TONY CANTÚ
Special to the Press
GEORGETOWN –– Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell on Tuesday resigned as the county’s top executive after accepting a role in the Trump administration.
Gravell, 61, actually started his new job as the Region 6 advocate at the U.S. Small Business Administration on Monday, a county spokeswoman confirmed.
The region Gravell will oversee in his role as advocate encompasses Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
The development was made public during the Commissioners Court regular meeting March 11, during which Gravell was sworn into his new job by 425th state District Court Judge Betsy Lambeth.
“It is a great honor to serve as the voice for the 4.5 million small businesses that make the South-Central region of the United States their home,” Gravell said in a prepared statement describing his new role. “Growing up at 1402 E. Main Street in Round Rock, Texas, I never could have imagined that one day I would have the opportunity to serve the United States. This is truly an honor, but I will never forget where I came from.”
Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey, as the senior member of the court, served as county judge pro-tem and presided over Tuesday’s meeting.
Commissioners are now poised to appoint someone to serve as county judge until the next general election on Nov. 3, 2026.
Until then, commissioners court members have scheduled a March 14, Friday, special session to formally accept Gravell’s resignation and begin the process of finding his replacement, a county spokeswoman said.
Gravell, a Republican, has served as county judge for six years, having been sworn in on Jan. 1, 2019, following his appointment as the Precinct 3 justice of the peace in 2013.
He has witnessed exponential growth during his time as county judge, according to a county press release, including the addition of some 12,500 new small businesses and the expansion of Apple, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s semiconductor foundry in Taylor and Kalahari Resort in Round Rock.
Gravell has also taken part in trade delegations to South Korea, Samsung’s home country, to encourage partnerships with other high-tech businesses.
Supporters noted the corporate growth occurred despite the scourge of COVID-19 that emerged a mere year into Gravell’s tenure as county judge.
County officials further noted Gravell’s key role in navigating through other crises – fires, tornadoes, winter storms and the like – in his dual role as director of emergency management for the county.
According to its website, the SBA’s Office of Advocacy supports businesses with less than 500 employees, nonprofit organizations and small government jurisdictions.
“Our office advances the views and concerns of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts and state policymakers,” the website reads. “By conducting small-business outreach, commenting in the federal regulatory process and helping agencies develop less burdensome regulations, we amplify the voice of small business owners in the regulatory space.”
Now vacant, the Region 6 Office of Advocacy was formerly headed by Janea Jamison, who was appointed to the role in September 2022. Her decade-plus experience in public service included a position in leading programming strategies for the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, a Louisiana-based nonprofit focused on issues of social justice, according to her bio.
While widening his scope of influence in the new role under President Donald Trump’s administration, Gravell could be getting a pay reduction in the new job.
Gravell earned an annual salary of $163,890 as county judge, in addition to $400 per month for serving on the Juvenile Board, a county official confirmed.
According to the site OpenPayrolls, Jamison drew a salary of $159,725 as of 2023 for her SBA advocacy role.
