Texas County has three Commissioners as do all third class counties, each Commissioner serves a four year term. The election of Commissioners is staggered every two years, the District Commissioners being elected during the Presidential Election and the Presiding Commissioner in the next two years. The Presiding Commissioner is elected by the votes from the entire county.
Texas County has 17 townships and is divided into two districts, District I & II. These districts are decided by population and they are divided as equal as possible. Every ten years a census is taken and the Commission decides whether to redistrict the townships. After the 2010 census the commission had to move two townships into District I to meet this requirement.
District I
District I Commissioner is elected by the voters of 8 townships which include:
- Cass
- Clinton
- Burdine
- Date
- Morris
- Pierce
- Piney
- Sargent
District II
District II Commissioner is elected by the voters of 9 townships which include:
- Boone
- Carroll
- Current
- Jackson
- Lynch
- Ozark
- Roubidoux
- Sherrill
- Upton
What are some of the responsibilities of the Commissioners?
The Commission approves the County’s yearly budget. By state statue they cannot start the budgeting process until January 1st. It usually takes about three weeks to complete the budget. They start reviewing budget requests from each elected official. After they review these requests and make any needed changes to them, they go back to the elected officials. The commission will then meet with any official that wants to discuss his/her budget before they make their final decision. The State Statues prohibits the county from writing any checks until a balanced budget has been signed. Any amendment to the budget must be by a Commission Order.
The County Commissioners are responsible for all county owned property. This includes all real estate such as the Justice Center, Administrative Center and the Memorial Building and everything in these buildings plus county owned vehicles and equipment.
Each month the County Commissioners have the responsibility to review various reports from departments within the county, such as:
- Associate Circuit Clerk’s reports showing how much revenue has been collected in fines and fees for the month and how it has been distributed.
- Circuit Clerk/Recorder reports on monthly fees.
- Circuit Judge’s report on expenses.
- County Clerk’s report on fees his office collected for the month.
- Juvenile Division’s report on expenses.
- Prosecutor’s reports for bad check fees and child support reimbursements.
- Sheriff’s reports for his criminal miles, his Deputies’ mileage, Board of Prisoners report, and the monthly prisoner menus and inspections of the jail.
- Treasurer’s report showing sales tax revenue collected, the balances on accounts and the amount of Real Estate & Personal Property taxes collected and distributed to the schools and other county entities.
Every two weeks the Commissioners review and approve payroll and accounts payable. After approval every county check is signed by the County Clerk, Treasurer and Presiding Commissioner or Presiding Commissioner Pro-Term. The Commission approves all hiring of employees and the rate of pay for each employee.
Although Texas County has Township form of government the Commission works with each township through a contract to provide road and bridge funds to them. The commissioners also work with the townships by helping those complete required reports, discussing problems with roads and bridges, help obtain bridge inspections and offer other assistance.
County Commissioners are responsible for the emergency disaster planning for the county. If a disaster should happen it is their responsibility to provide the manpower and supplies to handle the emergency.
Where are the Commissioners?
All three Commissioners are there for Commission Sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. If the Commissioners are away from the office you can leave a message at 417-967-3222.
The present County Commissioners represent Texas County by attending regular scheduled meetings of the 17 different committees or associations. They also attend special Federal and State hearings and meetings on issues affecting Texas County.
Once a year they are required by the state statute to obtain 20 hours of training. This training is always done in Jefferson City. They also belong to the County Commissioners Association of Missouri and the Missouri Association of Counties (MAC). Each spring they attend a MAC Legislation Conference to discuss legislation bills that are being introduced that will have an effect on counties.
The most important part of being a County Commissioner is to work for and with the people of Texas County.