The Menard County Republican Party Executive Committee made an effort to meet on Sunday, February 13, in the Commissioner’s Courtroom at 4:00p.m. The meeting had been previously scheduled for January 30, but was cancelled due to illness. Other than word-of-mouth, neither meeting date was formally publicized outside of noticing the executive committee members. Although the agenda was not posted, word spread from committee members that an item of meeting business would be areas in which some members of the committee feel the current County Judge, Brandon Corbin, has failed to meet expectations leading up to the March 1 Republican County Judge primary. Dependent upon the outcome of that discussion, actions could be taken, such as the county republican party rescinding their support of Judge Corbin as the candidate in the primary election (censure). Corbin is challenged for the spot on the Republican ballot by Bruce Hough. Judge Corbin was invited by members to address the committee at the Sunday meeting. Despite no publicization of the meeting, close to 40 members of the community packed the Commissioner’s Courtroom on Sunday.
Preceding the meeting, the available agenda copies were passed down the rows of seats for the group of over 30 attendees to share. Prior to the meeting being called to order, approximately 13 of the attending community members signed up to speak in the public comments portion of the meeting. Several more in the crowd stated that they were unsure of signing up to speak, because they wanted to ask the committee a direct question. Roberts Rule of Order traditionally allows those who sign up a chance to speak, but does not require a response from the committee to whom they are addressing. Some guests were left in limbo after a committee chair remarked that they would not be answering questions at this gathering.
The meeting was called order by the Republican Party Chair Susan Williamson. Roll was called with executive committee members Marsha Stabel, Precinct 4 chair; Nancy Jacoby, Precinct 3 chair; Lisa Clark, Precinct 1 chair; and Susan Williamson, County Chair all in attendance. At this time, Precincts 2, 3, and 5 are vacant following the resignations of Kevin Malcolm, Jaime Roy Jacoby, and Kitty Havens. In June, those slots will be filled by Gary Roberson, Precinct 2; Virginia Hill, precinct 3; and Jimmy McCollum, Precinct 5. Until the new precinct chairs are installed in June, the only voting members within the committee are Susan Williamson, Nancy Jacoby, Marsha Stabel, and Lisa Clark.
After the pledges and approving of minutes, the floor was yielded to the first citizen signed up to address the committee. A timekeeper was in place to keep each comment at 3 minutes per person. Most speakers spoke highly of the job Judge Corbin has done leading the county during the late Judge Dr. Cordes’s unfinished term. While many of the outspoken attendees voiced their support for Corbin, other guests remained silent, so their preferences are unknown. One attendee was quoted as saying: “If this [allegations possibly resulting in censure] were happening to any other candidate I’d be here doing the same thing for them.”
Upon the death of Judge Dr. Cordes, then-County Attorney Tom Roberson was appointed County Judge. In 2020, the Menard County Republican Party selected Corbin as their nominee to run in the special election to officially complete Cordes’s unfinished term. Corbin defeated the democratic candidate in the special November election and was named County Judge. Some communitymembers who addressed the committee thanked Judge Corbin for not abandoning his job duties as Chief Officer of Operations at Menard Manor after he was elected during the pandemic. The crowd applauded in agreement.
This is where the meeting took an unexpected turn. In their public comments, multiple community members questioned the lack of notice given for the meeting by the Menard County Republican Party. In the past, the committee has provided notice for their meetings both on their Facebook page and through the local newspaper, The Menard News. Members of the crowd, including local attorney Valera Corbin (also Judge Brandon Corbin’s wife), cited the Texas Open Meeting Act governing governmental agencies, boards, and committees. The Open Meetings Act requires entities under its jurisdiction follow stringent rules regarding publicly posting planned meetings in an approved manner, complete with meeting agendas for at least 72 hours prior to a meeting. Valera Corbin cautioned the committee that if the Texas Open Meeting Act was not properly followed, a breach in protocol could lead to both civil and criminal charges.
Discussion commenced between members of the committee and members of the gallery. Committee Chairperson Susan Williamson stated that she intended the meeting to be noticed in The Menard News, but The Menard News— specifically publisher Paige Wright— had failed to print the notice. Later in the meeting, Williamson amended her statement and said she did not provide The Menard News with the information needed to post the meeting because she had been ill. Much later in the evening, after the meeting was adjourned, she also sent a sample of the referenced email admitting it did not contain a place for, time of, or request to publish notice of the meeting. The subject of the referenced email was not regarding the executive committee meeting, but the meeting was mentioned.
With input from multiple crowd members, including attorney Valera Corbin, the committee seemed to agree their meeting was not legal because of failure to publicly post details. It was stated they would not vote or conduct business; however, they would continue to discuss what needed to be discussed, but action would not be taken.
The public comments portion resumed. Additional speakers presented their comments during their allotted three minutes, including Precinct 4 Chair Marsha Stabel. At the end of Stabel’s comments, she made a motion that the MCRP executive committee not to censure Judge Brandon Corbin. The chairperson disregarded the motion and moved to the next speaker.
After Stabel’s turn to speak, a point of order was raised from the crowd. It was called to attention that Stabel’s motion was currently on the floor. At this time, the committee chair announced they would not be taking the motion as it was deemed an illegal meeting. Williamson noted the motion’s topic would have to be addressed at a later date.
