Texas is often thought of as the chief executive officer of the county, then Layne Coulter of Jayton has spent a lifetime working his way up to the Csuite. Elected to the post this year from among a field of strong contenders after longtime judge Jim C. Whiteannouncedhewould not run again, Coulter sat down with The Texas Spur recently to look backward at his career and family history, and forward to the job that he’ll take January 1.
Raised in Bronte, Texas, a West Texas town not so diffierent from the Kent County seat of Jayton, Coulter attended all twelve grades, from kindergarten to 12th, and played basketball. After graduation, he moved from there to Arlington, the bustling city between Dallas and Fort Worth, to work in construction. He went to Angelo State for a semester but returned to the workplace quickly.
His job sent him all over, he said, and he not only learned building skills but problem-solving and management. “Texas was building a lot of prisons in the 1990s,” he said, and he lived in a variety of communities, mostly in the Metroplex.
And when his older brother Nelson’s career path brought him to Jayton as a coach, he found himself lured to construction jobs in the area.
Coming to Kent from Coke County, both small counties, after spending 10 years in Dallas, suited him. Another brother, Turney, had come to Jayton by then as well.
“It was pretty appealing to come back to a similar situation to how I was raised,” said Coulter. “Like so mamy small communities, you see all the same people; most of the citizens live their lives together.”
He married Gina in 1999 and a few years later struck out own his own as a selfemployed contractor. Gina, now the human resources manager for the county, at the time worked with the Kent County State Bank and later the Emergency Management Service and the Kent County Nursing Home.
“We weren’t exactly kids when we got married,” Coulter said, but they began raising a family of their own which has at times grown to embrace foster kids.
Together, their portfolio of experience has touched most of the business and community service entities of the county. Jayton’s been home to their kids, and now their grandkids. “Just the friendliness of the people, to me that’s a very appealing place to live,” he said.
“Our school district and the other kids around here are very accepting of other kids coming in,” said Coulter. “It adds to being in a great place.” And when you have children involved, he feels, that’s security for them; for the most part, “all the people are demonstrating values you agree with, for your kids to see.”
Community and service
Asked what interested him in local leadership, Coulter said he has always been drawn to participate in leadership through booster clubs, the county junior livestock stock show, the fire department. In 2004-05, he ran for school board because that group exhibited a sincere concern about the directions, “the way things are done, maintaining what’s been passed along.” Out of responsibility to the people you live with, he said, citizens should to be willing to serve. “If nobody does that, what you have could easily have been lost.”
That experience, of solving problems when specific opinions often differed, should be valuable in the county judge’s seat, Coulter said. “You take into account all the positions that are a part of the circumstance. Typically there are not one-size-fits-all solutions— which may be a problem right now with the school and state. “Just being able to do what you can to understand what someone else’s position is, and why they hold it” can lead to a resolution.
The years he was selfemployed, and responsible for managing people, projects and money the amount of money, are also applicable to public leadership, he said. The kind of money generated in the oil industry, where he worked on high-dollar construction projects, bears similiarity to government budgets. “Problem-solving, basic business principles” also translate; “the efficiency of how things are being produced, that’s a benefit; in construction, when I spent years being over as many as 20 people on a job site.” Personnel management, budgets, schedules, timelines—he’ll encounter the same in the county courthouse.
Coulter’s also been preparing regularly by sitting in on commissioners court sessions over recent months, with the opportunity to learn from Judge White, the four commissioners, and county staff as they have dealt with everything from complexities of road and bridge maintenance, to running a skilled nursing facility, to purchasing material and equipment, eo evaluating lease proposals from energy firms, to managing public safety in an ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
When January 1 rolls around, he said, he’ll already have had six months of reference to know how we got here. “It won’t be a starting point,” he said.
Kent County’s challenges
Asked about the issues that Kent County will face in near term and far term, Coulter acknowledged that “for the county as a whole, the loss of business is something to be aware of and see what opportunities are there to stimulate and encourage business.”
There are ways, he feels, to add diversity of population and increase your tax base,andcreateemploment to bring people to your community. “In today’s business environment it’s feasible and possible — there are business models that would probably work here.” In the past, a new business meant manufacturing, he said. But here, logistics are too far from materials and markets— so online is an option.
Coulter mused that he had been here around 25 years, and watched the things that have come and gone, “grocery store, lumberyard—
and before that,
there were two grocery stores, four cafes, gas stations”— but now you can have everything on your doorstep the next day, so what will the future bring?
Business as usual, to start with
Coulter accords a great respect for the way his predecessor, Judge White, has managed his role. “I don’t think it’s possible for the same person to be judge for 20 years if they’re not doing some things right,” he said. He’s already met some of the judges in surrounding counties as well and feels he’s well prepared to step in smoothly.
“In the circumstances we have here, it’s beneficial,” Coulter observes. “I didn’t run against someone and beat them out of a job. Judge White has been helpful; he’s let me tap into his experience.”
He’s ready for what the new year will bring. “I have to thank God for the opportunity and blessings I have,” he said. “With most of us, more than we can count.”
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