Three Brazos County Commissioners Reverse Their Vote To Fill A Vacant Position

Screen shot of Brazos County assistant general counsel Andrew Wipke from the Brazos County YouTube channel.

On February 10th, Brazos County commissioners voted three to two to not fill the position of assistant general counsel in the county judge’s office.

Then at the commission’s March 10th meeting, county judge Duane Peters introduced a new assistant general counsel.

WTAW News found the hiring in the minutes of the commission’s February 24th meeting.

Andrew Wipke’s name, but not his job title, was in the list of personnel actions that the commission unanimously approved.

At the time of the February 24th meeting, there were no comments by the three commissioners who on February 10th voted to keep the position vacant…Bentley Nettles, Fred Brown, and Chuck Konderla.

Wipke, who told the commission after he was introduced he was glad to be in Brazos County, worked a combined 11 years for Wichita County, Lubbock County, and Ft. Bend County.

Click below to hear comments from Duane Peters and Andrew Wipke at the March 10, 2026 Brazos County commission meeting.

 

Original story February 11, 2026:

A vacant Brazos County position will remain vacant for the time being.

County commissioners on Tuesday (February 10) voted three to two to not fill the position of assistant general counsel.

Commissioner Bentley Nettles, who is a lawyer, made the motion that received support from Fred Brown and Chuck Konderla.

Nettles said because the position has been vacant for six months, “I think it calls a question do we really we need that at this time.” Nettles also said “there’s a lot of other needs in demand out at the jail, the sheriff, I’ve got Jeff Reeves (precinct one constable) asking for a deputy constable. Where we need to have folks dealing directly with the services provided to our constituents and the residents of the county instead of adding”.

County judge Duane Peters and commissioner Wanda Watson, who voted against Nettles motion, did not have a comment.

The vote followed a 70 minute executive session that included the county judge’s new consultant, former county auditor Katie Conner.

Click below to hear Bentley Nettles comments at the February 10, 2026 Brazos County commission meeting.

 

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