Did Perry Have The Authority To Appoint Kimbrough As A Special Master?

This innocuous little tidbit in the Dallas Morning News this morning touches on a controversy that’s been brewing under the surface since Governor Perry appointed Special Master Jay Kimbrough to oversee the Texas Youth Commission:

More politics: Jay Kimbrough, the “special master” designated to clean up the TYC mess, says the political tug-of-war over whether Gov. Rick Perry had the authority to appoint him is “distracting.” Some lawmakers claim the special master post isn’t upheld by the constitution and that a conservator should be named instead. Mr. Kimbrough said he doesn’t care what he’s called as long as he’s working to fix the TYC.

We’ve addressed the topic of “special master versus conservator” here at Capitol Annex before, and explained the differences between the two.

However, the constitutional question concerning whether or not Perry had the authority to appoint a special master is a very real one.

The fact is that there is no precedent in Texas history for the appointment of a special master by the governor over a state agency in the same manner as one has been appointed over the Texas Youth Commission.

Furthermore, the only cases I’m aware of that involve special masters are instances when the Commissioner of Education appoints masters to school districts with governance problems.
The question is an important one because Kimbrough could very well be an unconstitutional appointment to a position which only exists because Governor Perry created it out of thin air.

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