Henderson County retains law firm for border dispute
Henderson County has lawyered-up.
Commissioners Court Tuesday afternoon approved hiring the East Texas law firm Flowers Davis to help with a border dispute between Henderson County and Kaufman County.
The dispute -- which has apparently been on low simmer for years -- heated up Nov. 24 when Kaufman County commissioners passed a resolution to recognize the border between Kaufman and Henderson counties as a straight line, effectively removing a small indentation near Kemp known as "the notch." This notch in the border includes about 700 acres currently recognized as being in Kaufman County.
During that Nov. 24 meeting, Kaufman County Pct. 4 Commissioner Ken Cates said the impact of the change would be "relatively minimal." He told his fellow commissioners it was "really just an administrative procedure to finally once and for all recognize the proper county line."
Henderson County officials strongly disagree on several points.
First, Henderson County believes the border is correct the way it is. Officials say the notch in the border was created in 1890 and has been there for 130 years.
Second, Henderson County doesn't believe it is a "minimal" change. County Attorney Clint Davis spoke to Henderson County Commissioners Court Tuesday afternoon and explained changing the border could have a large impact on the people living in the area. He said the influence of a change could be felt in taxes, voter registration, and public safety just to name a few.
Third, Henderson County officials said even if Kaufman County Commissioners Court believes there should be a change, it went about it the wrong way. Davis told Henderson County commissioners the process for disputing a border is spelled out in state law and Kaufman County did not follow the proper process. That process starts with an expensive survey and could end in the district court in an adjoining county.
Davis even showed Henderson County commissioners the legal opinion Kaufman County received from its attorneys explaining the process. A legal opinion Kaufman County Commissioners Court ignored.
"I disagree with the way Kaufman County has gone about this. I do that professionally," he said. "In all deference and respect to them, I just think they got this wrong."
Henderson County commissioners approving the outside law firm Tuesday sets up the county to respond to Kaufman County's action.
You can listen to Davis speak to the commissioners in the video above from 9:50 to 1:02:05 mark.
You can find the Nov. 24 Kaufman County Commissioners Court meeting video here.
==
This site is free thanks to:
