1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 KERR COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT 9 Special Session 10 Tuesday, January 1, 2013 11 10:00 a.m. 12 District Courtroom #1 13 Kerr County Courthouse 14 Kerrville, Texas 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 PRESENT: PAT TINLEY, Kerr County Judge H. A. "BUSTER" BALDWIN, Commissioner Pct. 1 24 TOM MOSER, Commissioner Pct. 2 JONATHAN LETZ, Commissioner Pct. 3 25 BRUCE OEHLER, Commissioner Pct. 4 2 1 I N D E X January 1, 2013 2 PAGE 3 --- Commissioners' comments 4 4 1.1 Approval of bonds of all elected officials and/or appointed officials whose bonds have 5 not previously been approved by Commissioners Court 5 6 1.2 Acknowledge existence and continuation of all 7 other bonds - 8 1.3 Approve application(s) to appoint deputies or assistants of all other elected officials 9 whose terms of office continue or commence on January 1, 2013 6 10 1.4 Administer oaths to County Commissioners with 11 terms of office beginning January 1, 2013 7 12 1.5 Administer oaths to all other elected officials and/or appointed officials whose terms of office 13 continue or commence on January 1, 2013 13 14 1.6 Administer oaths to Sheriff’s Office deputies 32 15 1.7 Administer oaths to deputy constables 34 16 1.8 Swear in directors of the Headwaters Groundwater Conservation District 36 17 --- Adjourned 37 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 On Tuesday, January 1, 2013, at 10:00 a.m., a special 2 meeting of the Kerr County Commissioners Court was held in 3 District Courtroom Number 1, Kerr County Courthouse, 4 Kerrville, Texas, and the following proceedings were had in 5 open court: 6 P R O C E E D I N G S 7 JUDGE TINLEY: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, 8 and welcome. It's good to see a full house here. Let me 9 call to order this special Commissioners Court meeting of the 10 Kerr County Commissioners Court posted and scheduled for this 11 date and time, Tuesday, January 1, 2013, at 10 a.m. It is 12 that time now. First, let me wish all of you a very happy, 13 safe, healthy and prosperous new year. We're hoping things 14 will be great for Kerr County in 2013, and most of that will 15 be because of the good citizens that we have here. At this 16 time, Commissioner Baldwin, would you offer a word of prayer 17 for us? 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I'll do that. Would you 19 stand and pray with me, please, and then we'll do the pledge 20 of allegiance to the flag. There's the flag. 21 (Prayer and pledge of allegiance.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you. If you'll please be 23 seated. At this time, if there's any member of the public or 24 audience that wishes to be heard on a matter which is not on 25 today's agenda, this is your opportunity to come forward and 1-1-13 4 1 tell us what's on your mind. If you wish to be heard on one 2 of the agenda items, we'd ask that you wait until we get to 3 that item, and when we get to that item, get my attention in 4 some manner and I'll give you the opportunity to be heard 5 when that item is called. But right now, if there's any 6 member of the public or audience that wishes to be heard on 7 any matter that is not a listed agenda item, come forward and 8 tell us what's on your mind. Seeing no one coming forward, 9 we will move forward with our agenda. Commissioner Baldwin, 10 do you have any comments you wish to make this morning 11 preliminary to the meeting? 12 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: No, sir. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Moser? 14 COMMISSIONER MOSER: The only thing I would say is 15 our country's facing challenging times. Kerr County seems to 16 be above a lot of the challenges that are going on in the 17 rest of the nation. And so I wish everybody an absolutely 18 wonderful new year, and more prosperity for all of us. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, sir. Commissioner Letz? 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Yes. I'd just like to thank 21 everyone for showing up today, like to thank all the voters 22 that reelected me. Appreciate that support that I've had 23 over the years. We have a lot of things on our plate in the 24 Commissioners Court this year, and look forward to a lot of 25 input and feedback from the public as we move forward. Thank 1-1-13 5 1 you. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Commissioner Oehler? 3 COMMISSIONER OEHLER: No, I don't have anything. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: I'd like to expand on Commissioner 5 Letz' comment about matters before the Court during the 6 coming year. We want to know what you, our constituents, 7 think about the matters that come before us. I'll speak for 8 myself. I -- I cannot read minds. Sometimes I'm not real 9 good at taking hints. I think there are a lot of husbands 10 that maybe suffer from that. But if there's a particular 11 matter that you feel strongly about, wish to have your 12 opinion heard about, let us know what's on your mind. That's 13 how we know; you tell us. We solicit your input. We want to 14 know what you think on the issues that come before the Court. 15 This is your Court. We are your public servants, and we want 16 you to participate, so please let us know what's on your 17 mind. Let's move on with our agenda. 