The TEXPERS Blog

Texas County & District Retirement System Elects Chair and Vice Chair

Bob Willis

Robert Eckels

Article Submitted by TCDRS

The Board of Trustees of the Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) elected Polk County Commissioner Bob Willis as its new vice chair and re-elected Judge Robert Eckels as chair at its December board meeting.

Commissioner Willis has served on the TCDRS Board of Trustees for more than a decade. He was appointed to the board by Governor Rick Perry in April 2004. He was most recently reappointed to the board by Governor Greg Abbott in 2014.

“This is a tremendous responsibility because it impacts so many retirees regarding their retirement income,” says Willis. “We as a board have strived to hire the best staff as well as the best investors to keep our retirees’ investments safe and strong. That is our goal at TCDRS.”

Willis was elected as the Polk County Commissioner for Precinct 1 in 2000. He now serves as the senior member of the commissioners court. He is a past president of the Tax Assessor-Collectors Association of Texas and a past chairman of the Board of Tax Professional Examiners.

Eckels, a former Harris County judge, begins another term as TCDRS chair in 2018 after being reelected by his fellow board members. He is an attorney with Gray Reed & McGraw LLP and serves as president of Texas Central High-Speed Railway. He is a past member of the Texas House of Representatives.

Trustees on TCDRS’ nine-member board serve staggered six-year terms. The board is comprised of system members and retirees appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. The board has oversight of all system operations, including the annual budget, policy determination, legislative proposals and investment policy.

The Texas County & District Retirement System was created by the Texas Legislature in 1967. Since then, TCDRS has grown into a strong, multi-billion dollar trust with more than 735 participating counties and districts that provide retirement, disability and survivor benefits to more than 282,000 members.

For more information about TCDRS, visit www.TCDRS.org.

Note: Want to share news about your public pension plan? Email TEXPERS Communications Manager Allen Jones at allen@texpers.org.