Orange County Judge Brint Carlton announced Friday afternoon he has accepted a job in Austin and will be resigning as county judge, eight months before his term ends. Carlton lost his seat to Dean Crooks in the March Primary. Carlton issued his statement below.
People of Orange County,
This letter is to inform you of my intention to resign as Orange County Judge at 12:00 PM on Sunday, April 22, 2018. Earlier today, April 13, 2018, I accepted the position of Executive Director of the Texas Medical Board in Austin, Texas. My official start date in this new position will be on Monday, April 23, 2018.
Serving as the chief executive of my home county has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I will always have great memories of working with some outstanding public servants and getting to meet many fellow citizens of Orange County. I am extremely proud of the unprecedented financial improvements we made during my time as county judge. We turned around a broken county, bought millions of dollars in new equipment to improve services, gave employees their largest raise in over 12 years, put the county on the path to greater economic prosperity, and led Orange County through the worst natural disaster to ever strike the United States. We did all of that while lowering the property tax rate and keeping the interests of the taxpayers as the top priority.
There was much false information spread during the most recent campaign. The truth is I did not run for the position of county judge as an attempt to be a career politician and certainly not for the pay. I offered myself up to serve as county judge as a way to help my home county which desperately needed it. The majority of voters decided to go in a different direction in 2018 and my family and I are very much okay with that. Being a county judge in Orange County is very difficult on a family. However, for the situations I could control, I do know, without any doubt, that Orange County is in a far better place today than when I took office. I am proud of that accomplishment and the work of so many who helped make it possible.
Great achievements and hard work open doors to even greater opportunities. My new position will be as the chief executive of the state agency over licensing for many medical professionals. I am humbled to be entrusted with the responsibility to now look after the interests of everybody in Texas, including Orange County. My family and I are very excited to have this opportunity. This new position will require us to move to Austin. I will miss being near my family, but we are looking forward to all Austin has to offer and being closer to my wife’s family.
There are far too many people and supporters to thank for me to list them all here. However, I do want to specifically thank the following employees of Orange County: Commissioners Johnny Trahan, Barry Burton, John Gothia, and Jody Crump, Human Resources Director Lori Ardoin, County Auditor Pennee Schmitt, Orange County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Jessica Hill, and my Administrative Assistant and Court Coordinator Holly Wheeler. These individuals have done far more work than anybody will ever know. And of course, the greatest thanks from me goes to my family. Thank you to my wife, my children, my Mom and Dad, my mother-in-law and father-in-law, my sister and her husband, my brother-in-law and his wife, and my nieces and nephews. My family has been an incredible support network and has allowed me to devote so much time to making Orange County a better place.
I have always done what was best for the people during my time as county judge, and I will continue to do so in my new position. I wish Orange County nothing but the best and thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
Sincerely,
Stephen Brint Carlton
Sec. 87.041 of the TX Local Government Code is a bit confusing on replacing a lame duck county judge. Subsection (a) seems to give the remaining commissioner’s court discretion (not a mandatory requirement) to designate a replacement but then only if a there’s a majority vote and that replacement then serves till the next general election. The latter cannot be correct when a newly elected official is schedule to take office at the beginning of the next calendar year. Anyone know how this works?
What a cry baby sore looser Punk. Good riddance.
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Good riddance.
Broken County? Carlton just can’t make a public statement without bashing the prior administration can he? Sad really.
Lowered the property tax rate really? I don’t know anyone in Orange County who’s tax bill did not increase substantially during your tenure. Smoke and mirrors, lower tax rate .05% and blow up property values as much as 20%.
Picking up HIS marbles and running like a jackrabbit.
YOU HAVE MADE IT CLEAR WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO, SO JUST GO AWAY. RESIGN AS OF TODAY. YOU ARE NOW OF USE TODAY AS YOU WERE WHEN YOU TOOK OFFICE. YOU MUST HAVE PLENTY OF PULL TO GET THAT JOB……..