18 First item is approval of bonds of all elected 19 officials and/or appointed officials whose bonds have not 20 been previously approved by the Commissioners Court. At our 21 last regular meeting, we approved a significant number of 22 bonds. I think all of those bonds have now been appropriate 23 action taken on them. There were some that needed riders so 24 that the obligee on the bond was properly designated. The 25 action by Commissioners Court in our regular meeting 1-1-13 6 1 approving those bonds was subject to the appropriate riders 2 designating the proper obligees on the bonds. So, at this 3 time, I think it may be appropriate, and I would accept a 4 motion to now approve those bonds with those riders on them 5 properly designating the obligees on each of those bonds. 6 COMMISSIONER MOSER: I so move. 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Second. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: We have a motion and a second as 9 indicated. Do we have any discussion concerning the motion? 10 All in favor of the motion, signify by raising your right 11 hand. 12 (The motion carried by unanimous vote.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: All opposed, same sign. 14 (No response.) 15 JUDGE TINLEY: That motion does carry. Do we have 16 any other bonds, Ms. Thompson, that are required going 17 forward on the individuals to be sworn in today -- 18 THE CLERK: No, sir. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: -- that the Court needs to recognize 20 or acknowledge? 21 THE CLERK: No, sir. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: All right. We will move on to Item 23 3, then; to approve the applications to appoint deputies or 24 assistants of all other elected officials whose terms of 25 office continue or commence on January 1, 2013. Any elected 1-1-13 7 1 official or appointed official having assistants whose 2 applications to appoint those deputies or assistants which 3 have not previously been approved by this Court? Looks like 4 we've got that covered, too. 5 THE CLERK: Yes, sir. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate it. 7 Before we administer the oaths to various elected officials, 8 in order that the photographers can have a good shot and take 9 their pictures back here, we're going to take just a moment 10 and move these two tables apart, and then we'll get on with 11 the business. If you'll give us just a second to do that. 12 (Discussion off the record.) 13 JUDGE TINLEY: At this time, I will call the fourth 14 item on the agenda; to administer oaths to County 15 Commissioners with terms of office beginning January 1, 2013. 16 The first one is H.A. Buster Baldwin, Precinct 1 Commissioner 17 of Kerr County. 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Judge Barton? 19 JUDGE TINLEY: See, we've got you a mark here. 20 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I want to talk for a minute. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Before or after? 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Right now. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Well, we're going to let 24 Judge Barton wait on you, then. 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Just give me a minute. I 1-1-13 8 1 want to invite my family up here. Last time we did this, I 2 had three grandchildren. Take a look that the herd coming in 3 here. (Laughter.) All right, Troy, no politics. This is 4 our brand-new one, Abigail. And my -- my favorite federal 5 officer got to come in today. He doesn't get to go anywhere 6 any more, but he got to show up with us today, and I 7 appreciate that. And I want to ask you, when you guys pray 8 for our troops overseas, pray for our border patrol too, 9 'cause they're the line right outside of town here. So, 10 anyway, thank you guys for being here. No swearing but me; 11 I'm the only one. 12 This is Judge Barton that has come out of 13 retirement to come over to help me out. And the reason I 14 thought of him is the -- the old district courtroom -- 15 District Clerk's Office over here, you know, used to be the 16 district courtroom, and then right outside of that was a 17 little hallway, and the District Judges had a couple of 18 little offices they sat there, but in that hallway was the 19 Law Library on four or five shelves there. And when I first 20 became a Commissioner, I was standing there one day. I had 21 -- I was going to figure this stuff out, see. I still 22 haven't, by the way. And I had a -- one of the Black 23 Statutes in my hand. I was standing there reading, and Judge 24 Barton walks in and says, "Buster, one of the most dangerous 25 things in the world is a county commissioner with a law 1-1-13 9 1 book." (Laughter.) I folded it up, haven't picked one up 2 since. But I'll never forget that, so I've asked him to come 3 back and do this thing for my last time. 4 JUDGE BARTON: Please raise your right hand and 5 repeat after me. "I, H.A. Buster Baldwin, do solemnly 6 swear." 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I, H.A. Buster Baldwin, do 8 solemnly swear. 9 JUDGE BARTON: "That I will faithfully execute the 10 duties of the office." 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: I will faithfully execute 12 the duties of the office. 13 JUDGE BARTON: "Of Kerr County Commissioner, 14 Precinct 1, of the State of Texas." 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Of Kerr County, Precinct 1, 16 of the State of Texas. 17 JUDGE BARTON: "And will, to the best of my 18 ability." 19 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And will, to the best of my 20 ability. 21 JUDGE BARTON: "preserve, protect, and defend." 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Preserve, protect, and 23 defend. 24 JUDGE BARTON: "The Constitution and laws of the 25 United States." 1-1-13 10 1 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: The Constitution and laws of 2 the United States. 