El Paso DA asking court to review term limits in Socorro

District Attorney Jaime Esparza announced he’s asking a court to question the authority that allowed the city of Socorro council members and the mayor to extend their own terms of office.

Acity’s charter is pretty much a rule book for the city, and the Texas Constitution says no city charter shall be altered, amended or repealed within a two-year span.

The DA is claiming the city of Socorro council changed the charter within thattwo- year span.

ABC-7checked and the last amended charter was in 2011 but changes were made last year.

Changes made by Socorro council members were made through an ordinance, and it allowed for an extension of their own terms in office.

The Texas Constitution says the change in terms would have had to go through a vote by the residents of Socorro. After the changes, some council members would be serving terms of a little more thanfour years. The Texas Constitution states that no one could hold office more than four years.

Socorro did call for a special meeting to be heldSaturday at City Hall chambers starting at 5 p.m. at 860 N. Rio Vista Road.

The agenda includesa lot of discussions on pending litigation, advice from the city attorney on Trini Lopez’s resignation from mayor and a reconsideration of order calling for a special election in May 2013.