After checking with the state's attorney general, a Texas nepotism law will prevent the Kerr County tax assessor/collector, Paula Rector, from marrying one of the district's tax appraisers.
Rector, 54, told local papers that concerns about the nepotism laws caused the couple to bring the matter to State Attorney General Greg Abbott. In an opinion released last week, Abbott ruled that the couple could not marry and simultaneously retain their positions.
Kerr County Attorney Rex Emerson had argued in a letter to Abbott that the couple's plight did not fit the law's provisions, because Rector's position does not have a say in hiring or firing decisions. Rector could not resign from the appraisal district board or appoint someone to replace her because state law requires the position to be held by the tax collector. Rector has said that she does not vote on how appraisals are set.
Rector said that she was disappointed with the ruling and will likely wait until her retirement to marry her fiancée. She has served five terms in office, and said that she may not seek re-election when her current term ends in three years.