3 JUDGE BARTON: "And of this state." 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And of this state. 5 JUDGE BARTON: "And will not be interested, 6 directly or indirectly." 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: And will not be interested, 8 directly or indirectly. 9 JUDGE BARTON: "In a contract with or claim against 10 the county." 11 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: In a contract with or claim 12 against the county. 13 JUDGE BARTON: "Except a contract or claim 14 expressly authorized by law. 15 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Except -- what? 16 JUDGE BARTON: "A contract or claim expressly 17 authorized by law." 18 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Except a contract or claim 19 expressly authorized by law. 20 JUDGE BARTON: "Or a warrant issued to the Judge or 21 Commissioners." 22 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Or a warrant issued to the 23 Judge or the Commissioners. 24 JUDGE BARTON: "As a fee of office." 25 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: As a fee of office. 1-1-13 11 1 JUDGE BARTON: "So help me God." 2 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: So help me God. 3 JUDGE BARTON: Congratulations. 4 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Thank you, sir, very much. 5 (Applause.) 6 JUDGE TINLEY: Any more comments, Commissioner? 7 COMMISSIONER BALDWIN: Not at this time, but I'd 8 reserve. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: That's usual. The next Commissioner 10 to be sworn in is Jonathan Letz, Kerr County Commissioner, 11 Precinct 3. 12 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I won't be nearly as 13 long-winded as Commissioner 1 was, but I will have my two 14 sons come up, Sam and Gus. And, like I said before, I'm 15 honored to be a Commissioner. Judge? 16 JUDGE TINLEY: If you'd raise your right hand, 17 please. "I, Jonathan Letz, do solemnly swear." 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: I, Jonathan Letz, do solemnly 19 swear. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 21 duties." 22 COMMISSIONER LETZ: That I will faithfully execute 23 the duties. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 25 Commissioner, Precinct 3." 1-1-13 12 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Of the office of Kerr County 2 Commissioner, Precinct 3. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the State of Texas." 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Of the State of Texas. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 6 ability." 7 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And will, to the best of my 8 ability. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 10 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Preserve, protect, and defend. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 12 United States." 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The Constitution and laws of 14 the United States. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 16 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And of this state. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will not be interested." 18 COMMISSIONER LETZ: And will not be interested. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: "Directly or indirectly." 20 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Directly or indirectly. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: "In a contract with or claim 22 against." 23 COMMISSIONER LETZ: In a contract with or claim 24 against. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: "The County, except." 1-1-13 13 1 COMMISSIONER LETZ: The County, except. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: "A contract or claim expressly 3 authorized by law." 4 COMMISSIONER LETZ: A contract or claim expressly 5 authorized by law. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "Or a warrant issued to the Judge or 7 Commissioner." 8 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Or a warrant issued to the 9 Judge or Commissioner. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: "As a fee of office." 11 COMMISSIONER LETZ: As a fee of office. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 13 COMMISSIONER LETZ: So help me God. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations, Commissioner Letz. 15 COMMISSIONER LETZ: Thank you, Judge. 16 (Applause.) 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Those are the Commissioners to be 18 sworn in today. We will go to Item 5; to administer oaths to 19 all other elected officials and/or appointed officials chose 20 terms of office continue or commence on January 1, 2013. The 21 first one is Judge N. Keith Williams, 216th Judicial District 22 Judge. 23 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Debbie? While I have Debbie 24 walking up here, we have -- I have my son and daughter and 25 son-in-law and two grandsons. And a granddaughter was going 1-1-13 14 1 to be here, but she is a little bit under the weather. But 2 I'm always proud to have them here in support, like anybody 3 that has a family there in support of them. And this is 4 Debbie, who's been such an encouragement and support to me 5 over the last almost 38 years. But I want to thank you for 6 the opportunity to serve the 216th District Court. As most 7 of you know, this is Kerr, Bandera, Kendall, and Gillespie. 