Johnston announces run for re-election

Jun. 11—County Judge Robert Johnston announced plans to run for a fourth term on Friday.

Johnston has served as county judge in Anderson County since 2010. Should he be elected, Johnston will be the longest serving county judge since Judge N.R. Link.

"I think in the past 11 years I've helped to accomplish a lot here in Anderson County as county judge," Johnston said. "But there are still many plans and projects I'd like to see through."

Over the years he has served the community and state in various capacities and received numerous awards and honors.

Johnston has served as a member of the East Texas Council of Governments board of directors and executive committee since 2011. He currently serves as chairman of the board at ETCOG of the Chief Elected Officials and Rural Planning Organization.

ETCOG, a voluntary association of counties, cities, school districts and special districts, serves 14 East Texas counties. It helps local governments to plan, cooperate, and coordinate actions and policies for sound regional development.

Established in 1970, ETCOG, either directly or through its contractors, provides programs and services for East Texas seniors, employers and job seekers.

ETCOG and its contractors also built the 911 emergency call delivery system. The organization also provides peace officer training and homeland security planning services, and delivers rural transportation services, business finance programs and environmental grant funding for the region.

Johnston currently serves as vice president of the Texas Association of Regional Councils. He is the legislative chairman and former president of the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas.

He is also a board member of Texas Health and Human Services Commission's Joint Committee on Access and Forensic Services Committee.

Johnston is a Rotarian/Paul Harris Fellow. He also served as a member of the Palestine City Council, president of the North and East County Judges and Commissioners Association, board member of the Texas Association of Counties, director of the Palestine YMCA Board and president of the Anderson County Veterans Board. In March 2017, Judge Johnston was recognized by the East Texas Council of Governments with the Regional Statesmanship Award. The award recognizes a local, state, or federal official that has advanced regional cooperation.

As Anderson County Judge, Johnston is the presiding officer of the commissioners court, and chief executive officer of the county, who has more than 230 employees. Together, with the commissioners court, he conducts the county's business, including overseeing budgets and finances. County judges' duties vary with the size of their counties. In most rural counties, judges have broad judicial responsibilities. County government bridges the gap between state and local governments in protecting and serving the citizens of Texas. They are often the chief source of information and assistance.

One of the most tedious but important duties of Anderson County commissioners is approving a balanced budget. Like many commissioners courts in the state, Anderson County's court offers as many services as it can while keeping tax rates low.

Commissioners are the policy makers for the unincorporated areas of the a county. Among their duties are approving property tax rates, conducting elections, setting county employment and benefit rates, acquiring property rights for right-of-ways, providing rural ambulance services, subsidizing rural fire protection, overseeing county roads and bridges, running the county courthouse and buildings, authorizing contracts and granting tax abatements for economic development.

These topics and others are addressed in bi-monthly meetings. Agendas are posted. People can sign up prior to meetings to discuss agenda items. They can also speak to county commissioners who represent them.

Items on the commissioners' court agenda can only be placed there by the county judge or commissioners. Other elected officials must ask the judge or commissioners to place an item on the agenda.

In Anderson County, the county judge also presides over misdemeanor criminal and small civil cases, probate matters and appeals from the Justice of the Peace Court. Not all county judges have judicial duties.

In the 12 years he has served, Johnston and the commissioners have been actively involved in many economic development projects in Palestine and Anderson County, with one of the most recent being the purchase and renovation of the civic center. The plans include turning the facility into a multi-functional event center with the capabilities to host concerts and various business conferences. They have also renovated the courthouse to include a larger courtroom to help expedite more district and county court cases.

As county judge, Johnston serves as the county's head of emergency management. He is responsible for having emergency response plans for natural disasters and other emergencies. In this role, Johnston led Anderson County through the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented health event.

"It's been one of the toughest things I've had to do while I've been in office," Johnston said. "There were some unpopular policies and directives that were made on the state level that we were told to enforce in our counties."

Johnston has also kept the county going through several acts of God, including multiple occurrences of wide-spread storm damage and one unprecedented snowstorm/freeze.

The official opening for filing for the position of county judge is not until November 2021. The deadline to file has been set for 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 13.

The state primary has been set for March 1, 2022 and the general election is set for Nov. 8, 2022.

For a complete list of the duties of a county judge, check out Article V, Section 18 of the Texas Constitution.