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Hood County court authorizes county judge to sign DPS driver's license office relocation contract
Summary
Hood County commissioners approved a contract allowing the Texas Department of Public Safety to relocate a driver's license office into the county annex, adding language requiring two county employees be hired before DPS takes possession. Commissioners discussed utilities, rent terms and local service demand during the vote.
Hood County commissioners voted to authorize the county judge to sign a contract with the Texas Department of Public Safety to relocate a driver's license office into the county annex.
At the start of the special-called meeting, the presiding officer introduced the item as "to discuss and take appropriate action to authorize a county judge to sign the contract with Texas Department of Public Safety driver's license office to be relocated in active annex." Staff described a week of revisions to the draft contract that referenced prior agreements and auditor feedback; commissioners corrected a date error tied to fiscal-year language.
Commissioner (speaker 5) pressed for explicit hiring language under section g, asking that DPS "hire 2 county employees" "on or before taking possession of the premises" to provide certainty for the county. Perez, the DPS field operations manager, replied that the agency expects the transition to take time and that new hires must pass background checks before being onboarded.
Commissioners also debated lease economics and utility payments. One commissioner argued the simplest arrangement is "you pay your utilities and live rent free for 10 years," while others pushed to include a mechanism for compensating cost increases (a 2% adjustment appeared in the DPS draft). The court heard county usage data showing heavy local demand: "31,926 citizens visited those 2 locations" from April 2022 to July 2026, a statistic cited to underline service needs.
After discussion, Commissioner Wilson moved to authorize the judge to sign the contract with the modifications presented; the motion was seconded and approved on a voice vote. The court thanked maintenance staff for preparing the space and handed over the final contract copy to staff for execution.
The authorization allows the county judge to execute the draft as amended; the contract remains subject to any final review by DPS and the county attorney before full implementation.
