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Val Verde County court: legal limits block paying to replace vandalized cluster mailboxes; court asks staff for lighting/camera cost estimates
Summary
Residents pressed Val Verde County leaders to replace cluster mailboxes damaged by vandals. County Attorney advised spending county funds likely fails the public-purpose test; judges asked staff to return cost estimates for lighting and cameras and said residents could fund immediate replacements if desired.
County Judge opened an extended public discussion about cluster mailboxes vandalized across multiple precincts and reiterated the court’s legal constraint on using public funds to replace privately owned mailboxes.
The county attorney told the court that past instances where the county funded mailbox moves involved a clear public-safety hazard tied to location; by contrast, the current damages appear to be ordinary vandalism and do not, in his opinion, establish the public purpose required for the county to expend public funds. The county attorney said courts can and do find a public purpose in rare location-based cases but “those facts don't exist here.”
A postal-service supervisor said the U.S. Postal Service does not keep stockpiles of cluster mailboxes and works on a monthly budget and ordering schedule. She estimated about seven boxes in Val Verde County are damaged and gave a rough internal replacement cost near $9,000 for the group. She said replacements will likely take months to arrive under current USPS procedures.
Residents urged faster fixes. One Hold Up Pass resident asked, “Why can't you just hire somebody to fix what was broke, put new locks on it, and tell y'all figure this out so we don't have to drive 10 miles and back?” The judge and others replied that while funding is not the immediate barrier, the county’s legal counsel and the Texas Attorney General’s opinion (cited in the meeting) limit the county’s ability to buy private mailboxes.
To move forward without violating the legal opinion, the judge asked commissioners to identify mailbox locations and return cost estimates to install lighting or cameras above clusters — measures the court said could create a public-safety justification for county spending. The judge also told residents that precinct budgets or citizen-funded replacements could be used to expedite fixes if the county cannot legally purchase boxes.
No formal vote was taken on purchasing mailboxes. The court recorded motions on related items: it later approved a motion to examine lighting installation costs and approved item 15 directing precincts to consider lights around mailbox sites.
