In a Texas Spur article of Oct. 19, 2023, “Spur beekeeper Shipp passes,”we erroneously referred to newly appointed Dickens County Justice of the Peace Stella Carter as “acting” in her capacity. County Attorney Aaron Clements provided some useful clarification: though Carter may in due time seek election as J.P. in her own right, she had been duly authorized earlier in the month by the county commissioners court to fill the vacancy in the position.
According to Clements, “An acting officer is one with some temporary authorization to de facto exercise the office duties and powers, but who is subject to dismissal or replacement by the authorizing authority. Usually, unless an office has a deputy or assistant in some form who is authorized by statute to act (like, say, for a District Attorney's office when the DA resigns), Texas law does not recognize acting officers, and that is certainly true for judicial offices. By the Commissioners Court appointing her to fill the vacancy, Stella is not acting, but is the full de jure officer.”
Asked about the responsibilities of a coroner or medical examiner, Clements explained, “Under Texas law, there are no ‘coroners’ per se; at least, that's not a statutorily recognized term. Justices of the Peace are the officers who, by default, are tasked under Chapter 49, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, with conducting inquests into deaths within the county they serve. Counties with a population of over 2.5 million ... are required to establish a medical examiner’s office, and any county may, if its Commissioners Court so desires (e.g., Lubbock), establish a medical examiner’s office and appoint a medical examiner who is authorized to conduct death inquests in lieu of the Justice of the Peace. Multiple Commissioners Courts may establish a joint medical examiners district by interlocal agreement (Tex. Code Crim. P. Art. 49.25). In counties with a medical examiner's office, the medical examiner fully takes over the duties of that jurisdiction’s justices of the peace relating to death investigations/inquests (Art. 49.25, § 12).”
Regarding the Justice of the Peace’s role in matters of determining a cause of death, and signing a death certificate, Clements said, “If the JP is not available to perform the inquest, the county judge may conduct the inquest (Tex. CCP. Art. 49.07(c)(2)), with the county judge then being required to transmit information and findings within five days to the JP for final disposition.”
We hope readers will find this information as useful as we did.
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