Robert Eckels Harris County Judge County Judge Robert Eckels is the presiding officer of Harris County Commissioners Court, the five member governing body of Harris County. Judge Eckels is the only member of the Court who represents all the citizens of the third most populous county in the United States. Harris County is home to over 3.6 million people. There are 34 municipalities in Harris County, including the City of Houston, the fourth largest city in the country. While all of its residents enjoy a wide range of county services, over 1.5 million people live in areas outside the cities, and rely on the County to be the primary provider of basic government services.

Three of Judge Eckels’ priorities are transportation, homeland security, and healthcare. As chairman of the Transportation Policy Council for the Houston-Galveston region, Judge Eckels was a major author of the Regional Transportation 2025 Plan. He is also Chairman of the Alliance of I-69 Texas and the Texas High Speed Rail & Transportation Corporation. Texas House of Representatives’ Speaker Tom Craddick appointed the Judge to the Study Commission on Transportation Financing.

As County Judge, Eckels is the director of the county’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Under his leadership, Harris County has become a national model for preparedness and response to emergency situations, be they natural or manmade. Considered an expert in local emergency management and response, Judge Eckels has testified before both the US House and Senate Homeland Security Committees and serves on the State and Local Senior Advisory Committee to President Bush’s Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Being a major urban county, the population of Harris County has grown considerably. With that growth has come a population of uninsured and underinsured people. Judge Eckels realized long ago that the needs of this growing community cannot be met alone. Therefore, under his leadership, Harris County and the Harris County Hospital District have forged strong partnerships with non-profit, private, public, and faith-based health care providers and clinics to coordinate a better delivery of healthcare services to the poor and indigent.

Judge Eckels is nationally recognized as an expert in devising and implementing acceptable air quality plans on the county level. He has testified before US Senate subcommittees on air quality issues and has appeared on national television news shows discussing environmental issues.

The nation and the world watched as Judge Eckels coordinated and manage the relief effort for the victims and evacuees of both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Because of his leadership, the Judge has been honored with numerous national and local awards. A few of them include American City and County magazine’s 2006 County Leader of the Year Award. Esquire magazine named Judge Eckels as one of “America’s Best and Brightest” for 2005 and “The Power of Government to Do Good –Citizen of the Year”. The Partners for Livable Communities, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington DC, gave the Judge the “Bridge Builders Award” for his collaboration efforts during the hurricane crises and the National Conflict Resolution Center, headquartered in San Diego, presented Judge Eckels with the “Peacemaker Award” for his ability to problem solve and provide aid and shelter to the Hurricane Katrina evacuees. The Greater Houston Partnership named him one of “Houston’s Greatest Individuals 2005”.

Judge Eckels served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1983 to 1994. Eckels was elected County Judge in 1994. He received a Bachelor of Science in Technology from the University of Houston and Doctor of Jurisprudence from South Texas College of Law.

A native Houstonian, Judge Eckels and his wife, Jet, are the proud parents of daughter Kirby Rae.