Grayson County engineer given authority over speed limits and signs on county roads

Grayson County Commissioners Court has passed Order 2026-026, delegating traffic-regulation authority on county roads to the Grayson County Engineer. Under the order, the engineer may act on speed limits, stop signs, yield signs, parking restrictions and related traffic-control devices.

The delegation reaches county roads and real property owned by Grayson County that falls under the Commissioners Court's jurisdiction, according to the order. The item was listed as Action Item 9.3 on the court's agenda for Tuesday, July 28, 2026. Grayson County's website says its Commissioners Court normally meets at 10 a.m. every Tuesday.

The order leaves review authority with the Commissioners Court. It states that the court may review, modify or revoke authority over any traffic matter, and that the court may exercise that authority directly.

Texas law already provides for delegation of this kind. Section 251.159 of the Texas Transportation Code allows the commissioners court of a county with more than 78,000 residents to assign its Chapter 251 county traffic regulation functions to a county engineer or another county employee. The statute keeps one duty with the court: if a hearing is requested, the court must hold it.

Decisions made under the delegated authority must conform to the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the statewide standard for signs, markings and signals, according to the order. The Texas Department of Transportation lists the 2025 edition of the manual as effective since Jan. 18, 2026.

The same July 28 agenda also listed direct court action on accepting subdivision roads and setting 20 mph speed limits. Grayson County has taken up individual roads that way before. Earlier in 2026, a Commissioners Court resolution accepted Julian Drive into the county road system and set a 20 mph speed limit there. A 2022 resolution accepted Austin Lane, Round Rock Road and Slate Drive as county-maintained public roads and set 30 mph limits on them.

In neighboring Cooke County, the Commissioners Court has used a similar instrument on a private-road question. Cooke County commissioners approved an order in 2024 that extended Cooke County road traffic rules to the roads in the FRF subdivision and authorized official traffic-control devices there, according to that order.

Streets inside city limits are handled separately. Sherman's Street Department is responsible for municipal signs, pavement markings and signals, though the city notes that some signals within Sherman are controlled by TxDOT rather than by the city.