Steve Snell, Republican, Incumbent Williamson County Judge
Williamson County Judge Steve Snell says his 31 years in public education prepared him to address the county’s growing challenges, from infrastructure needs to public safety and regional partnerships. The Republican, who was appointed to the position in March 2025, is now running for his first full term in office against challenger Heather Jefts.
Mr. Snell said service is in his DNA, from volunteering as a Cub Scout to participating in church youth groups. When he chose a career in education, he said he loved his job and mentoring kids. When he became an administrator, he brought the same enthusiasm to mentoring adults.
He most recently served as Superintendent for Liberty Hill ISD, and said he had planned on retiring after the 2027-2028 school year.
However, things changed when County Commissioner Cynthia Long asked him to apply for county judge after former Judge Bill Gravell resigned to take a position in the Trump Administration. After a series of interviews, Mr. Snell was appointed to be the next county judge in March 2025.
“[I was] looking for God to open a door and show me an opportunity, a way to serve him in a different light,” he said. “So [my wife and I] talked about it. This is an opportunity that doesn’t come along every day. Here’s the job. It’s service-focused. It’s helping people. It’s taking what I did as a superintendent and doing it on a much larger level.”
Addressing county-wide issues
When Mr. Snell first took county office, he said he asked the Commissioners Court to “slow down” the timeline for its plan to build a new Jail and Justice Center Complex, something that he called a “100-year decision” that required listening to the community.
The county, however, did purchase a 240-acre property in Southeast Georgetown for the project earlier this year, and residents — including the Georgetown ISD board — have raised concerns about its proximity to public schools.
“School safety and keeping our kids safe, it’s part of me, it’s in my blood,” Mr. Snell said. “We’ve worked with the school district to kind of talk through some of those logistics. To me, it doesn’t matter what’s never happened before. When something does happen, that’s a problem. I want to make sure those kids stay safe for the foreseeable future.”
Since last year, Williamson County has been renovating an 18-acre facility in Northwest Austin, which could serve as a future Medical Examiner’s Office. The move came after the county’s Justices of the Peace requested the county hire a medical examiner to help with filing death inquests. As a stop-gap, the county hired its first set of death investigators to help address growing workloads.
Mr. Snell said the county needs to be accredited in order to hire a medical examiner to perform autopsies. Accreditation takes about three years. So, Mr. Snell is looking at the possibility of a regional solution with Travis County.
“We actually met with Travis County and talked about building a partnership of a regional medical district,” he said. “That’ll probably take us a few months to work out the logistics to even present that option to commissioner’s court if they want to consider that. That is a more financially responsible method.”
Mr. Snell has served the county during a time whern election rules have shifted based on requests from both Republican and Democrats in Williamson County. Some residents have criticized the county’s Elections Department, which has worked to balance the two dueling political agendas while upholding laws and aiming for election security.
For those with concerns, Mr. Snell said there’s no proof of any election and voter fraud going on in the county’s elections. He added that the elections are very secure. He also said he has no problem with the spotlight being on Wilco.
“I am comfortable and confident in our election process,” he said. “Our Election Administrator is doing a really good job, and we hear the attacks, but we think they’re unfounded, and we really thought they were unfounded during the primary. I want voting to be easy. I want it to be accessible. I want every vote to count, and I want you to know the utmost integrity in the process.”
One of Mr. Snell’s first policy announcements while in office was to create a regional solution to supply water to residents for the next 50 years. He said the ideas came from seeing the City of Liberty Hill struggle with water. The more he talked with different Wilco communities, the more he learned about the similar issues facing everyone.
“In order to keep going, we need water,” he said. “We need to protect the water for the people that are here today, so we don’t run out. We need to grow smart, sustainably and for the future.”
Williamson County Commissioners Court has already allocated $500,000 to conduct a water study to find how much water Wilco has. The study is estimated to take eight to 12 months to complete. The next steps, he said, is to find solutions and give a price tag to those projects.
“The cities [in Williamson County] will be updated along the way, but to bring them back in to see who wants to be part of that solution,” he said. “When you look at the sheer amount of growth coming, we need to know what else is needed.”
The bigger picture
Looking at general party politics, Mr. Snell said he’s upset that the vast majority of the Republican Party is moving away from public schools. The situation angers him, he said, because people don’t understand the challenges public schools face. He called the rhetoric ridiculous.
“I love public schools,” he told the Sun tearfully. “Public schools bring communities together. Public schools are — in my opinion — one of the most conservative institutions we have in this county. We educate everybody, regardless of your ethnicity, regardless of your language ability. Our public schools are the backbone to our community. I hear the noise, but I still fight for them and I still support them.
“I want to lead the party back in supporting public schools,” he added. “I think the party does for the most part. It’s just that we argue over silly things, over politics, while the kids are the most important resource we have.”
If his opponent was sitting across from him, Mr. Snell said he would tell her being county judge is a big responsibility with long hours and late nights.
“The work of the county is very critical,” he said. “Having someone who is forward-thinking, and knows what’s coming and to be able to make those connections and build those relationships is critical.”
Early voting for the November midterm elections is from October 19 through October 30. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
For more information about Mr. Snell, visit www.texansforsnell.com.