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Elected official's eligibility questioned over residency requirement

Elected official's eligibility questioned over residency requirement
Posted at 9:47 PM, Feb 08, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-08 23:44:17-05

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — At least one person has publicly called for Nueces County Drainage District #2 Commissioner Jesus Rojas III to resign, claiming he doesn't reside in the district that he represents as required by state law.

The newly tweaked statute states, "No commissioner of said District shall be eligible for office unless the Commissioner resides within the boundaries of the District, owns land within the District and is a duly qualified voter of said District."

At question is the definition of the word 'resides'.

Rojas says he lived on family-owned land in Robstown within District #2 until Hurricane Harvey caused a fire in 2017 that destroyed his home and two others.

Since then, he says he's lived in several rental homes, but he admits his current address is outside his district.

“It’s in Nueces County, but where I am leasing — er where I — I reside in Robstown," Rojas said. "But I’m not living in Robstown right now.”

Rojas says he has an application into the Texas General Land Office in hopes of receiving money to rebuild his home on that family land within the district of which he and other family members share ownership.