8 And it's been a real joy, a privilege, an honor, and a real 9 challenge to administer the dockets and justice in those four 10 counties. And I've loved it. It's been a -- just a real 11 honor to do so, working with wonderful people. It's been a 12 joy to work with Judge Emerson, Judge Barton, Judge Ables, 13 Judge Tinley, the other elected officials. I look forward to 14 working with the new ones coming in, Scott coming in and the 15 others, and I just appreciate so much the opportunity, and we 16 do appreciate and covet your prayers for all the elected 17 officials in the next four years, as you've usually done. 18 Thank you so much for the opportunity to serve again. Okay, 19 Rex. Debbie, you get to be right here. 20 JUDGE EMERSON: "I, N. Keith Williams." 21 JUDGE WILLIAMS: I, N. Keith Williams. 22 JUDGE EMERSON: "Do solemnly swear." 23 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Do solemnly swear. 24 JUDGE EMERSON: "That I will faithfully execute the 25 duties of the office of 216th Judicial District Judge of the 1-1-13 15 1 State of Texas." 2 JUDGE WILLIAMS: That I will faithfully execute the 3 duties of the 216th Judicial District Judge, State of Texas. 4 JUDGE EMERSON: "And will, to the best of my 5 ability." 6 JUDGE WILLIAMS: And will, to the best of my 7 ability. 8 JUDGE EMERSON: "Preserve." 9 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Preserve. 10 JUDGE EMERSON: "Protect." 11 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Protect. 12 JUDGE EMERSON: "And defend." 13 JUDGE WILLIAMS: And defend. 14 JUDGE EMERSON: "The Constitution and laws of the 15 United States." 16 JUDGE WILLIAMS: The Constitution and laws of the 17 United States. 18 JUDGE EMERSON: "And of this state, so help me 19 God." 20 JUDGE WILLIAMS: And of this state, so help me God. 21 Thank you. 22 (Applause.) 23 JUDGE TINLEY: The next elected official to be 24 sworn in, E. Bruce Curry, 216th Judicial District Attorney. 25 Who's going to swear you in? 1-1-13 16 1 MR. CURRY: Pardon? 2 JUDGE WILLIAMS: I'll be happy to. 3 MR. CURRY: Anybody. Sharon, are you here? I'd 4 ask you to come up, too. 5 JUDGE WILLIAMS: She swears at you. (Laughter.) 6 MR. CURRY: I'm not going to have much to say. I 7 just want to express, likewise, my appreciation for all of 8 your support over the years. I really have enjoyed being 9 District Attorney of the 216th, for a few years. And -- 10 JUDGE WILLIAMS: How many? 11 MR. CURRY: Gee. 28. 12 JUDGE WILLIAMS: 28 years. 13 MR. CURRY: But in any event, I want to thank you 14 for everything that you've done. I've thoroughly enjoyed 15 working in this position. And this is my wife, Sharon. She 16 really runs the show, as many of you know. 17 JUDGE WILLIAMS: Bruce does run a great office. 18 It's been a real joy to work with Bruce, with his staff and 19 everybody associated with his office. It's a real challenge 20 running four counties' busy dockets, and -- and I really 21 appreciate Bruce's long-term service and his work with -- 22 with us as well. Raise your right hand. "I, E. Bruce 23 Curry." 24 MR. CURRY: I, E. Bruce Curry. 25 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Do solemnly swear." 1-1-13 17 1 MR. CURRY: Do solemnly swear. 2 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "That I will faithfully execute 3 the duties." 4 MR. CURRY: That I will faithfully execute the 5 duties. 6 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Of the office of 216th Judicial 7 District Attorney." 8 MR. CURRY: Of the office of 216th Judicial 9 District Attorney. 10 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Of the State of Texas." 11 MR. CURRY: Of the State of Texas. 12 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "And will, to the best of my 13 ability." 14 MR. CURRY: And will, to the best of my ability. 15 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 16 MR. CURRY: Preserve, protect, and defend. 17 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "The Constitution and laws." 18 MR. CURRY: The Constitution and laws. 19 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "Of the United States and of this 20 state." 21 MR. CURRY: Of the United States and of this state. 22 JUDGE WILLIAMS: "So help me God." 23 MR. CURRY: So help me God. 24 (Applause.) 25 JUDGE TINLEY: The next elected official to be 1-1-13 18 1 sworn in, Scott Monroe, 198th Judicial District Attorney. 2 MR. MONROE: Thank you for the opportunity to be 3 here. I will do my very best to make you proud of putting me 4 in this office, and I will serve the citizens of this 5 district to the very best of my ability. Thank you again. 6 Thank you again. 7 JUDGE EMERSON: Please raise your right hand. "I, 8 Scott Monroe." 9 MR. MONROE: I, Scott Monroe. 10 JUDGE EMERSON: "Do solemnly swear." 11 MR. MONROE: Do solemnly swear. 12 JUDGE EMERSON: "That I will faithfully execute the 13 duties of the office of 198th Judicial District Attorney." 14 MR. MONROE: That I will faithfully execute the 15 duties of the office of 198th Judicial District Attorney. 16 JUDGE EMERSON: "Of the State of Texas. 17 MR. MONROE: Of the State of Texas. 18 JUDGE EMERSON: "And will, to the best of my 19 ability." 20 MR. MONROE: And will, to the best of my ability. 21 JUDGE EMERSON: "Preserve." 22 MR. MONROE: Preserve. 23 JUDGE EMERSON: "Protect." 24 MR. MONROE: Protect. 25 JUDGE EMERSON: "And defend." 1-1-13 19 1 MR. MONROE: And defend. 2 JUDGE EMERSON: "The Constitution and laws of the 3 United States." 4 MR. MONROE: The Constitution and laws of the 5 United States. 6 JUDGE EMERSON: "And of this state." 7 MR. MONROE: And of this state. 8 JUDGE EMERSON: "So help me God." 9 MR. MONROE: So help me God. 10 JUDGE EMERSON: Congratulations. 11 (Applause.) 12 JUDGE TINLEY: The next elected official to be 13 sworn in, Robert Henneke, Kerr County Attorney. 