County Attorney provides insight/reason for pending AG decision

With a decision from the Attorney General’s Opinions Committee imminent, the Breckenridge American has obtained insight and the reason behind the requested opinion from Stephens County Attorney, Gary Trammel.

The requested opinion is concerning the “application of Government Code chapter 573, regarding nepotism.” The request involves the “candidacy for sheriff of a person who is a brother of the current county judge. The requested opinion also involves associated questions regarding the county judge’s role as a member of the county commissioners court concerning the budget and election matters involving the sheriff.”

“My purpose in sending this request was to put a question to bed that had been proposed to me,” Gary Trammel, Stephens County Attorney said. “Either now or in the future depending on the outcome of the election, I thought this question would continue to be raised. Myself making a decision doesn’t carry the same weight that an Attorney General decision would. I’ve looked at other Attorney General opinions that were issued, and none compare to this one, and that’s why I made the request.”

While a request was received by the AG’s Opinion Committee in September, Trammel believes another request was sent, and not received.

“No one knew I was doing this,” Trammel said. “The first attempt was at least late February or early March, that we mailed the request to the OAG. The only issue is we didn’t send it certified mail, so the OAG didn’t receive the request. By the end of May, or early June, I asked my secretary about this, and we figured it was due to COVID-19 for the delay. We finally emailed them the request in September.”

The requested opinion sent to the Attorney General Opinion’s Committee provides 14 questions on the two brothers serving in the county positions such as:

• Can the Chief Deputy run for Sheriff if his biological brother is the current sitting County Judge?

• Can the County Judge perform all of the acts required during the election process in the primaries, as well as the general election, if his biological brother is a candidate for Sheriff?

• Can the County Judge perform his statutory duties as the chief budget officer if his biological brother holds an elected county office?

• Is the County Judge and other county commissioners prohibited from canvassing precinct returns of any race involving the biological brother of the county judge?

• Does the nepotism statute prohibit the other county commissioner’s from confirming the election of the Sheriff if one of the candidates is the biological brother of the current County Judge?

The requested opinion to the Attorney General’s Opinions Committee also provides 16 relevant Texas Attorney General Opinions and three case laws that the County Attorney deems relevant to the pending decision.

“I think the Attorney General will say that Kevin Roach can’t be appointed by Michael Roach but can be elected,” Trammel said. “As long as the voting procedures are followed, then it will not be a conflict for Michael to be involved in the canvassing of the vote.”

The Attorney General’s Opinion Committee renders decisions on an array of topics in the Texas government and will provide a pivotal decision within Stephens County.

“The Texas Attorney General, among other duties and responsibilities, is charged with defending the constitution and laws of Texas and representing the state in litigation. Part of fulfilling these responsibilities involves serving as a general counsel for the governor, the Legislature, and the agencies of the state. And so upon request by certain Texas government officials, the Opinion Committee within the Office of the Texas Attorney General issues written interpretations of existing state law. These opinions do not address factual matters nor do they create or amend existing laws. And while these opinions are considered very persuasive, they are not binding. The interpretation of state law is ultimately left to the courts and opinions can later be overruled, according to the Texas State Law Library website.

The County Attorney is expecting an answer from the AG’s opinion committee in time for the election.

“I think they’ll have a decision sometime in October, and I’d be surprised if they didn’t,” Trammel said. “The only reason that they wouldn’t is in the event of a large number of briefs sent in. They’ll read every brief and look at the case laws and make a decision.”