Texas judge accidentally resigns by announcing state Supreme Court bid
Judges use a small wooden mallet to signal for attention or order.
A Texas civil court judge has inadvertently resigned from his seat by announcing his intentions to seek a seat on the state Supreme Court, according to KHOU 11.
Harris County Civil Court Judge Bill McLeod (D), who was elected last November with 55 percent of the vote, on Monday announced his candidacy for one of the Lone Star State’s elected Supreme Court seats, according to the news outlet.
{mosads}Unbeknownst to McLeod at the time, the state constitution states that a judge announcing candidacy for office “shall constitute an automatic resignation of the office then held,” according to the news outlet.
The state constitution does, however, allow county commissioners, who are responsible for appointing replacement judges, to keep McLeod as an interim judge until a special election can be held.
Supporters of McLeod are organizing on social media to call on the commissioners to keep McLeod in his seat at the next county commission meeting, according to KHOU 11.
“Our judges are human,” Kandice Webber, a supporter of McLeod, told the outlet. “This would not be the first time that a judge has made a mistake. I would beg the court to leave him where he is. This is where Houstonians want him. This is where Harris County wants him, and we made that very loud and clear at the ballot.”