2022 RECAP: WASHINGTON CO. JUDGE JOHN DURRENBERGER
speaks at the "State of the Community" forum held
on March 9th at Blinn College in Brenham.
With 2022 closing out soon, KWHI is taking the opportunity to see what local officials think about how the past year went and what is in store next year.
We continue with Washington County Judge John Durrenberger, who went over the significant events of the year for the county and what he hopes to accomplish in 2023.
Durrenberger says the growth experienced throughout the county was one of the major themes of 2022, for residential development, commercial endeavors and the oil and gas industry.
Other notable happenings for the county this past year include the introduction of a new county engineer, along with new directors for the E-911 and human resources departments. The EMS department also entered into a new air ambulance agreement with METRO Aviation; Durrenberger says he has been “very happy with that change” thus far. An ongoing process that Durrenberger hopes to see resolution for soon is securing a generator for the county jail with American Rescue Plan Act funds, something that has involved “a lot of hoops to go through.”
Moving into 2023, Durrenberger says improving infrastructure to accommodate the new people moving in will be a key issue, as will be three building projects: upgrading the jail kitchen, constructing extra storage space for county records, and creating a judicial center.
Whatever the next year has to offer, Durrenberger is confident in the team of officials leading the county into the future.
Durrenberger is entering his second term as county judge after first taking office in 2019 and running unopposed in the previous election cycle.