County officials sworn in for new term

Cass County Judge

Texas County officials elected in the 2024 election season were sworn into office earlier this month. These included Sheriff Larry Rowe who is beginning his fourth term in office. Sheriff Rowe has over 45 total years of law enforcement experience. He previously served the Texas Parks and Wildlife as a State Game Warden for 29 years.

Prior to his service as Game Warden he served as a Smith County Deputy. Sheriff Rowe currently also serves on the board of directors for the Sheriff’s Association of Texas.

Sheriff Rowe and his wife Teena have three adult children and attend Cass County Cowboy Church.

What does a Sheriff do?

As a law enforcement officer, also called a peace officer, the sheriff has powers to arrest violators of state laws. The Code of Criminal Procedure (Art. 2.17) says, “Each sheriff shall be a conservator of the peace in his county, and shall arrest all offenders against the laws of the State, in his view or hearing, and take them before the proper court for examination or trial.”

Additionally, the sheriff has a broad mandate to preserve order in his jurisdiction. The Code says, “He shall quell and suppress all assaults and batteries, affrays, insurrections and unlawful assemblies. He shall apprehend and commit to jail all offenders, until an examination or trial can be had.”

Other duties include: Enforcing court orders such as evictions; Seizing property and assets on court orders; Serving warrants and legal papers; Managing and operating the county jail; Regulating bail bondsmen in counties with no bail bond board; Convening semiannual meetings on school safety; Summoning grand jurors at the direction of a court.

As explained in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, the sheriff is required to provide jurors “with such necessary food and lodging as he can obtain. No intoxicating liquor shall be furnished them.” - We need our jurors sober!

Judge Travis Ransom swore in Angela Young for her new term as Cass County Tax Assessor Collector. Angela has been with the county for over 25 years. This marks the beginning of her third term in office.

She previously served as chief deputy clerk in the Tax Assessor Collector’s office.

What does a County Tax Assessor Collector do?

Calculates property tax rates for the county.

Collects taxes for cities, schools and other local taxing entities like Emergency Services Districts (ESD).

Processes motor vehicle title transfers. Issues motor vehicle registration and licenses. Processes boat titles and registrations. Serves as Voter Registrar to register voters and maintain voter roll. Collects various other fees for the state and county.

Judge Travis Ransom swears in Precinct 3 County Commissioner Doug Lance for his first full term in office.

Cass County provides landowners in Cass County with a property fraud alert program at no cost. Click on the property fraud alert link to sign up with your email address and phone number to participate. You will be notified whenever a document is filed with your name on it in our county’s property records. This alert helps prevent fraud by notifying landowners of potentially fraudulent activity.

Upcoming Community Events

Hughes Springs Chamber of Commerce Banquet - Saturday January 18th from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Legacy Event Center. Tickets are $30. Call (903)639-2351 for info.

Veterans Happy Hour - Thursday February 13th from 4pm to 7pm at Fire and Knives in downtown Linden.

Eastern Cass County School Retirees Association meets every second Tuesday of each month from January through May at Queen City Methodist Church at 10am.

903 Artisans - Monthly meeting is Tuesday, February 4th at 6pm at Abundant Life Church located at 610 S. Louise Street in Atlanta.

Our Cass County Vision

Cass County strives to be the example rural Texas County for innovation, transparency and accessibility.

Innovation - We don’t have the tax base to underwrite poor decisions. We are constantly searching for ways to be more efficient and stretch our budget and do more with less. We have allocated 20% more funds to Road and Bridge this year without raising the tax rate.

Transparency - Everything we do is open to the public. Our books are your books and we post our entire budget online and communicate constantly about your county’s activity. We’ve received two transparency stars from the State Comptroller for this effort.

Accessibility - Our public officials are available to you. We respond when we receive a letter, email, or phone call and we are an active part of the community we serve.

Ultimately, we want you to be proud of the place you live and call home.