Friday, April 26, 2024
The Hood County Commissioners Court this week codified what had been a loose policy requiring groups wanting to use county property to seek permission from the court.
County Judge Ron Massingill said he wanted to protect the county and its property.
He referred to incidents “within the last several months” in which other communities had dealt with “white supremacists,” “drag queens” and “all the groups in between that are not what I would call legitimate groups – that’s my label, personally,” he said.
He went on to say that the Commissioners Court is responsible for county property, including the gazebo at the courthouse.
Massingill said he felt that any groups wanting to use county property should be required to first come before the Commissioners Court to explain who they are, what property they want to use and when they want to use it.
He said he wanted to “make sure that we’re not going to have a lot of outside groups and outside people – agitators – coming up here and destroying property like all of us has seen” in other communities.
By the same token, though, Massingill said he wants the court to adopt a “policy statement” that will be applied “equally to all groups.”
He also said that the county might want to conduct background checks on those seeking permission to use county property.
“That’s me trying to be pre-emptive,” he said, adding that he wants to be cautious of any groups “from extreme right to extreme left.”
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dave Eagle supported the idea.
“Frankly, this is what we’re doing anyway,” he said, adding that the Granbury Wine Walk and organizers of various festivals and holiday events already seek the court’s approval.
The square, where most public events occur, is property that falls partly under the city of Granbury’s purview and partly under the county’s.
City policies apply to properties along the square’s perimeter, but the courthouse, courthouse lawn and courthouse parking lot are owned by the county.
Eagle made a motion to require groups wanting to use county property to obtain written permission from the Commissioners Court.
The motion was seconded by Precinct 2 Commissioner Ron Cotton and approved by a unanimous vote.
