HOUSTON (Covering Katy News) - The leave of absence of County Judge Lina Hidalgo means the state's largest county will be without its top emergency-management leader during hurricane season. Hidalgo, a Democrat, is not a judge in the traditional sense; she is the county's chief administrator, and with that title comes the responsibility of leading emergency-management operations.
"By statute, the county judge is the director of homeland security and emergency management," said former County Judge Ed Emmett, a Republican, during an interview with KPRC TV. "If a hurricane comes our way, the good news is the full-time staff at the Office of Emergency Management is still there, but there is a question about who will make the decisions."
Hidalgo announced on Monday that she had checked herself into an out-of-state treatment facility after being diagnosed with clinical depression. It's unknown exactly how long she's been off the job. The letter did not specify when she checked into the treatment facility.
This situation is playing itself out at a time when Hidalgo has publicly stated that she expects to be indicted in connection with an $10+ million COVID vaccination-outreach contract awarded to a one-woman firm owned by a well-connected Democratic consultant. The next hearing in the case is expected to happen in October.
In her letter to county residents, Hidalgo says she will make emergency-management decisions from the out-of-state treatment facility, but some questions remain regarding how realistic that is during a disaster where emergency conditions can change by the minute.
Emmett believes commissioners must decide soon who will make these decisions during a disaster like Hurricane Harvey or a petrochemical-plant explosion.
"The commissioners need to address that issue sooner rather than later because, as I understand it, Judge Hidalgo is likely to be out until at least September, and things can happen. You can have fires; you can have chemical spills," Emmett said during an interview on KPRC TV.
Commissioner Tom Ramsey, a Republican, says communications between Hidalgo's office and Commissioner's Court could be better. Ramsey says he learned of Hidalgo's leave of absence on Monday afternoon, and by then, the media had already begun calling his office for comment on the situation.
"In order for us to function properly, we've got to communicate," Ramsey said during an interview with Michael Berry on KTRH radio. "We've got to anticipate and put these things out there as soon as we know it so that we can all be prepared for whatever needs to get done."
"The way tradition has it, the senior officer of the Commissioners Court acts as County Judge," Emmet said. "So I'm assuming the signing of papers will be done by Commissioner (Rodney) Ellis.
But as to who will make any critical emergency decisions has yet to be communicated by Harris County Commissioners Court members.