County Judge Enforces Code Of Ethics

CONROE, TX -- At the direction of of County Judge Craig Doyal, the county’s grant administrator and county attorney’s office have prepared a comprehensive ethics code to govern county public servants. The code will be discussed and possibly adopted at the Tuesday, Jan. 24 Commissioners Court meeting.

After being notified by County Grant Administrator Rebecca Ansley that the county needed to adapt some of its ethics policies to comply with new grant requirements, County Judge Craig Doyal directed staff, in consultation with County Attorney J.D. Lambright, to go further than those revisions and instead develop a comprehensive code of ethics.

“We only needed to make some minor adjustments for our grant compliance, but I thought it was appropriate that we should take this as an opportunity to develop a comprehensive Code of Ethics that surpasses what we already have in place.

“As we prepare to cope with tremendous growth in coming years, it is vital we have the ethical structure in place to ensure Montgomery County remains a bright, shining star among county governments in Texas.”
County staff and the County Attorney reviewed county policies from around the state, including El Paso County.

A draft of that policy will be discussed and voted on Tuesday by commissioners.
The draft includes the possible creation of a county ethics committee to handle complaints, and addresses a wide range of ethical issues, including lobbying and definitions regarding conflicts of interest.
The code will cover most county elected officials (excluding civil and criminal court judges) and “high level” county employees, generally department heads.

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