HAYS COUNTY -- Hays County District Clerk Avrey Anderson Sr. submitted his resignation on Friday, July 5.
Avrey Anderson
This comes on the heels of a lawsuit and subsequent hearing to remove him from office for incompetence and official misconduct. Anderson, among other witnesses, took the stand on Tuesday, June 25, in front of visiting Judge Amy Meachum, who was set to decide whether to temporarily suspend the district clerk and if he would be paid during a potential suspension within two weeks. His resignation letter, as obtained by the Hays Free Press, is below.
Honorable 428th, 453rd, 207th, 274th, 22nd, and 483rd District Judges:
I find it is time for me to leave government for a while. I have learned a lot about the courts during my tenure. Currently, I have been facing a Chapter 87 removal suit which has been incredibly stressful. It has taken a toll on my life to where I do not enjoy hardly anything anymore. I do not believe it is good for justice and the courts for me to continue in my role currently. Perhaps one day I will be able to get back into the government sector but for now I believe it is best for the people of Hays County to have someone who hopefully attracts less negative attention to themselves. I was elected at 19 and every move I have made since the beginning of my tenure has been under a microscope. I do not believe I am incompetent in executing specific statutory duties. I have made mistakes, but I do not believe leaving will prevent these mistakes from occurring. Hopefully someone older than me will be given the benefit of the doubt. Somehow, I feel as though the focus of error and mistake has been on my age alone and not on the fact that our office has served the courts similarly to how clerks in other counties serve their courts. I have done a few good things in this office that hopefully will make It better in the long run. This includes automating the appellate clerk’s records, automating the saving of hearing notices to cases upon their creation, automating various processes. Additionally, I made efforts to get the case manager to automatically send notifications when events are added to attorneys and parties. These efforts will be halted by my resignation, but I am sure that another clerk can figure these things out.
The reason this letter is being given to the district judges that have a district in whole or in part in Hays County is because district judges have the power of appointing a new district clerk upon vacancy in the office pursuant to Section 51.301 Government Code. There is no power to deny my resignation according to Section 201.001.(a) Election Code. Section 201.002 Election Code states that “Unless otherwise provided by law, the authority to act on a public officer's resignation or an officer-elect's declination is the officer or body authorized to make an appointment or order a special election to fill a vacancy in the office.” Since District Judges of the county are the body authorized to make an appointment under Section 51.301 Government Code I send this resignation to your secretaries, and to you all directly. Pursuant to Section 201.023 “If an officer submits a resignation, whether to be effective immediately or at a future date, a vacancy occurs on the date the resignation is accepted by the appropriate authority or on the eighth day after the date of its receipt by the authority, whichever is earlier.”
Where some officers have chosen to make their resignations effective at various times, I choose to vacate office and resign from my official capacity as District Clerk of Hays County in its entirety on the 5th of July 2024. I will not be the clerk on that date. Many people have a recommendation as to whom they wish to be appointed during my vacation. It is out of my hands now. Good luck to you all.
The trial to remove the district clerk from office was set for Oct. 28, but will, presumably, be canceled due to the resignation. Anderson declined to comment at this time, however, a statement may be issued at a later date, according to Hays County.
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