By Dawn Burleigh

The Orange Leader

 

Brint Carlton, county judge for Orange County, turned in his letter of resignation on Friday.

Carlton accepted the position of Executive Director of the Texas Medical Board in Austin, according to a press release.

Commissioners Court will discuss accepting his resignation at the 2 p.m. Tuesday meeting and also appointing a replacement for the County Judge position until December 31, 2018, whereas, the newly elected County Judge will take office on January 1, 2019.

Currently, Dean Crooks is the Republican running for the position. Donald G. Brown (D), through his lawyer, has said he is withdrawing from the race. He has not filed the paperwork to have his name removed at this time.

“Serving as the chief executive of my home county has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I will always have great memories of working with some outstanding public servants and getting to meet many fellow citizens of Orange County. I am extremely proud of the unprecedented financial improvements we made during my time as county judge,” Carlton said in his statement. “We turned around a broken county, bought millions of dollars in new equipment to improve services, gave employees their largest raise in over 12 years, put the county on the path to greater economic prosperity, and led Orange County through the worst natural disaster to ever strike the United States. We did all of that while lowering the property tax rate and keeping the interests of the taxpayers as the top priority.”

Carlton’s new position will require relocating to Austin.

See full statement below: