Fayette County makes Juneteenth official county holiday

Starting in 2022, Fayette County will make June 19 an official holiday for employees. The date, known as Juneteenth, commemorates the day in 1865 when word finally reached Galveston, Texas, that slavery had been abolished in America. The Fayette proposal was not on the agenda for the June 24 Board of Commissioners meeting, but commissioner Eric Maxwell asked that the matter be considered before they adjourned so he could be present to vote on it. Maxwell noted that President Joe Biden signed legislation last month after the U.S. Congress voted 415-14 to create the federal holiday. “I think that Fayette County ought to honor that holiday,” Maxwell said, and the board voted 5-0 to approve it without further discussion.

County Administrator Steve Rapson said Juneteenth would be Fayette’s 11th official holiday, with an approximate annual budgetary impact of $25,000. Rapson said the county’s policy would be amended accordingly and circulated to the board and staff.