Liberty County Treasurer Kim Harris recently appeared on the Headlines and Heartlines podcast, where she reflected on her long tenure in office, her background in accounting, and the day-to-day responsibilities of an office that quietly manages both county finances and human resources.
Harris said she originally took office in December 2006, describing the moment as both exciting and life-changing.
“That was a really fun and exciting time for me and a big sort of change in my life when when I won that election and got going,” she said.
She noted that Liberty has always been home, adding that she grew up in Liberty as the daughter of Herbert and Catherine Carr. Her father owned an oil field service business and worked extensively west of Dayton.
Harris also shared a piece of Liberty County history tied to her family — that her grandfather was longtime Liberty County Sheriff W.P. “Red” Rose. She graduated from Liberty High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Texas A&M University. After college, she worked in Dallas for Arthur Young & Co., where she was part of the firm’s audit department.
“So I did significant audit work with big corporate companies,” she said, calling the experience “a lot of fun and very interesting.”
Despite her career opportunities elsewhere, Harris said her ties to Liberty drew her back home.
“I wanted to come home because I was very much a daddy’s girl and very close to my family and just always loved Liberty,” she said.
After returning, she worked for longtime Liberty CPA J.D. Root, later moving on to Cavett, Turner and Wyble in Beaumont, where she handled financial reporting and tax work.
Harris has been married to her husband, Matt Harris, for many years. Matt owns Pelco Builders, and together they raised three children. She said she and Matt are now grandparents to three grandchildren.
When Harris first walked into the treasurer’s office in December 2006, she said she was fortunate to inherit an experienced staff who helped guide her transition into the role. She recalled sitting at her desk on her first day and being presented with a detailed notebook outlining the many responsibilities of the office.
“They had prepared for me a notebook of all the things, all the different categories, the millions of categories of things that the treasurer’s office does,” she said.
Over the years, Harris said she and her staff have focused on evaluating and improving processes.
“So I spent the last 19 years working on those improvements and trying to do things better every day, every week, every month, every year,” she said.
She also earned certification as a county investment officer through the Texas Association of Counties and has maintained her CPA license since 1991.
Harris described the treasurer as essentially serving as the county’s chief financial officer, receiving and safeguarding funds collected by more than 30 county departments. She emphasized the importance of security in handling those funds.
“Security is very, very important to me, keeping my employees secure and all of the county’s assets secure,” she said.
In addition to managing deposits and investments, Harris said her office oversees payroll and human resources functions for the county. On the most recent payroll date, she said the county paid 566 employees, a significant increase from when she first took office.
The County has grown tremendously, she said, noting her office also handles reporting, deductions, workers’ compensation claims and unemployment reporting.
Harris said coordination with the county auditor and commissioners court is a key safeguard in maintaining financial integrity. She pointed to the county’s financial transparency page, where her monthly reports are posted, and emphasized the importance of separation of duties between offices.
“That system of checks and balances the Texas Constitution provides for is in place, and alive and well here,” she said.
Addressing the human resources side of her role, Harris said balancing policy enforcement with compassion can be challenging.
“I like to err on the side of the employee,” she said, while acknowledging that the role also requires representing taxpayers, policies and the law. Confidentiality, she added, is “paramount to anything else,” particularly when handling sensitive employee information.
Harris said her guiding principle as treasurer is honesty.
“I’m honest, probably to a fault,” she said. “Truth is always enough.”
Looking ahead, Harris said her focus remains steady improvement, transparency and accountability.
“We learn every day. We make mistakes. We absolutely make mistakes,” she said, adding that her approach is to own them, correct them and move forward.
Harris said she remains accessible to constituents and welcomes questions from the public.
“You can call our office and my staff will pass your phone call on to me,” she said, adding that she also can be reached by emailing k.harris@co.liberty.tx.us
To hear the full episode of the Headlines and Heartlines podcast featuring Harris, click HERE.
Later this week, look for more podcast episodes featuring candidates for public office. The goal of these podcasts is to inform the citizens of Liberty County as to who is on the ballots in the March 3, 2026 primary.