SAN ANTONIO — The Bexar County Commissioners Court has announced the five finalists to fill the interim Precinct 2 Constable position.
Donald Falcon, Mary Ruiz, Leticia Vazquez, Debra L. Zerda, and Javier Flores were selected Tuesday afternoon. The Commissioners Court announced Monday that 29 people had applied to fill the open position.
The interim position was created when current Precinct 2 Constable Michelle Barrientes Vela announced to KENS 5 that she would run for Bexar County Sheriff in 2020.
That declaration invoked the so-called "resign-to-run" provision of the Texas Constitution, the Bexar County District Attorney's Civil Section Chief wrote in an opinion.
Vela filed a lawsuit Monday asking for a judge to rule that she did not resign from her post.
In response to Vela's lawsuit, the judge put off a final answer. He granted a temporary restraining order keeping the county from replacing Vela right away. But the judge said the county could interview candidates and appoint a replacement.
An interim constable can't be sworn in until it's decided whether Vela can keep her job or be replaced.
A press release from the Commissioners Court details the remainder of the process for selecting an interim Constable: "Although a Temporary Restraining Order was issued on Tuesday, this does not preclude Commissioners Court from moving forward on selecting candidates for potential interviews and making a selection on Wednesday, October 2, 2019. A hearing on the temporary injunction will be held on Friday, October 11, 2019."