Brazos County Judge Duane Peters returns to office as Kyle Kacal prepares for permanent role
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Brazos County Judge Duane Peters has returned to his duties after a health-related absence, while former interim judge Kyle Kacal announces his intention to run for the position permanently.
Peters resumed his role after tapping former State Representative Kyle Kacal to serve as interim Brazos County Judge on June 29, 2025. The move allowed Peters to focus on his health recovery.
"I planned to be back on, you know, long before now and things just didn't work out. It took me longer to, to get back up to speed and, but it's, it's a good feeling to be back," Peters said.
Kacal, who had retired from public service to run his ranch, said the call to serve came unexpectedly.
"And then I get a call on a Sunday night that says, hey, really need you to consider helping me out and you know when your good friend Judge Peters called, uh, there's no other thing to do but to say yes sir and step in and you know I love this community so it was an easy decision," Kacal said.
The former state representative faced immediate challenges upon taking the interim role, including managing the county budget and multiple capital projects.
"Tackling the budget right away we had multiple capital projects coming on, so it's a little bit overwhelming, a lot of departments, but you know as my time at State Rep. I counted on my county government," Kacal said.
Kacal noted the difference between serving in the state legislature versus commissioners court comes down to numbers.
"You know, the differences are numbers in the legislature I need 76 votes, here I need 3," Kacal said.
His state-level experience proved valuable in the county role, particularly in areas like emergency management, disaster response, road and bridge operations, and budget management.
"Understanding emergency management disaster, road and bridge, and a county budget, those were things that I had a grasp of, and you know we hit the ground running," Kacal said.
With Peters deciding against running for re-election, Kacal has announced his intention to seek the position permanently.
"You know my heart and and God has built me to serve and so I will serve as long as the people wish me to serve and will elect me but you know, looking at it today, I am willing to put in the next 4 years and then we'll evaluate it then given the opportunity," Kacal said.
Peters, who will complete 32 years of overall county service at the end of his term, hopes to see one major project finished before leaving office.
"Medical examiner is gonna be finishing up uh this summer. I'm, I'm looking forward to that. That's something that I think that the community really has needed," Peters said.
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