Tarrant County commissioners turned down a proposal to spend nearly $300,000 to build office space for Texas Rep. Chris Turner, a Democrat who represents Arlington and Grand Prairie, during their meeting Tuesday.

The two proposals that came before the court included a $246,000 build out of an unfinished, 1,200-square-foot space at the county’s Arlington Subcourthouse on East Abram Street and $50,960 in architectural services. The space would have included two offices, a conference room and two modular work stations.

A motion failed 3-2 that would have included the office construction expense among other budget amendments, with the court’s three Republicans voting no. The commissioners then agreed to pass the other budget amendments without including the office space.

The county building an office space for a state lawmaker isn’t unprecedented, Commissioner Alisa Simmons told the court.

Republican State Rep. Charlie Geren has an office at the Northwest Subcourthouse in Fort Worth that was built using county funds.

Turner currently has an office on Westway Place in Arlington, a little more than five miles from the subcourthouse. A representative for Turner said Tuesday they had planned to move from that office into the subcourthouse had proposal gone through.

In an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Tuesday, Turner said he never asked the county to build out that portion of the subcourthouse for his office space.

Turner’s team originally planned on leasing out existing space at the subcourthouse. Then, the county’s facilities office came to his team and offered to build out the space that went up for a vote Tuesday.

He said it would have been great to have a space to meet with constituents at the subcourthouse but he respects the court’s decision.

County Judge Tim O’Hare said he would have voted against spending county dollars on Turner’s office even if the lawmaker was a fellow Republican. O’Hare said there are plenty of private spaces available for any state lawmaker to lease.

Simmons, a Democrat who represents Arlington, said the goal of the proposal was to provide a space where services would be streamlined. Constituents would have been able to get access to county services and be able to speak to their state representative at the same time.

This story was originally published July 11, 2023, 1:13 PM.