14 MR. HENNEKE: Just briefly, thank you for the 15 opportunity to continue to serve you as County Attorney, and 16 I just pray for God's blessings on everyone this coming year. 17 And, of course, introduce my beautiful wife, Lesley. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: Where's the little ones? 19 MR. HENNEKE: The little ones -- we had a happy new 20 year; they were there with grandma and grandpa in Austin. 21 (Laughter.) 22 JUDGE TINLEY: If you'd raise your right hand. "I, 23 Robert Earl Henneke, do solemnly swear." 24 MR. HENNEKE: I, Robert Earl Henneke, do solemnly 25 swear. 1-1-13 20 1 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 2 duties." 3 MR. HENNEKE: That I will faithfully execute the 4 duties. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 6 Attorney." 7 MR. HENNEKE: Of the office of Kerr County 8 Attorney. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the State of Texas." 10 MR. HENNEKE: Of the State of Texas. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 12 ability." 13 MR. HENNEKE: And will, to the best of my ability. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 15 MR. HENNEKE: Preserve, protect, and defend. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 17 United States." 18 MR. HENNEKE: The Constitution and laws of the 19 United States. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 21 MR. HENNEKE: And of this state. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 23 MR. HENNEKE: So help me God. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations. 25 (Applause.) 1-1-13 21 1 JUDGE TINLEY: The next elected official to be 2 sworn in, Diane Bolin, Kerr County Tax Assessor/Collector. 3 The much loved elected officer. Do you want me to swear you 4 in? All right. If you'll raise your right hand. "I, Diane 5 Bolin." 6 MS. BOLIN: I, Diane Bolin. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 8 MS. BOLIN: Do solemnly swear. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 10 duties." 11 MS. BOLIN: That I will faithfully execute the 12 duties. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County Tax 14 Assessor/Collector." 15 MS. BOLIN: Of the office of Kerr County Tax 16 Assessor/Collector. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the State of Texas." 18 MS. BOLIN: Of the State of Texas. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 20 ability." 21 MS. BOLIN: And will, to the best of my ability. 22 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 23 MS. BOLIN: Preserve, protect, and defend. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 25 United States." 1-1-13 22 1 MS. BOLIN: The Constitution and laws of the United 2 States. 3 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 4 MS. BOLIN: And of this state. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will not be interested." 6 MS. BOLIN: And will not be interested. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: "Directly or indirectly." 8 MS. BOLIN: Directly or indirectly. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: "In a contract with." 10 MS. BOLIN: In a contract with. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: "Or a claim against the county." 12 MS. BOLIN: Or a claim against the county. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: "Except a contract or claim 14 expressly authorized." 15 MS. BOLIN: Except a contract or claim expressly 16 authorized. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: "By law." 18 MS. BOLIN: By law. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: "Or a warrant issued to the Judge or 20 Commissioner." 21 MS. BOLIN: Or a warrant issued to the Judge or 22 Commissioner. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: "As a fee of office." 24 MS. BOLIN: As a fee of office. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 1-1-13 23 1 MS. BOLIN: So help me God. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations. 3 (Applause.) 4 MS. BOLIN: I just want to say thank you for 5 electing me again. I thoroughly enjoy my job. I love 6 meeting the public, and y'all get invitations every year in 7 October to come see me. (Laughter.) 8 JUDGE TINLEY: She throws parties every year. You 9 can't complain about that, can you? The next one to be sworn 10 in is Tracy Soldan, Kerr County Treasurer. Would you like to 11 make any comments before or after? 12 MS. SOLDAN: I just want to thank everybody for 13 electing me. I feel privileged and honored. And my husband 14 leaned over and said, "You will not have me come up here." 15 (Laughter.) So I'm going to stand up here by myself. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. Would you raise your right 17 hand? "I, Tracy Soldan, do solemnly swear." 18 MS. SOLDAN: I Tracy Soldan, do solemnly swear. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 20 duties." 21 MS. SOLDAN: That I will faithfully execute the 22 duties. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 24 Treasurer." 25 MS. SOLDAN: Of the office of Kerr County 1-1-13 24 1 Treasurer. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the State of Texas." 3 MS. SOLDAN: Of the State of Texas. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 5 ability." 6 MS. SOLDAN: And will, to the best of my ability. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 8 MS. SOLDAN: Preserve, protect, and defend. 9 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 10 United States." 11 MS. SOLDAN: The Constitution and laws of the 12 United States. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 14 MS. SOLDAN: And of this state. