The decision came after Mark Goloby and Richard Vega, the Republican nominee facing Garcia in November, sued Harris County in August 2024 alleging Garcia’s 2021 appointment to the Gulf Coast Protection District constituted a “conflicting loyalty,” and should by law trigger an automatic resignation from Commissioners Court.
Harris County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne argued in court that Garcia’s appointment was illegal to begin with and therefore void from the start. The First Court of Appeals agreed, ruling the move violated a “common law incompatibility” prohibiting officials from appointing themselves to other offices.
Therefore, Garcia’s appointment was ”void and did not affect his resignation as a county commissioner,” according to the court’s opinion.
Vega said in a statement that he plans to appeal the decision to the Texas Supreme Court.
“Our legal team is examining this matter at the highest level of the state judiciary, and we intend to continue forward with this process because we believe strongly that we have a legitimate case on behalf of the people of Harris County,” he said.
A spokesperson for Garcia’s campaign said the lawsuit was nothing more than an attempt to overrule the will of Precinct 2 voters.
“Republicans have tried for years to unseat Commissioner Adrian Garcia,” Grant Martin said. “After losing again and again at the ballot box, they’re now wasting taxpayer dollars by filing frivolous lawsuits. Voters know and trust Commissioner Garcia’s steady, responsible leadership – and they will continue to keep him in office.”
The Texas Constitution bans public officials from holding two paid offices. Common law incompatibility extends beyond that, drawing on judicial precedent to prohibit officials from appointing or employing themselves and from accepting positions with “conflicting loyalties.”
Accepting a conflicted second role is considered an automatic resignation from the first under common law incompatibility.
Vega and Goloby argued that, since the Gulf Coast Protection District contracts with Harris County, Garcia’s appointment constituted a conflicting loyalty, and that he had effectively resigned from Commissioners Court. The pair asked the court to make him resign and call a special election to replace him. They also asked that any 3-2 votes Garcia decided on Commissioners Court be nullified.
The First Court of Appeals, however, said the first step in evaluating the claim was to determine whether the appointment itself was legitimate — and the court found it was not. As a result, the court ruled, Garcia never truly joined the flood board and thus never held two offices at once.
Created in 2021 to take a regional approach to flood management, the Gulf Coast Protection District is led by an 11-person board of directors, with one appointed by each of the five counties — Harris, Galveston, Orange, Chambers and Jefferson — and the remainder by the governor. Garcia was named to represent Harris County in August 2021, roughly a month after the district was created.
Harris County Flood Control Director Tina Petersen was appointed to replace Garcia in August 2024, the same month Vega and Goloby filed their lawsuit, according to court filings.hold