Former Tyler councilman to fill Smith County judge vacancy

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - Smith County commissioners selected an acting county judge Tuesday during a commissioner's court meeting.

The court unanimously chose Nathaniel Moran to lead the county as interim judge. Moran accepted the nomination and said he looks forward to being a good steward of taxpayer money. He will be sworn in during a specially called meeting of the commissioners court on Friday, July 22, at 11:30 a.m.

Moran will now have to lead the county through a period like it has not seen in modern history.

The need for an acting judge arose from the suspension of County Judge Joel Baker in June. The county judge was suspended by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct following his indictment on June 16 on three counts of violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Baker was indicted over his handling of a contract with American Traffic Solutions that would have placed speed monitoring cameras in school zones in Smith County. The program was not described in detail before the public until the contract was already signed, a problem the judge himself admitted to in an interview with KLTV. Though the contract was signed, the cameras were never deployed in Smith County after the public disapproval of the program, including Tyler's mayor telling the judge the program was possibly unconstitutional and the city would not allow the county to place the cameras in the city limits.

7OnScene: Smith County commissioners court

The county needed to fill the role of county judge since it is vital in certain county duties. One crucial issue that is nearing a deadline is the county's budget, which the county judge serves as the chief budget writer of, and who is the individual who sends the completed budget to the State of Texas.

Moran is a Tyler attorney at Ramey & Flock PC. He has been elected three times to Tyler City Council. Moran resigned less than two weeks after being elected to his third term to move his family to the Houston area so his son could attend a special school for severe hearing loss in both ears.

He is also listed on the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is the Chair of the Board of Directors for Discovery Science Place.

"I love the citizens of Smith county, I look forward to doing a great job and a being a good steward of their tax dollars," Moran said. "I want to be very cognizant of the fact that every penny that we bring in comes from some taxpayer."

Moran said community involvement is key in restoring public confidence in the court.

"I think what we do is we engage the community as has already been done to make sure that the community is involved in understanding where we go from here, and understanding that they can trust the decisions we are going to make," said Moran.

A top priority for Moran is Smith County's budget for the upcoming fiscal year.  Legally, the budget has to be submitted to the state by a county judge, and is due on July 31.

During a previous meeting of the Smith County Commissioners Court, commissioners mentioned some candidates who had said they were interested in the position:

• Barry Barnett – owner of aviation management company ETJS LLC.
• Steve Chalender – former law enforcement consultant for the Texas Association of Counties (TAC)
• Randy Gilbert – attorney in Tyler
• Sam Griffith – retired 12th Court of Appeals judge, former Smith County Court at Law No. 3 judge
• Mitch Henderson – former Longview mayor
• Eddy Holley – owner of Kilgore Feed Company
• Tim McCormick – immediate past chairman of the Smith County Republican Party
• Nathaniel Moran - former Tyler city councilman and attorney.
• David Stein – former Smith County commissioner

According to the Texas Secretary of State's office, a candidate has to meet the following requirements:

• Be a U.S. Citizen
• Be at least 18 years of age.
• Lived in Smith County for at least 6 months.
• Lived in Texas for at least 12 months.

Being a lawyer is not required to be a constitutional county judge in the State of Texas. A knowledge of Texas law is a requirement for the position.

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