Anyone who has ever served on the legislative committee of one of our associations of independent county officials knows that being prepared for the Regular Session takes months of work, starting way before lawmakers come to Austin in January of odd-numbered years. Whether it is the clerks, constables or commissioners, there are dozens of state laws that require altering, modernizing or fixing, but by the time the session opens, the county officials who are charged with looking out for the interests of their peers should be well prepared to discuss the bills they are supporting, as well as the concepts they know they’ll want to defeat.

Sometimes, however, circumstances cause plans to suddenly change.

In late February, for example, Attorney General Gregg Abbott issued opinion number GA-0519, requiring county clerks to redact social security numbers of living persons from all records maintained by clerks before allowing public access to the records. This primarily affected county clerks, but we district clerks were impacted also.

By signing the opinion, Abbott’s ruling delayed, and in some instances denied, attorneys, title companies, land men, banks and the general public ready access to property records – whether stored on paper, microfilm or in electronic format. Abbott’s opinion cautioned the clerks that the release of social security numbers could subject them to state and federal criminal prosecution. The result was bedlam – not only were some courthouse records suddenly marked off with yellow police tape, but real estate and finance industries were immediately shut down. Within hours, county officials and legislative advocates for the countyfocused associations as well as the interest groups mentioned above were huddling at the offices of the Texas Association of Counties to figure out a solution. County government’s crucial role in keepsaking the important records of Texans’ lives was never more evident, to legislators or the media.

Legislative leadership joined the counties and interest groups at a TAC meeting to work on an emergency legislative solution. Speaker Tom Craddick and Chairs Jim Keffer and Rick Hardcastle immediately began moving the legislation, HB 2061. Sen. Tommy Williams carried the bill in the Senate, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst helped make it a priority.

At the same time the “fix-it” bills were moving through the Legislature, county advocates had to monitor other separate redaction bills that would have obliterated the fixes and endangered the county clerks. It was an intense time.

The immediate crisis was temporarily abated when the attorney general backed off his original opinion and, within a few weeks, the more permanent solution was enacted by the Legislature and quickly signed by the governor.

But not only did the entire crisis emphasize the importance of county government’s record-keeping function, it also pointed out the importance of county officials having full access and participation in the lawmaking process in Austin. Some folks, who apparently do not understand the intricate intertwining that exists between state and county government operations, have urged legislators to ban what they call “taxpayer funded lobbying.” In truth, each of the independent offices of county government must pay constant attention to the hundreds or even thousands of bills that affect their local office.

A seemingly simple word change in the law – from “may” to “shall” for example – can have a tremendous impact on how we do our day-to-day business. And those changes can have a significant, negative effect on local taxpayers.

I want to thank all the county officials and staff advocates who participate in representing county government at our State Capitol. It is important that they continue to stand up for the institutions of county government and the interests of Texas.