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 16 MS. SOLDAN: So help me God. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations. 18 MS. SOLDAN: Thank you. 19 (Applause.) 20 JUDGE TINLEY: The next elected official is John 21 Lavender, Kerr County Constable, Precinct 1. 22 JUDGE BILLEITER: Anything you want to say, John? 23 MR. LAVENDER: Yes, I do. I would first like to 24 introduce my wife, the lady behind the lens over there. 25 She's my main supporter. Secondly, I appreciate everybody's 1-1-13 25 1 support, whether you're in or out of my precinct. I've 2 received support from all kinds of people during my election, 3 and I certainly appreciate that, and I promise to serve you 4 the best I can this next four years. 5 JUDGE BILLEITER: Please raise your right hand. 6 "I, John Lavender." 7 MR. LAVENDER: I, John Lavender. 8 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Do solemnly swear." 9 MR. LAVENDER: Do solemnly swear. 10 JUDGE BILLEITER: That I will faithfully execute 11 the duties of." 12 MR. LAVENDER: That I will faithfully execute the 13 duties of. 14 JUDGE BILLEITER: The office of Kerr County 15 Constable, Precinct 1." 16 MR. LAVENDER: The office of Kerr County Constable, 17 Precinct 1. 18 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Of the State of Texas." 19 MR. LAVENDER: Of the State of Texas. 20 JUDGE BILLEITER: "And will, to the best of my 21 ability." 22 MR. LAVENDER: And will, to the best of my ability. 23 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 24 MR. LAVENDER: Preserve, protect, and defend. 25 JUDGE BILLEITER: "The Constitution and laws of the 1-1-13 26 1 United States." 2 MR. LAVENDER: The Constitution and laws of the 3 United States. 4 JUDGE BILLEITER: "And of this state." 5 MR. LAVENDER: And of this state. 6 JUDGE BILLEITER: "So help me God." 7 MR. LAVENDER: So help me God. 8 (Applause.) 9 JUDGE TINLEY: The next elected official to be 10 sworn in, Joel Ayala, Kerr County Constable, Precinct 2. 11 JUDGE BILLEITER: Anything you'd like to say, Joel? 12 MR. AYALA: Well, I'd just like to say I'm humbled 13 by the support I've had the last three terms. It's been an 14 honor and a privilege to serve, and I thank you for taking 15 the faith in me, and I'll continue to do as good a job as I 16 can to serve you. 17 JUDGE BILLEITER: "I, Joel Ayala, Jr." 18 MR. AYALA: I, Joel Ayala, Jr. 19 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Do solemnly swear." 20 MR. AYALA: Do solemnly swear. 21 JUDGE BILLEITER: "That I will faithfully execute." 22 MR. AYALA: That I will faithfully execute. 23 JUDGE BILLEITER: "The duties of the office of Kerr 24 County Constable, Precinct 2." 25 MR. AYALA: The duties of Constable, Kerr County, 1-1-13 27 1 Precinct 2. 2 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Of the State of Texas." 3 MR. AYALA: Of the State of Texas. 4 JUDGE BILLEITER: "And will, to the best of my 5 ability." 6 MR. AYALA: And will, to the best of my ability. 7 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Preserve, protect and defend." 8 MR. AYALA: Preserve, protect, and defend. 9 JUDGE BILLEITER: "The Constitution and laws of the 10 United States." 11 MR. AYALA: The Constitution the laws of the United 12 States. 13 JUDGE BILLEITER: "And of this state." 14 MR. AYALA: And of this state. 15 JUDGE BILLEITER: "So help me God." 16 MR. AYALA: So help me God. 17 (Applause.) 18 JUDGE TINLEY: The next elected official to be 19 sworn in is Angel Garza, Constable, Precinct 3. Anything you 20 want to say? 21 MR. GARZA: I just want to thank the citizens in 22 Precinct 3 and of Kerr County for allowing me the privilege 23 to serve as a constable, and just thank you. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Raise your right hand, please. "I, 25 Angel Garza, do solemnly swear." 1-1-13 28 1 MR. GARZA: I, Angel Garza, do solemnly swear. 2 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 3 duties." 4 MR. GARZA: That I will faithfully execute the 5 duties. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 7 Constable, Precinct 3." 8 MR. GARZA: Of the office of Kerr County Constable, 9 Precinct 3. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the State of Texas." 11 MR. GARZA: Of the State of Texas. 12 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 13 ability." 14 MR. GARZA: And will, to the best of my ability. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 16 MR. GARZA: Preserve, protect, and defend. 17 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 18 United States." 19 MR. GARZA: The Constitution and laws of the United 20 States. 21 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 22 MR. GARZA: And of this state. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 24 MR. GARZA: So help me God. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations, Constable. 1-1-13 29 1 (Applause.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: Next elected official to be sworn in 3 is Mr. Gene Huffaker, Constable, Precinct 4, Kerr County. Do 4 you want to make any comments? 5 MR. HUFFAKER: I want to thank everybody that put 6 me here, and I'll do the best I can. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: If you'd raise your right hand, 8 please. "I, Gene Huffaker, do solemnly swear." 9 MR. HUFFAKER: I, Gene Huffaker, do solemnly swear. 10 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 11 duties." 12 MR. HUFFAKER: That I will faithfully execute the 13 duties. 14 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Kerr County 15 Constable, Precinct 4." 16 MR. HUFFAKER: Of Kerr County Constable, 17 Precinct 4. 18 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the State of Texas." 