Jason Corley’s attorney filed a brief this week outlining his legal argument as to why he remains County Commissioner for Precinct 2 – southeast Lubbock County. Mark Meurer took the oath office to replace Corley Monday, just minutes before a Commissioners Court meeting.
County Judge Curtis Parrish claimed Corley resigned his seat by making himself a “candidate in fact” for Congress more than one year and 30 days before his term ends as commissioner. Corley announced an exploratory committee in mid-November. Both sides agree that’s well within Corley’s rights. But Parrish argued Corley also distributed “Corley for Congress” logos in an email to the news media – and made other statements which put him in the race.
A written statement released just before the oath of office said, “I, Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish, by the authority granted to me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, do hereby announce that the office of Lubbock County Commissioner Precinct 2 is vacant by the automatic resignation of Jason Corley under the provisions of the Texas Constitution and the Texas Election Code.”
Corley was asked to get his personal affects out of his office first thing Monday morning and was escorted out of the courthouse. That same day he filed a lawsuit to get his seat back.
The presiding judge Patrick Pirtle (who serves on the 7th Court of Appeals) denied Corley’s request for immediate restraining order against Meurer. However, Pirtle scheduled a hearing, December 19 at 10 a.m., for both sides to make arguments.
Click here to read the filing.
Corley’s filing lays out in more detail the same arguments in his original lawsuit. It claims he did not make a clear public statement of his candidacy until the Texas “resign to run” rule no longer applied.
LubbockLights.com reached out to Meurer and attorneys for the county. We have not heard back yet. Parrish previously said he would reserve comment until after the hearing next week.
