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Harris County Administration Building in downtown Houston.
Harris County commissioners on Thursday selected Deputy County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne to serve as the county’s interim chief legal advisor, after delaying an appointment for months.
The appointment was prompted by County Attorney Christian Menefee’s run for Houston’s 18th Congressional District. He has been serving as acting county attorney since announcing his candidacy for Congress last March.
Before his appointment Thursday, Fombonne served as Menefee’s direct advisor and oversaw the county’s litigation efforts.
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“The most rewarding part of this job has been partnering with each of you to help move this county forward,” Fombonne told commissioners Thursday, “whether it’s taking delinquent property tax in-house, negotiating closing the purchase of land to expand the Armand Bayou nature preserve, providing legal support during disasters.”
Harris County
Interim Harris County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne
Menefee announced his resignation from the county attorney position last March, when he decided to run for the congressional seat vacated by late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died earlier that month at age 70. But Menefee continued serving in an acting capacity until Fombonne’s appointment.
Menefee is competing against former Houston City Council Amanda Edwards, a fellow Democrat, in a Jan. 31 special election runoff to complete Turner’s term. Though commissioners were charged with appointing Menefee’s interim replacement, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said during a December press briefing that commissioners made a decision to wait until 2026 to make the appointment for logistical reasons.
Though Menefee provided legal counsel to the county government and acted as its representative in litigation, he’s repeatedly used his position to fight President Donald Trump’s administration in federal court. It’s not clear if Fombonne will take a similar approach to the position, which he will hold until the end of this year.
“I see the county attorney’s job as being a practical partner to this court,” Fombonne told county commissioners. “Helping you understand the legal landscape, finding solutions to legal problems, raising issues when we need to and staying out of the way when we don’t.”
In a Thursday statement following the new appointment, Menefee credited career attorneys who carried out his vision for the position. He said he was most proud to have proved that local government can be “bold, smart and effective all at once.”
“I didn’t run for County Attorney to hold a title, I ran to build an office that shows up for people, and that’s what we did,” he said. “We took on hard cases, powerful interests, and delivered real results for working families.”
The county attorney position will be on Harris County election ballots later this year. Three candidates filed to run for the position: Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin and civil court Judge Audrie Lawton-Evans, who are both Democrats, and Republican Jacqueline Lucci Smith, a former civil court judge who once worked in the county attorney’s office.