ALTHOUGH IN MY MIND all counties are winners, I have to admit that it’s been an extremely pleasant experience for me over the past few weeks to have visited many of the counties that recently received County Best Practice Awards from the TAC Leadership Foundation. Not only do I admire those counties for the great work they are doing, but I have found it genuinely rewarding to visit their commissioners courts and come to better know the great folks who serve there.

Crossing Texas from one end to the other to honor the recipients of those awards left me with such great memories I decided to take the opportunity to share some of them with you.

My first stop on the trail of county best practice award winners was Jim Hogg County on Sept. 25. Jim Hogg County received an award for outstanding achievement in community improvement for its Vaquero celebration. Judge Agapito “Cuate” Molina and members of the Jim Hogg County Vaquero Fair Association were on-hand, along with members of their commissioners court. I remember most vividly their bright smiles and warm welcome as we met and celebrated together.

Next I traveled to Cameron County, which received an award for county exceptional delivery of service via that county's Family Learning Centers. Commissioner Edna Tamayo accepted the award. I'll never forget the joy I felt as I looked into the faces of everyone there as they recognized how much we honor them.

Oct 2-3 delivered me to Kaufman, Denton, and Tarrant Counties. Kaufman County received its award in public safety and corrections for its juvenile justice S.T.A.R. program (standing for Start Today Accepting Responsibility). Denton County received two awards: one award for exceptional delivery of service in public safety and corrections for its Mental Health Investigative Unit (MHIU) in the sheriff’s office, and a second award for superior innovation in financial and general management for its program called Piloting the Flight: Taking Management Training to a Higher Altitude. Tarrant County received one award for exceptional delivery of service technology for its Web-based crime mapping program and a second award for superior innovation in technology for its program for electronic deposits in the tax office. Presenting these awards in these counties in their own beautiful courthouses and seeing how proud the members of the commissioners courts were to have accomplished so much for their residents just deepened my own understanding of how important county government is to Texans.

While in Bexar County on Oct. 10, I got to visit the award-winning Spanish archives and once again present the outstanding achievement award to the commissioners court and those involved in establishing the archives. Texas’ heritage is a valuable resource. Seeing it so well preserved in such a traditional setting really helped me understand that even more.

Parker, Callahan and Collin counties were the next stops on this exciting trail. Parker County received its award in health and human services for its public transportation program for senior citizens. Callahan County received its award in technology for its network and telecommunications program that provided life- and property-saving services during the huge wildfires of 2005. Collin County received its award for its Operations, Fusion and Communications Center. All three of these counties’ commissioners courts, and the people who put so much effort into creating programs that are sustainable and replicable were present to share in honoring their achievements. There is nothing that compares with shaking the hands of those kinds of public servants as you honor their accomplishments.

On the whole, what stands out most in my memory about these travels across Texas is not just the wide variety of courthouse architecture but also experiencing the commitment of the county officials and employees I met. Everywhere I went, it seemed the people really understood their roles as public servants whose jobs are to help make their communities – and Texas – a great place to be. They get it.

In sum, riding the trail of some of the County Best Practice Award-winning Texas counties has provided me with wonderful opportunities to meet very many friendly, accomplished and warm people who work hard to make Texas’ counties the great places they are. I’m grateful to everyone in those counties who helped make this possible and hope that each of you will take the time to get to know them and their programs also.