Establishment and Authority

On May 1,1960, pursuant to the authority of Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. art 1580 (codified in 1987, and such authority is now in Section 262.011 of the Texas Local Government Code), the Constitutional County judge and the Presiding judges of Galveston County established the Office of the County Purchasing Agent, which is also sometimes referred to as the Purchasing Department. Currently, the County Purchasing Agent's Office is established under and governed by Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 262, subchapter B. The County Purchasing Agent is answerable to the County Purchasing Board, which consists of three judges of the District Courts of Galveston County and two members of the Galveston County Commissioners Court.

Checks and Balances

The Purchasing Department is designed to be one leg of the "three-legged stool" of county government. The other two are the Commissioners Court, which is the governing body of the County that determines County policy largely through control of its budget, and the County Auditor who is appointed by the District judges and who has the obligation to ensure the strict enforcement of state law and the duty to disapprove expenditures of county funds the County Auditor believes to be unlawful.

Duties

The duty of the Galveston County Purchasing Agent is to make all purchases of supplies, materials, and equipment except those for which competitive bidding is required. lt is further his or her duty to adopt rules and procedures necessary to implement the County Purchasing Agent's duties under State law.

On those items that require a competitive bid, be it by hard bid (ITB), request for proposal (RFP), or a similar method, the County Purchasing Agent is charged with complying with the terms of the County Purchasing Act and with developing procedures that enable the County to also comply.

The Purchasing Agent is also required to contract for repairs to all Galveston County owned property except those contracts required by law to be made on competitive bid. The County Purchasing Agent is charged with maintaining an inventory of Galveston County property that is to be filed annually with the Galveston County Auditor. Currently, this is done in July. All surplus property must be transferred to the Purchasing Agent when not actually needed by any Galveston County Department.