Tarrant County has selected Assistant County Administrator Chandler Merritt to replace longtime County Administrator G.K. Maenius after his retirement, according to a Sept. 19 news release. Maenius, who announced his retirement in June, served his last day in office Sept. 30. Merritt started his new duties Oct. 1.

Maenius served as the first Tarrant County administrator for 35 years.

A closer look

​​​​Merritt is native to Tarrant County and has worked as the county's chief of staff since 2017 before assuming his role as assistant county administrator in May 2021. He began his career in public service as the Irving business operations manager from 2013-15, then as McKinney director of strategic services from 2015-17. While working with Maenius, Merritt oversaw nearly 400 employees and the county's $300 million budget, according to the release. The announcement of Merritt's new position was made the same day that the county unveiled that the Tarrant County Administration Building was to be renamed in honor of Maenius.

Quote of note

"I’m excited to see Chandler Merritt take the helm as County Administrator. I know that he has learned from an amazing mentor, but he also has ideas of his own about process improvement and efficiency,” County Judge Tim O’Hare said in the news release. “He is the right person for the job and we are expecting great things from Mr. Merritt."