Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media
Pictured is Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia.
A Harris County commissioner candidate has elevated efforts to remove Commissioner Adrian Garcia from office, arguing in a Texas Supreme Court filing that Garcia’s seat should have become vacant when he was appointed to the Gulf Coast Protection District.
The filing in the state’s highest court came after the First Court of Appeals denied Republican candidate Richard Vega’s legal effort in April and ruled that Garcia can keep his seat on the Harris County Commissioners Court.
Vega, who is facing Garcia in November’s election, is seeking a ruling to vacate Garcia’s position on commissioners court. He said such a vacancy could allow a special election to be called before a vote on the county budget and taxe rate in mid-September — potentially adding another Republican vote to the Democratically-held commissioners court during fiscal year 2027 budget discussions.
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“The partisan split on Commissioners’ Court is currently 4-1, but if the election is held, it could again yield a 3-2 split,” according to the recent filing. “This is a choice for the voters to make. But it reflects how important it is for the Court.”
According to state law, however, the county judge is charged with appointing a commissioner’s successor if their seat suddenly becomes vacant before the next general election. Similarly, commissioners court is charged with appointing interims when other county officials vacate their seats — including the recent appointment of former Houston City Council member Abbie Kamin to the county attorney’s position.
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Scott Spiegel, a spokesperson for Garcia’s office, called the latest legal filing a last-ditch effort and a waste of taxpayer money.
“It should be noted that two courts have already dismissed these baseless and ludicrous claims,” Spiegel said Tuesday. “The relief the plaintiff seeks is not allowable under the Texas Constitution. We will be having no further comment at this time.”
A spokesperson for the county attorney’s office said there is no provision in state law for filling a commissioners court seat by special election.
The county clerk’s office, which manages elections, deferred questions to the county attorney’s office.
In a press release Monday, Vega said a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court could allow voters to elect a commissioner before the end of the current term if a special election were to be called.
“This case is about the rule of law and the voice of the people,” Vega said. “If a vacancy occurred, then the residents of Precinct 2 have been denied their constitutional right to elect their representative.”
Vega’s lawyers argue that Garcia should have vacated his position in 2021 when he was appointed to serve on the Gulf Coast Protection District, a local government entity established by the Texas Legislature to address the Gulf Coast’s flooding risks. Legal filings assert that Garcia’s move to assume a second office conflicted with his loyalty to the commissioners court. The Texas Constitution generally restricts an elected officer from holding more than one public office at a time — accepting a second office can act as an immediate resignation of the first office.
However, acting Harris County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne argued in court in April that since Garcia’s appointment to the protection district was not legal to begin with, his appointment to the board was technically void. The appeals court in an April ruling agreed with that notion.
Fombonne said if there were any illegal expenditures through Garcia’s votes on the protection district’s board, those could be addressed by the commissioners court.
“You could ratify all those past votes to make sure there are no quote unquote illegal expenditures,” Fombonne said. “Even assuming they had identified illegal expenditures, we can take action through commissioners court to ratify them.”
Garcia accepted a four-year term on the protection district’s board in 2021, according to the lawsuit. He served simultaneously as a board member and county commissioner for one year before the lawsuit was first filed against Garcia in 2024.
The Texas Supreme Court has given Harris County until June 15 to respond to the latest filing. Vega is seeking a ruling from the office by July 6.