Van Zandt County commissioners accepted the official canvass of the November election and took related actions to conclude the dissolution of the long‑dormant Cedar Creek Hospital District and establish a nursing scholarship funded from the district's remaining assets.

Shannon Maddox, the county election administrator (Speaker 13), presented official totals: 7,542 ballots cast in the constitutional amendment election (3,101 early, 4,438 election day) with a small number of provisionals counted; she confirmed the county will perform required hand counts as the state mandates. Speaker 13 said all the constitutional amendments on the November ballot passed in the county.

Following the canvass, the court moved to authorize the county judge to sign an order formally dissolving the Cedar Creek Hospital District, a body originally created by 1999 legislation but never fully established. The court then accepted a distribution check from First State Bank/Maybank representing the county's portion of the district's assets — county staff estimated the combined fund had earned interest over time and was "a little over $30,000" in total to be split among three counties.

The court approved creating the Andrew Gibbs Memorial Nursing Scholarship to be overseen by the Trinity Valley Community College Foundation, as provided by the implementing legislation (the agenda referenced HB 467 and an implementation checklist prepared by state Representative Keith Bell). Commissioners discussed eligibility criteria and oversight: scholarship recipients must reside within the district boundaries as they existed at the date of the election and be accepted into or enrolled in a Texas nursing education program. The foundation will administer applications and selection; the county asked for periodic reporting and some oversight capability to ensure Van Zandt County's portion benefits eligible local students.

Commissioners voted to establish the scholarship and to authorize payment of Van Zandt County's distribution to the Trinity Valley Community College Foundation. Speaker 11 and other commissioners stressed a desire for reporting from the Foundation on how funds are awarded and to ensure a portion of awards benefit county residents given the funds originated from an estate and were distributed among multiple counties.

Next steps: County staff will finalize the dissolution order, deliver the check, and request reporting procedures from the Trinity Valley Community College Foundation on award criteria and distribution.