Tarrant County Judge names GOP commissioners as meeting managers in his absence
Tarrant County Commissioners voted to allow County Judge Tim O’Hare to select a presiding officer in his absence at future court meetings.
Similarly to how a city has a dedicated mayor pro tempore run council meetings when the mayor is not present, the commissioners court presiding officer will be in charge of conducting court meetings if O’Hare is absent.
O’Hare, a Southlake Republican, named Commissioner Manny Ramirez, a Fort Worth Republican, as the presiding officer in the county judge’s absence. If O’Hare and Ramirez are both absent, Commissioner Matt Krause, a Keller Republican, will be the presiding officer.
Democrat Commissioners Roderick Miles and Alisa Simmons both opposed the motion.
Local Government Code does not specifically outline the need for this position in a county, but Tarrant County is not the first to select a county judge pro tempore. Fayette County, which is southeast of Travis County, saw its commissioners split in the decision to name one of the commissioners as the presiding officer earlier this year. Fort Bend County, southwest of Harris County, has a similar system in place.