Mr. George Baroody spoke at the June 12th Commissioners’ Court meeting in regard to whether Harley could be removed due to a felony offense that took place over 50 years ago when he was 16 years old. After court, he sent the email below to further clarify his points. I believe he may be correct. Interestingly, the same arguments could be made in regard to the recent House of Representatives impeachment of District Attorney Ken Paxton. I hope the Texas Senate will take the time to refer to the election code and come to the same conclusion; that Ken Paxton cannot be removed from office for an alleged offense that took place prior to his election. It is interesting that the House impeachment came out at the same time that DA Paxton called for Speaker Dade Phelan to resign after attempting to conduct the people’s business on the floor of our House while intoxicated. It’s sad to see all of these politically motivated attacks against conservatives. Trump, Paxton and Belew. Wonder who’s next?
From: George Baroody <baroodyg@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, June 12, 2023 1:52 PM
To: cojudge@co.kerr.tx.us; hbelew@co.kerr.tx.us; rpaces@co.kerr.tx.us; jletz@co.kerr.tx.us; dharris@co.kerr.tx.us
Subject: Commissioner Belew Issue…
Good Afternoon,
Thanks for the opportunity to speak this morning and while I left before hearing the Judge’s comments, I was able to review briefly and I think it warrants some clarification.
As I stated this morning, and you can verify yourself in Texas Election Code (Chapter 141) the relevant ‘qualifications’ everyone has been speaking of (no prior conviction of felony unless pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities) are to qualify a candidate for public office, NOT to actually hold public office.
Texas Election Code 141.034 states “an application for a place on the ballot may not be challenged for compliance with the applicable requirements as to form, content, and procedure after the 50th day before the date of the election for which the application is made.”
We are now past that deadline. Mr Belew was subsequently elected and by canvassing the election the Commissioners Court affirmatively certified Mr Belew as being qualified to hold office.
With the exception of a recall petition, the removal of an elected commissioner is governed by statutes in TLGC Chapter 87. This chapter begins by stating “An officer may not be removed under this chapter for an act the officer committed before election to office.”
The felony conviction, released or not, occurred prior to election. The application for candidacy, accurate or not, was completed prior to election. So unless current charges of incompetency, official misconduct or intoxication are being levied (TLGC 87.013), then this method of removal is not applicable.
The local District Attorney has filed a quo warranto to force Mr. Belew to prove he is qualified to hold office. I submit that the meeting minutes from the canvassing of the election in 2020 should suffice as proof and could voluntarily be provided by the Commissioner’s Court.
It is not completely accurate to say that the Commissioner’s Court has nothing to do with this action. The Court had executive session meetings before this DA petition was filed and could have reviewed the matter. Presumably at least the Judge had conversations with the DA previously because he was quoted as saying that Mr Belew could potentially be removed from office for this.
The petition and potential subsequent trial to remove Mr Belew is in direct conflict with Texas Election Code and if allowed to proceed is nothing more than a disenfranchisement of the voters in Precinct One that elected Mr Belew.
When each of you took office, you swore to uphold the laws of this state, so don’t the Texas Election Code and Texas Local Government Code warrant defending when it relates to the disenfranchisement of voters in Precinct One??
Thanks,
George Baroody