El Paso County Judge resigns from Commissioners Court

El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar has officially notified the county she is vacating her position.

An item has been added to the agenda for Monday’s Commissioners Court meeting to “discuss and take appropriate action to fill the vacancy of the El Paso County Judge.”

The item was placed at Escobar’s request.

Escobar is set to announce her candidacy for the 16th Congressional district Saturday afternoon.

She will not confirm that’s what the announcement is about, but email reminders have been sent from an email account named “VoteForVeronica.”

The Texas Tribune reports she has already filed paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission to begin fundraising for her congressional run.

Earlier this week, ABC-7 learned from the county attorney the county court has multiple options to deal with Escobar’s announcement.

“Under Texas law, if the county judge announces that she is running for another office she does automatically resign.”

But that doesn’t mean she can’t keep working.

“There’s a holdover provision in Texas law which means she holds over in her position unless and until she is replaced by the whole commissioners court, so she could stay in office until the end of her term which will be December 2018 if the court chooses to not replace her or she could be replaced as soon as there is an agenda item and a vote of three commissioners,” said Bernal.

She added the judge will continue to serve in her capacity as county judge until she is replaced, which means she will continue to vote and could vote on her own replacement.

“There is no time limit under Texas law by which they have to replace her,” said Bernal.

Escobar is serving her second term as county judge. She had served one term as county commissioner for Precinct 2. During her tenure, she improved the structure of county government and helped it emerge from a cloud of public corruption.

She is married and has two college-aged children.

A national PAC, the Latino Victory Fund, is supporting Escobar’s run for Congress. They launched a campaign, Run, Veronica, Run, to garner support for her candidacy ahead of her announcement.

ABC-7 will be there Saturday. Tune in for updates.