Parker County commissioners take no action on Confederate statue amid ownership debate
The Parker County Commissioners Court took no action regarding the relocation of the Confederate soldier statue that sits on the courthouse lawn at Monday’s meeting.
According to the Weatherford Democrat, the United Daughters of the Confederacy Chapter 2457 sent a letter to the commissioners court requesting the relocation of the statue, which has been on the courthouse lawn for the past 100 years.
The group wants the statue to be moved somewhere that will ensure its preservation. This comes after a petition circulated asking for its removal.
Dorothy Norred, the president of the Texas division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), said the Parker County chapter president did not have the legal right to send the letter to the commissioners court and asked that it be discarded. She added that such a letter must be sent from the Texas chapter executive board.
Norred explained that officials must determine whether the county or the UDC owns the statue. The Texas division of the UDC owns statues that have not been gifted to a city or county, she said.
Norred said she believes the state chapter owns it but has no documentation to prove that.
According to the Weatherford Democrat, the commissioners court gave permission to the UDC to erect the monument on the courthouse lawn, but there is no record if the statue was donated to the county or not.
Parker County Judge Pat Deen said more research must be done on the statue’s rightful ownership before any action is taken.