19 MR. HUFFAKER: Of the State of Texas. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 21 ability." 22 MR. HUFFAKER: And will, to the best of my ability. 23 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 24 MR. HUFFAKER: Preserve, protect, and defend. 25 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 1-1-13 30 1 United States." 2 MR. HUFFAKER: The Constitution and laws of the 3 United States. 4 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 5 MR. HUFFAKER: And of this state. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 7 MR. HUFFAKER: So help me God. 8 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations, Constable. 9 (Applause.) 10 JUDGE TINLEY: The last elected official we have to 11 be sworn in today is W.R. Rusty Hierholzer, Kerr County 12 Sheriff. 13 JUDGE BARTON: Any comments? 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I'll save them for just a few 15 more minutes. 16 JUDGE BARTON: Raise your right hand and repeat 17 after me. "I, W.R. Rusty Hierholzer." 18 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: I, W.R. Rusty Hierholzer. 19 JUDGE BARTON: "Do solemnly swear." 20 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Do solemnly swear. 21 JUDGE BARTON: "That I will faithfully execute the 22 duties." 23 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: That I will faithfully execute 24 the duties. 25 JUDGE BARTON: "Of the office of Kerr County 1-1-13 31 1 Sheriff." 2 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Of the office of Kerr County 3 Sheriff. 4 JUDGE BARTON: "Of the State of Texas." 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Of the State of Texas. 6 JUDGE BARTON: "And will, to the best of my 7 ability." 8 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And will, to the best of my 9 ability. 10 JUDGE BARTON: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Preserve, protect, and defend. 12 JUDGE BARTON: "The Constitution and laws of the 13 United States." 14 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: The Constitution and laws of 15 the United States. 16 JUDGE BARTON: "And of this state." 17 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: And of this state. 18 JUDGE BARTON: "So help me God." 19 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: So help me God. 20 (Applause.) 21 JUDGE TINLEY: Would you just make sure I haven't 22 missed any elected officials? 23 THE CLERK: No, sir. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. We'll move on to the next 25 agenda item. Item 6 is to administer oaths to the Sheriff's 1-1-13 32 1 Office deputies. This is going to create quite a crowd up 2 here, so you're going to need a few minutes to let these 3 people move up here. And the Sheriff will administer the 4 oath to his deputies. 5 (Discussion off the record.) 6 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Real quick, while they're 7 lining up, this is when I wanted to say something. I've been 8 very honored to serve this county for the last 32 years with 9 the Sheriff's Department, and I've never been prouder of the 10 officers that we have working for Kerr County than I am at 11 this point. I think every one of these gentlemen and ladies 12 have totally dedicated their life and everything else to this 13 department and to this county, and I truly appreciate that, 14 of each and every one of them. And it's going to truly be an 15 honor to swear them. You'll notice some have different color 16 uniforms. Those are people assigned to the jail that are 17 still certified officers. And then some are in their suits; 18 that's mostly our investigators and my chief deputy, Clay 19 Barton. But, you know, the one thing about it, I've seen 20 this department grow. When Clay and I first started with it, 21 I think there was 11 of us. And as far -- and that was the 22 entire department, the jail and all. And as far as right 23 now, just sworn personnel only, there's 48 sworn personnel 24 that run warrants, civil and jail and everything else. And 25 it's just an honor for me to swear these people back in. 1-1-13 33 1 What I'd like to do is, where I state my name, if you would 2 each state your name, and repeat after me. Please raise your 3 right hand. "I, W.R. Rusty Hierholzer. 4 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: I, (stated name). 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "Do solemnly swear or affirm." 6 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: Do solemnly swear or affirm. 7 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "That I will faithfully 8 execute the duties." 9 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: That I will faithfully execute 10 the duties. 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "Of the office of Kerr County 12 Deputy Sheriff." 13 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: Of the office of Kerr County 14 Deputy Sheriff. 15 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "Of the State of Texas." 16 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: Of the State of Texas. 17 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "And will, to the best of my 18 ability." 19 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: And will, to the best of my 20 ability. 21 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "Preserve, protect, and 22 defend." 23 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: Preserve, protect, and defend. 24 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "The Constitution." 25 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: The Constitution. 