LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock County tax dollars have paid for two people in the Precinct 2 commissioner position, according to county officials.
Mark Meurer was appointed to take over Precinct 2 late last year. A district court then issued a temporary order keeping Commissioner Jason Corley in that seat.
Meurer is still getting paid for the job, estimated at about $70,000 a year, and has submitted a request for more than $10,000 in legal fees.
Commissioners question what went wrong
Precinct 4 Commissioner Jordan Rackler said Meurer cannot keep the money.
“I don’t believe that Lubbock County should be paying Mark Meurer based on he hasn’t been working,” Rackler said. “I do believe that the money should be returned, and I guess as this investigation goes on, we’ll figure out some more.”
Commissioner Corley agreed, adding he hopes the situation does not betray the trust of Lubbock County.
“There’s a lot of things in government that betray the public trust,” Corley said. “Maybe this is one, maybe it isn’t. Either way, you need to make sure that people can have confidence in their government and how things are being administrated.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Cary Shaw said the pay should have been terminated and said he believes a crime has been committed.
“But my question is, Commissioner Corley was immediately terminated on pay when he was removed,” Shaw said. “Why was that not done also by the same person that removed Commissioner Corley on Mr. Muir?”
Precinct 1 Commissioner Mike Dalby said he is unsure where the process went wrong, noting this has never been a problem before.
“In my opinion this process has worked before, why didn’t it work now?” Dalby said. “The process has worked before. How come it didn’t work on this one?”
Judge cites shared responsibility
County Judge Curtis Parrish said this was not one man’s oversight, but a job for all five commissioners.
“So my… My oversight… I don’t tell the payroll department who to pay and how much to pay them,” Parrish said. “That is done by the commissioners’ court.”
While any commissioner can sign an order to stop the payments, they said they left the decision up to Parrish. Parrish said the matter is part of ongoing litigation.
Meurer and Corley are set to go before the Seventh Court of Appeals on Oct. 13 for oral arguments in Lubbock.
Meurer has been reached for comment on the matter. He has not responded.
Copyright 2026 KCBD. All rights reserved.