What do you think?
V.T.C.A., Local Government Code � 263.152 "The commissioners court of a county may:
(1) periodically sell the county's surplus or salvage property by competitive bid or auction"

� 263.153. Notice
The commissioners court shall publish notice of a sale of surplus or salvage property in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county

If notice was publshed could we take pictures of all our good quality junk and post on EBay? Or, does auction mean live in person with a real licensed auctioneer?

While Harris county has an online auction we're just not that sophisticated.

No Thanks, I just lookin. DL

"Auction" isn't defined in chapter 263, much less subchapter D thereof. Thus, per the Code Construction Act, we look to the common meaning of the term. That common meaning is, quite simply, "a sale of property to the highest bidder." (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 75 (10th Ed. 1996).) By virtue of the statute's express language, then, purveying the county's worn-out leather goods to a garage band in Encino, CA, via e-bay looks to be copacetic. There doesn't seem to be a reason to read a licensed auctioneer requirement into the statute. Unless you're related to a licensed auctioneer. It would appear that the trickiest part would be figuring out when the 20-day window of "before the date of the sale" would be to comply with section 263.153(b). I suspect the designated agent for sale would simply have to pick a date on which the "treasure trove of county-owned chattels ripe for reuse by discriminating and resourceful collectors" would actually go on the block on e-bay, then count backwards.