{"id":81356,"date":"2025-12-09T05:19:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T05:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/81356\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T05:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T05:19:16","slug":"county-judge-parrish-removes-commissioner-corley-from-office-corley-says-move-corrupt-power-play-files-lawsuit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/81356\/","title":{"rendered":"County Judge Parrish removes Commissioner Corley from office; Corley says move \u2018corrupt power play,\u2019 files lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish announced on Monday morning that he removed Precinct 2 County Commissioner Jason Corley from office, and has sworn in a new commissioner. Corley called the move a \u201ccorrupt power play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parrish cited state law regarding a county elected official campaigning for another office in announcing the \u201cautomatic resignation\u201d of Corley.<\/p>\n

To fill the vacancy, during Monday morning\u2019s commissioners court meeting, Judge Parrish swore in Mark Meurer, of Slaton. Meurer will fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term of office.<\/p>\n

Since the developing news, Corley has now filed a lawsuit over Parrish\u2019s decision. He has filed an action against Meurer in the state district court.<\/p>\n

In the lawsuit, Corley calls Parrish\u2019s justification to remove him an \u201cextremely broad\u201d and an \u201cerroneous application\u201d of the \u201cResign to Run\u201d law. Corley insists he didn\u2019t resign his office because he did not file for candidacy for U.S. House of Representatives until the law no longer applied.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s asking the court to issue an order declaring him commissioner once again and to remove Meurer<\/p>\n

Judge Parrish said Corley expressed intent in running for Congress before making his official campaign announcement<\/a> on December 2. Parrish claims Corley \u201cbecame a candidate in fact for U.S. House of Representatives\u201d on November 12. Corley responded in a statement that he consulted multiple attorneys before announcing his candidacy, to make sure he followed every point of state law.<\/p>\n

In Texas, the \u201cResign-to-Run\u201d law<\/a> states several elected officials with more than a year and 30 days left in their current term must automatically resign before announcing their candidacy or filing to run for another office. The county commissioner\u2019s term runs through early January 2027.<\/p>\n

In November, Corley formed an exploratory committee to weigh public support of a congressional campaign<\/a>. Judge Parrish said Corley used a \u201cCorley for Congress\u201d email address, as well as graphics and a PO Box for the campaign, in a message delivered to news outlets, indicating a run for Congress.<\/p>\n

Because Corley\u2019s statements were made prior to the one year and 30 days before the expiration of his term of office, Judge Parrish declared Corley\u2019s seat vacant.<\/p>\n

Corley posted a statement on social media<\/a> calling Judge Parrish\u2019s actions an \u201coutrageous and politically driven stunt to silence the strongest advocate for accountability in Lubbock County government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corley\u2019s campaign says legal options are being pursued. <\/p>\n

When Parrish announced his re-election campaign<\/a> October 2, three candidates had already announced they would run for the Precinct 2 seat; the list did not include incumbent Corley. <\/p>\n

When KCBD asked Corley on October 2 what his plans are, Corley cited state statute specific to commissioners and several other county offices, in a printed statement: \u201cA sitting County Commissioner cannot announce his intent to run for another office until 1 year and 30 days prior to the date they would take office\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a statement Monday, Judge Parrish outlined Corley\u2019s actions with a timeline:<\/p>\n

\u201cCommissioner Corley has sent emails to several individuals stating he is a candidate for Congress. In an email on November 12, 2025, to media outlets across Texas, Mr. Corley stated he was forming an exploratory committee to assess the level of public support for his campaign for Congress. This email was sent by Jason Corley from a \u2018Corley for Congress\u2019 email address. Attached to the press release were two \u2018Corley for Congress\u2019 campaign graphics, a \u2018Corley for Congress\u2019 post office box address in Slaton, and a medica contact person also using a \u2018Corley for Congress\u2019 email address.\u201d <\/p>\n

Below is the full statement released by Corley\u2019s campaign in response Monday morning: <\/p>\n

\u201cThis morning, Judge Curtis Parrish orchestrated an outrageous and politically driven stunt meant to silence the strongest advocate for accountability in Lubbock County government by removing Commissioner Jason Corley from the seat voters elected him to.<\/p>\n

Jason Corley followed the law to the letter. Before filing, he consulted multiple attorneys to make sure his candidacy complied with every detail of Texas election law. The claim that forming an exploratory committee somehow triggered the \u2018Resign-to-Run\u2019 rule is absurd, desperate, and reeks of political manipulation.<\/p>\n

Curtis Parrish knows Jason Corley has exposed waste, fought laziness in county leadership, and demanded results for taxpayers. Parrish has spent years dodging responsibility while Jason rolled up his sleeves to get things done. Now, faced with growing public disapproval, Parrish is using his position to punish the one man unafraid to call him out.<\/p>\n

This corrupt power grab will not stand. Corley isn\u2019t going anywhere\u2014because the people of Lubbock County know who\u2019s been fighting for them and who\u2019s been hiding behind politics. <\/p>\n

\u2018The voters\u2014not a weak and threatened judge\u2014have the right to decide who represents them,\u2019 said the Corley Campaign. \u2018Curtis Parrish can try to remove Jason from office, but he can\u2019t remove the truth. Jason Corley has been the loudest, toughest watchdog for taxpayers\u2014and that fight isn\u2019t ending today.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Legal options are being pursued immediately, and the campaign will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with voters demanding honest, accountable government. This blatant political attack only proves one thing: Jason Corley\u2019s leadership has them scared. <\/p>\n

Jason Corley for Congress \u2013 Fearless. Proven. Unbought. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish announced on Monday morning that he removed Precinct 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[27022,39205,36623,31502,319,251,168,39204,170,169],"class_list":["post-81356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-corley","tag-county-commissioner-precinct-2","tag-jason-corley","tag-judge-curtis-parrish","tag-kcbd","tag-local-news","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-county-commissioners","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}