With the gathered audience majority continuing to insist the meeting was not properly noticed, the chairperson and committee members agreed to table business until a future meeting was noticed properly.
Judge Corbin, who was in attendance, addressed the committee and crowd. Judge Corbin stated that his remarks should not be construed as agreeing to allegations the committee had brought against him; however, he felt the need to excuse himself because he could not be a part of a meeting that was deemed illegal. Corbin thanked the crowd who had spoken in support of him, then he left the meeting.
Public comments continued until the list was exhausted. The committee carried on, assigning chairs to run polling places for the March 1 primary election. They discussed upcoming conventions in June. The chair explained the process in which ideas are pushed from the precinct level up to the State Republican platform and even further up the ladder to the National Republican platform.
At this time, the committee chair asked for a motion to enter into executive session. It was once again pointed out that if the meeting was taking place against the Texas Open Meeting Act; a motion could not be made and the executive session could not convene. After much discussion the meeting dissolved with the committee stating they would give notice and reconvene at a later date.
After the meeting, Chairperson Susan Williamson reached out to The Menard News with proof she was not out of compliance and had noticed her meeting properly by notifying the precinct chairpersons in the appropriate amount of time. Williamson pointed to a statute (Article V., Sec. 4 & 5) in the county party committee bylaws that states what Williamson did- provided notice to the executive committee members. In contrast, an article below that (Article VII., Sec. 1) states that the committee must abide by Roberts Rule of Order, which requires advanced public notice to meetings.
Since the interrupted meeting, two wildly different viewpoints regarding the events surrounding the meeting have surfaced. Extensive research by The Menard News staff includes speaking with various attorneys, conferencing with surrounding county party chairs, and pouring over legal documents and cited statutes from each side of the situation.
Section 551.002 of the Texas Government Code referring to what organizations fall under the Open Meetings Act provides that “[e]very regular, special, or called meeting of a governmental body shall be open to the public, except as provided by this chapter.” “Governmental body” is defined by section 551.001(3), Tex. Gov’t. Code, as follows: “Governmental body” means: (A) a board, commission, department, committee, or agency within the executive or legislative branch of state government that is directed by one or more elected or appointed members; (B) a county commissioners court in the state; (C) a municipal governing body in the state;
(D) a deliberative body that has rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and that is classified as a department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or municipality; (E) a school district board of trustees; (F) a county board of school trustees; (G) a county board of education; (H) the governing board of a special district created by law; (I) a local workforce development board created under Section 2308.253; (J) a nonprofit corporation that is eligible to receive funds under the federal community services block grant program and that is authorized by this state to serve a geographic area of the state; and (K) a nonprofit corporation organized under Chapter 67, Water Code, that provides a water supply or wastewater service, or both, and is exempt from ad valorem taxation under Section 11.30, Tax Code.
While a republican party committee is not specifically listed in this code, there is not specific language to exclude, either.
There are several pieces of legislature regulating the Republican Party at a county level, including local bylaws and state governing documents.
The local committee bylaws do not address public postings; other counties of similar population do have posting requirements in their local bylaws. It is stated in the state-wide governing document, General Rules for All Conventions and Meetings, Rule No. 8- Supplementary Executive Committee Rules and Meetings e: “Organizational Meeting of a County Executive Committee… Notice of the organizational meeting and a copy of any proposed Bylaws and/ or Rules shall either be mailed via the USPS or emailed, and be posted on the county party website, if available. Delivery will be to the last known address of the members of the executive committee at least seven (7) days prior to the date of the meeting. Such notice shall state the time, date, and location of the meeting and the name(s) of the person(s) issuing the call.” The ambiguity is, is this rule only regarding a specially recognized organizational meeting or does it stand for all organizational meetings? It can be and has been argued both ways.
Although The Menard News staff are far from being attorneys, the often-vague language seems to allow each camp to argue their case by citing related statues and bylaws. Both viewpoints have presented an argument that can be interpreted to either prove the meeting was legally noticed or prove the meeting was not legally noticed per the rules. Until someone in Texas files a lawsuit registering this specific instance, and takes it up the chain of command, no determination of the legality of Sunday’s meeting can be officially proclaimed. For now, there seems to be no right or wrong that can be proven without an Attorney General ruling whether a county political party is a governmental body. While Attorney General Opinions have been presented, upon researching such opinions, none are written specifically addressing a committee such as a County Republican Party that can have jurisdiction over local government officials.
Whether or not the meeting required public notice, the non-notification of the committee was noted. This concerned some members of the Menard County Republican Party, and was one of the main reasons given for the high attendance rate at the meeting.
The Facebook page for the Menard County Republican Party shows that previous executive committee meetings have been announced via Facebook since the page’s inception in 2020. Excluding the recent meetings, committee meetings have also been announced in the newspaper in the past couple of years.
Sunday’s committee meeting, where the serious business of possible censure (public reprimand) of an elected official would be addressed, was not noticed publicly in the local newspaper or on the committee Facebook page for the original date it was planned, nor the for subsequent date.
As of press time Wednesday afternoon, there has been no public announcement of the next Menard County Republican Committee meeting.