Jason Corley of Lubbock: Removal, Lawsuit, and Parrish Feud

Jason Corley is the Precinct 2 commissioner on the Lubbock County, Texas, Commissioners Court, and in December 2025 he became the center of a high-profile removal fight when County Judge Curtis Parrish declared his seat vacant under the Texas Constitution’s “resign-to-run” rule. Corley sued, a district judge ordered him reinstated, and after the Texas Supreme Court declined to intervene he remains in office while appeals continue.

Why Parrish Removed Him

On December 8, 2025, Parrish declared the Precinct 2 seat vacant and immediately swore in Mark Meurer, the director of a faith-based retreat center in Slaton, as the replacement commissioner.¹ Parrish’s authority was Article XVI, Section 65 of the Texas Constitution, a 1950s amendment that automatically vacates a county officer’s seat if the officer becomes a candidate for another paid office with more than one year and 30 days remaining in the current term.²

The trigger was U.S. Representative Jodey Arrington’s November 2025 announcement that he would retire from Texas’s 19th Congressional District. Corley began exploring a run. He formed a “Corley for Congress” exploratory committee with campaign graphics, an email address, and a Slaton P.O. box, and on November 15, 2025, he sent a text message saying, “I am the County Commissioner for Lubbock County Precinct 2. I’m running for congress in Congressional District 19.”² Parrish argued that this activity made Corley a “candidate in fact” during the prohibited window and appointed Meurer on the condition that he not seek election to the seat afterward.

The dispute turned on a single day. Corley’s term runs through December 31, 2026. His attorney, Ben Garcia, argued that forming an exploratory committee is not the same as being a candidate, that the November 15 text was a private message, and that Corley’s actual public launch came at a December 2, 2025, event — a date on which only one year and 28 days remained in his term, placing him outside the resign-to-run window by one day.² Corley called the removal an “outrageous and politically driven stunt” and accused Parrish of “twisting the law” to sideline a political rival.³

How the Lawsuit Has Played Out

Corley sued the same day he was removed. A judge denied his initial request for a temporary restraining order on December 10, 2025.⁴ The State of Texas then moved to intervene on December 17. At a December 19 hearing before Visiting Senior Judge Patrick Pirtle, Meurer’s attorney filed a jurisdictional appeal to the Seventh Court of Appeals that briefly paused the proceedings. Pirtle restructured the case by removing Corley as plaintiff, substituting the State of Texas, and ruling that Corley had not automatically resigned his office. He ordered Corley reinstated pending trial.⁵

Meurer’s attorneys asked the Seventh Court of Appeals in Amarillo for an emergency stay to block the reinstatement. The appellate court refused, and Corley returned to the commissioners court dais on December 22, 2025.⁶

In January 2026, Meurer took the fight to the Texas Supreme Court, filing a petition for a writ of mandamus asking the high court to force the district court to reverse the reinstatement.⁷ The Supreme Court issued a stay on February 20, 2026, pausing the lower court proceedings while it considered the petition.⁸ It ultimately denied the mandamus petition and lifted the stay, leaving Corley in his seat.⁹

Two matters remain pending in the Seventh Court of Appeals as of mid-2026: the appeal of the temporary order restoring Corley to office, and a separate issue tied to the mandamus procedure.⁸ A trial originally set for April 24, 2026, has not been rescheduled. Corley continues to serve as Precinct 2 commissioner in the meantime.

The Congressional Race That Set It Off

The congressional bid Corley fought to preserve did not succeed. He appeared on the March 3, 2026, Republican primary ballot for the 19th Congressional District against six other candidates in a seat rated R+78 by the Cook Political Report.¹⁰ His campaign raised $26,590 with $13,911 cash on hand heading into the primary.¹¹

Corley did not advance. Businessman Tom Sell led the primary with roughly 40 percent of the vote and Latino activist Abraham Enriquez finished second with about 19 percent, sending the two to a runoff.¹² County-level results showed Corley drawing between 11 and 17 percent.¹³

The Backdrop: A Years-Long Feud With the County Judge

The removal did not come out of nowhere. Corley, elected in 2018 after unseating the Republican incumbent for Precinct 2 with 56 percent of the primary vote,¹⁴ positioned himself as a fiscal hardliner and repeatedly clashed with Parrish, an attorney who presides over the five-member court.¹⁵

The conflict peaked during the 2024 budget cycle. Beginning August 26, 2024, Corley and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jordan Rackler boycotted commissioners court meetings for roughly a month, breaking the four-member quorum Texas law requires to vote on property tax rates.¹⁶ The strategy forced the county past its September 30 deadline, triggering an automatic “no-new-revenue” tax rate.¹⁷

Balancing the resulting budget required pulling roughly $7.2 million from county reserves.⁴ Planned employee raises were cut from 5 percent to 3 percent, the road maintenance program dropped from 50 miles per year to 18, and repairs to the detention center roof and courthouse elevators were deferred.¹⁶ Commissioners voted against general staff raises but approved a 2 percent raise for themselves, which Corley accepted, telling colleagues, “Do you want well-paid professionals or underpaid idiots? I want good people to afford these positions.” By September 2025, Parrish was publicly saying Corley had shown “contempt” for county employees and that his conduct was “dangerous.”

Legal Fees and Other Litigation

In January 2026, with Corley recused, Commissioners Mike Dalby, Cary Shaw, and Jordan Rackler voted to reimburse Corley approximately $12,000 for legal fees from the removal fight. Parrish objected, calling it “too early to make this determination” while the case remained unresolved.¹⁸

Corley is also a named plaintiff in an unrelated federal case, Corley v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, filed in April 2025 in the Northern District of Texas with representation from the Center for the American Future at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.¹⁹ The suit challenged FinCEN anti-money laundering regulations for residential real estate on Commerce Clause and privacy grounds. On February 25, 2026, the district court granted summary judgment to the government, upholding the regulation.²

1
KCBD. County Judge Parrish Removes Commissioner Corley From Office
2
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Corley Files Suit After Lubbock County Judge Appoints New Commissioner
3
EverythingLubbock. Jason Corley Removed From Lubbock County Commissioners Court
4
Texas Tribune. Lubbock County Commissioner Removed From Office
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Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Corley Reinstated as Lubbock County Commissioner While Case Continues
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KCBD. Lubbock County Commissioner Jason Corley Returns to Dais Pending Appeal
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KCBD. Meurer Taking Case Against Corley to Texas Supreme Court
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Lubbock Lights. Texas High Court Leaves Corley in Office for Now as Commissioner
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KCBD. Texas Supreme Court Will Not Intervene in Lubbock County Commissioner Dispute
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KACU. Jason Corley Hopes to Switch From Lubbock County Commissioner to TX-19 Congressman
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The Texan. Texas Congressional District 19 Candidates Square Off in Radio Debate
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New York Times. Texas U.S. House District 19 Primary Results
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NBC News. Texas U.S. House District 19 Results
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Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Corley Wins County Commissioner Precinct 2 Primary
15
National Association of Counties. Hon. Curtis Parrish
16
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Lubbock County Adopts Smaller Budget as Commissioners Continue Walkout
17
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. As Judge, Sheriff Plead, Lubbock County Budget Impasse Set to Continue
18
KCBD. Lubbock County to Pay Commissioner Corley’s Legal Fees
19
Texas Public Policy Foundation. Corley v. U.S. Department of the Treasury