Carlton Discusses Resignation

Orange County Judge Brint Carlton said he intended to serve the last months of his four-year term after losing the Republican primary last month, but an opportunity that he could not pass up became available.

On Friday, he announced he was resigning as county judge effective April 22. He will be the executive director of the Texas Medical Board.

The medical board, which oversees regulations and enforcements of physicians and physician assistants in the state, is appointed by the governor. Carlton saw the executive director’s job was opened and applied. The board offered him the job Friday and he accepted. Then he turned in his resignation.

The new job requires a person to be either a physician or a lawyer. Carlton is a lawyer and also has a master’s degree in health administration, along with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. He has worked with hospitals and medical services while serving in the U.S. Air Force. Currently, he is a major in the Air Force Reserves.

Carlton, age 36, talked with KOGT’s Gary Stelly Monday morning during “People in the Know.”

He said the four members of commissioner’s court will appoint a replacement to serve the rest of his judge’s term, which ends December 31. “Anybody in Orange County eligible to run for judge is eligible to be appointed,” he said.

Dean Crooks won the Republican nomination for Orange County judge. He may or may not have a Democratic opponent. Carlton said the Democrat candidate has said he will withdraw, but the paperwork has not been filed. Carlton said Crooks could legally be appointed to the position.

“Any sitting member of (commissioners) court is not eligible. They would have to resign to be eligible,” he said.

The agenda for the Tuesday Commissioners Court meeting has the court discussing, and possibly taking action, on the county judge’s position. Carlton said he plans to leave the room during the discussion and vote. He is not recommending anyone for the job.

Carlton lost the Republican primary race on March 6. He said he and his wife, who have two young children, had planned a vacation after the election, whether he won or lost.

He had been scheduled for his annual military active duty in April, but the Pentagon called for him to begin the stint early because of changes in the national security director position and secretary of state. He started his duty after the vacation.

His annual reserve duty for the year is complete, now. Even when he was serving in the military while county judge, he communicated daily by phone and email, he said.

Stelly asked him about the saying that a county judge needs to keep county employees happy to keep the job. Carlton said a lot of county employees were happy with his job, particularly with the pay raises last year. But the critics were loud. “People who are happy with things are less likely to go on Facebook and go on, and on, and on,” he said.

“My job (as judge) is to look out for the taxpayers as a whole, not one individual group,” he said.

The Facebook comments and other social media criticisms during the past few years have been “very, very hard on my family, my wife and my parents,” he said. He was surprised “to see how negative people can be,” he said.

Carlton considers his biggest accomplishment as building up reserves in the county budget, which was a couple of million dollars in the red when he took office. He did that without increasing taxes. Not only has the county been able to have money to pay for Tropical Storm Harvey recovery, the county has been buying new equipment without having to take out loans and go in debt, he said.