BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape has named Donna Snowden to fill the the vacancy in left by the death of Commissioner Gary “Bubba” Snowden’s. Snowden died on Jan. 3, just days into his second four-year term.

Donna Snowden is the widow of Bubba Snowden. The appointment means she will serve at least until the next general election, which happens in November 2020. Texas law requires the county judge to make an appointment to fill a vacancy. The statute does not provide for a special election to fill the vacancy, only that an appointment would serve until “the next general election.”

“She was the first person I thought of,” Pape said during Monday’s commissioner court meeting, adding that Donna Snowden “is uniquely qualified” to serve on the commission.

Commissioners are elected officials and Bubba Snowden won the position in last May’s primary by defeating Rosanna Church Abreo, an Elgin attorney and former Bastrop County Sheriff. Snowden did not have a challenger in the November election.

Abreo’s husband, Sal, is the Bastrop County Precinct 4 Constable. Constable Sal Abreo was appointed to that position by Bubba Snowden and Pape in September 2016 after the precinct’s then-Constable resigned.

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The Abreo’s were also involved in a KXAN investigation in December detailing allegations that Commissioner Bubba Snowden participated in an effort to illegally evicted a man from his Elgin home last September. Abreo filed court records later deemed “fraudulent” by a judge in order to remove the man from his home. That home later ended up in Snowden’s daughter’s name.

A lawsuit is ongoing concerning that property, which named Snowden’s daughter, Tracy Ortiz, as the defendant.

Donna Snowden “is loved and respected in Elgin community and so was her husband,” Pape told the public. “She’s intelligent, level-headed and mature,” he added.

Bubba Snowden was indicted in late 2017 on three felonies of abusing his office. The indictments charged that Snowden used his office “to obtain a benefit and defraud another,” by performing road paving and maintenance on two different Bastrop County roads. One, according to the indictment, was a private road.

The indictments did not detail exactly what benefit Snowden received, but the late commissioner pleaded guilty to one of the three counts in June 2018. The plea came after Snowden struck a deal with a prosecutor in June that allowed him to plead guilty to one of the three felonies if prosecutors would reduce the charge to a misdemeanor.

On June 29, Snowden and prosecutor Nick A. Moutos agreed to the deal and Snowden was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of abusing his office. Moutos also agreed to drop the remaining two felonies in the deal. The misdemeanor count allowed Snowden to continue to hold office.

Snowden’s punishment was one day in jail—which he was given credit for on the time he spent while being booked on the charges on Dec. 12—and ordered to pay $2,500 in restitution.

Donna Snowden will be sworn into office on Tuesday, Jan. 15.