Texas. 12 JUDGE PROHL: "And will, to the best of my 13 ability." 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And will, to the best of my 15 ability. 16 JUDGE PROHL: "Preserve, protect and defend the 17 Constitution and laws of the United States." 18 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Preserve, protect, and defend 19 the Constitution and laws of the United States. 20 JUDGE PROHL: "And of this state." 21 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And of this state. 22 JUDGE PROHL: "So help me God." 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: So help me God. 24 (Applause.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: The next item on our agenda is to 1-1-09 26 1 approve the application of W.R. "Rusty" Hierholzer to appoint 2 deputies. That application was, in fact, approved for the 3 record on December the 22nd of last year, pursuant to Court 4 Order 31142. The next item, to acknowledge the existence and 5 continuation of the blanket bond of the Sheriff, was also 6 approved on December the 22nd of last year pursuant to Court 7 Order 31139. So, at this time, the oath will be administered 8 to the Sheriff's Office deputies. It's going to take a while 9 to get all these guys up here -- guys and gals. 10 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Do we have room in here for 11 them? 12 JUDGE PROHL: Okay. If y'all would come up, we're 13 going to do this as a group. 14 (Deputies came forward.) 15 (Discussion off the record.) 16 JUDGE PROHL: I just want you in the audience to 17 understand that Judge Williams is enjoying this so much that 18 he came up and said, "Karl," he said, "I want you to do them 19 individually so everybody can appreciate it." (Laughter.) 20 He's getting right in there. I'm going to read you the oath 21 and ask that you respond. Raise your right hand. Do you 22 each of you solemnly swear or affirm that you will faithfully 23 execute the duties of the office of Deputy Sheriff of the 24 state of Texas, and will, to the best of your ability, 25 preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of 1-1-09 27 1 the United States and of this state so help you God? The 2 answer is, "I will." 3 (Deputies responded, "I will.") 4 JUDGE PROHL: Thank you. You all have to sign 5 something. 6 (Applause.) 7 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I'd like to make one comment, 8 just real short. In my personal feelings, and I think a lot 9 of the public feels this way, I don't think we could have a 10 better group of officers that put their lives on the line 11 serving this county every day if we ever tried, and I thank 12 them for their service. Thank you. 13 (Applause.) 14 JUDGE PROHL: These are the people that let you 15 sleep well at night. But as Keith is going to learn, they're 16 the people that wake him up at 3:00 in the morning several 17 mornings. (Laughter.) 18 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: If you'll file out that door, 19 we're going to go to the jury room and let y'all each sign 20 your oaths in that jury room. 21 (Discussion off the record.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: The next item on the agenda is the 23 approval of the application of Diane Bolin, the Tax 24 Assessor/Collector, to appoint her deputies. That matter 25 was, in fact, handled on the 22nd day of December of last 1-1-09 28 1 year pursuant to Court Order 31138. The following item, the 2 acknowledgment of the existence and continuation of the 3 blanket bond of the Tax Assessor/Collector in that office, 4 was also handled on the 22nd day of December of last year, 5 and that was pursuant to Court Order 31139. At this time, 6 the oath will be administered to the staff of the 198th 7 Judicial District Attorney. 8 (Seven staff members came forward.) 9 JUDGE PROHL: This is a great District Attorney's 10 office. And, you know, we got Todd, who's probably the most 11 educated expert in the country, and now we have two former 12 Texas Rangers as investigators, so we're -- we're moving 13 along. I'm going to do y'all's as a group, if you'd raise 14 your right hand. Do you and each of you solemnly swear or 15 affirm that you will faithfully execute the duties of the 16 office of investigator, 198th Judicial District Attorney's 17 office, or Assistant District Attorney, of the State of 18 Texas, and will, to the best of your ability, preserve, 19 protect, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United 20 States and of this state, so help you God? The answer is, "I 21 will." 22 (Staff members answered, "I will.") 23 (Applause.) 24 JUDGE TINLEY: We'll move to the next agenda item. 25 Are there other bonds to be acknowledged or confirmed for any 1-1-09 29 1 other officials at this time? We'll go to the next item on 2 the agenda, the swearing in of members of the Headwaters 3 Board, if those individuals would come forward. 4 (Four Headwaters Board members came forward.) 5 JUDGE TINLEY: Get this way so -- there may be some 6 folks that want to take your picture out here. That's okay. 7 There you go. If each of you would raise your right hand 8 please. "I," state your name. 9 (Headwaters Board members repeated, "I," and stated their names.) 10 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 11 (Board members repeated, "Do solemnly swear.") 12 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 13 duties." 14 (Board members repeated, "That I will faithfully 15 execute the duties.") 16 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Headwaters 17 Underground Water Conservation District." 18 (Board members repeated, "Of the office of Headwaters Underground Water Conservation 19 District.") 20 JUDGE TINLEY: State your position, be it at large 21 or by position number. 22 (Board members stated their position.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the state of Texas." 24 (Board members repeated, "Of the state of Texas.") 25 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 1-1-09 30 1 ability." 2 (Board members repeated, "And will, to the best of my ability.") 3 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect and defend." 4 (Board members repeated, "Preserve, protect, and 5 defend.") 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 7 United States." 8 (Board members repeated, "The Constitution and laws of the United States.") 9 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 10 (Board members repeated, "And of this state.") 11 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 12 (Board members repeated, "So help me God.") 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations. 14 (Applause.) 15 16 JUDGE TINLEY: The next item on the agenda is to 17 approve the applications to appoint deputies or assistants of 18 all other elected officials-elect whose terms of office 19 commence on January 1, 2009. To the extent this matter was 20 not covered by prior Commissioners Court orders, do I hear a 21 motion to approve the agenda item? 22 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: So moved. 23 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second for 25 approval of the agenda item. Question or discussion on the 1-1-09 31 1 motion? All in favor of that motion, signify by raising your 2 right hand. 3 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 4 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 5 (No response.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. We'll move 7 to the last item on the agenda, the approval of bonds of all 8 other officials-elect whose terms of office commence on 9 January 1, 2009, to the extent those bonds have not otherwise 10 been approved by prior court orders. Do I hear a motion to 11 approve the bonds of all other officials-elect whose terms of 12 office commence on January 1, 2009? 13 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: Move approval. 14 COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS: Second. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Motion made and seconded for 16 approval of the agenda item as indicated. Question or 17 discussion? All in favor of the motion, signify by raising 18 your right hand. 19 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 21 (No response.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: The motion does carry. Thank all of 23 you for being here today. This is your county government, 24 and we are excited about your participation in it, and we 25 would ask you to continue that participation. You keep us 1-1-09 32 1 informed about what's on your mind so that we can better 2 serve you. Thank you for being here. We're adjourned. 3 (Commissioners Court was adjourned at 10:37 a.m.) 4 - - - - - - - - - - 5 6 STATE OF TEXAS | 7 COUNTY OF KERR | 8 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 9 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 10 County Clerk of the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 11 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 12 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 5th day of January, 13 2009. 14 15 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 16 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 17 Certified Shorthand Reporter 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1-1-09