1-1-13 34 1 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "And the laws of the United 2 States." 3 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: And the laws of the United 4 States. 5 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "And of this state." 6 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: And of this state. 7 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: "So help me God." 8 SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES: So help me God. 9 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Thank you. 10 (Applause.) 11 SHERIFF HIERHOLZER: Before anybody leaves, we have 12 to sign our oaths. Do you have any other ones, Judge? 13 JUDGE TINLEY: Yeah, we've got a few more items to 14 do here. You've got a fine bunch of people re-upping here. 15 Okay. We'll move to the next item on the agenda, the 16 administering of oaths to the deputy constables. These would 17 be Precinct 1 deputy constables Ray Garcia, James Lang, and 18 Reagan Givens. 19 (Low-voice discussion off the record.) 20 JUDGE BILLEITER: If you'll repeat after me. "I, 21 David Billeiter." 22 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: I, (stated name). 23 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Do solemnly swear." 24 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: Do solemnly swear. 25 JUDGE BILLEITER: "That I will faithfully execute 1-1-13 35 1 the duties." 2 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: That I will faithfully execute 3 the duties. 4 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Of the office of Kerr County 5 Deputy Constable." 6 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: Of the office of Kerr County 7 Deputy Constable. 8 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Precinct 1." 9 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: Precinct 1. 10 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Of the State of Texas." 11 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: Of the State of Texas. 12 JUDGE BILLEITER: "And will, to the best of my 13 ability." 14 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: And will, to the best of my 15 ability. 16 JUDGE BILLEITER: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 17 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: Preserve, protect, and defend. 18 JUDGE BILLEITER: "The Constitution and laws of the 19 United States." 20 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: The Constitution and laws of 21 the United States. 22 JUDGE BILLEITER: "And of this state." 23 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: And of this state. 24 JUDGE BILLEITER: "So help me God." 25 DEPUTY CONSTABLES: So help me God. 1-1-13 36 1 (Applause.) 2 JUDGE TINLEY: The next item on the agenda is to 3 swear in the Directors of the Headwaters Groundwater 4 Conservation District. 5 MS. PIEPER: I don't know that we have those. 6 JUDGE TINLEY: You brought them with you. That's 7 great. 8 (Discussion off the record.) 9 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay. If you gentlemen want to come 10 up here, and when I state my name, if you will state your 11 name during the process. Each of you raise your right hand, 12 please. "I, Pat Tinley." 13 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: I (stated name). 14 JUDGE TINLEY: "Do solemnly swear." 15 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: Do solemnly swear. 16 JUDGE TINLEY: "That I will faithfully execute the 17 duties." 18 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: That I will faithfully execute 19 the duties. 20 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the office of Headwaters 21 Groundwater Conservation District Director." 22 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: Of the office of Headwaters 23 Groundwater Conservation District Director. 24 JUDGE TINLEY: "Of the State of Texas." 25 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: Of the State of Texas. 1-1-13 37 1 JUDGE TINLEY: "And will, to the best of my 2 ability." 3 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: And will, to the best of my 4 ability. 5 JUDGE TINLEY: "Preserve, protect, and defend." 6 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: Preserve, protect, and defend. 7 JUDGE TINLEY: "The Constitution and laws of the 8 United States." 9 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: The Constitution and laws of 10 the United States. 11 JUDGE TINLEY: "And of this state." 12 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: And of this state. 13 JUDGE TINLEY: "So help me God." 14 H.G.C.D. DIRECTORS: So help me God. 15 JUDGE TINLEY: Congratulations. 16 (Applause.) 17 (Low-voice discussion off the record.) 18 MS. PIEPER: Judge, we have some blank forms. 19 JUDGE TINLEY: Okay, they'll help you over here. 20 Those are the only items that we have on the agenda for 21 today. Is there any other business to come before the Court 22 on this particular agenda? Seeing no one seeking 23 recognition, we will be adjourned. 24 (Commissioners Court adjourned at 10:46 a.m.) 25 - - - - - - - - - - 1-1-13 38 1 STATE OF TEXAS | 2 COUNTY OF KERR | 3 The above and foregoing is a true and complete 4 transcription of my stenotype notes taken in my capacity as 5 official reporter for the Commissioners Court of Kerr County, 6 Texas, at the time and place heretofore set forth. 7 DATED at Kerrville, Texas, this 2nd day of January, 8 2013. 9 10 JANNETT PIEPER, Kerr County Clerk 11 BY: _________________________________ Kathy Banik, Deputy County Clerk 12 Certified Shorthand Reporter 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1-1-13