CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas Attorney General's Office will not remove Nueces County Drainage District No. 2 Jesus “Jesse” Rojas III from office.
Questions about his eligibility to hold the office arose in February, when it was reported that Rojas was not living within the boundaries of the district, as required by law. The Nueces County Attorney had asked the state attorney general to look into the issue, but they declined.
Jenny Dorsey, the county attorney, said Friday that her office will now "move forward with gathering facts to move towards making a decision."
Rojas previously said he is leasing a home that is out of his district, but he considers his residence to be family land within the district.
He said he plans to build a house there to replace a home that Hurricane Harvey destroyed in 2017.
Dorsey’s office will now investigate whether that satisfies Rojas’ office's residency requirement.
That process, if it’s determined to be necessary, could take a while.
"We'll have to gather facts,” Dorsey said. “We'd have to subpoena documents, and when we have those in a court-ready form, we can move forward. And that's when things will get longer. Once the litigation starts, that can drag on for a year."
Rojas didn't want to do an on-camera interview Friday but did speak via phone.
He said he wants to wait until after the county attorney's office wraps its investigation to speak publicly.
