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Jonathan Fombonne did not set out on a straight line to the Harris County Attorney’s Office. 

He was appointed to the role by county commissioners in January, prompted by then County Attorney Christian Menefee’s successful run for Houston’s 18th Congressional District.

Fombonne now steps into the county’s top civil post at a time when local governments are increasingly on the front lines of legal and political headwinds.

Past lives

“The background’s a little complicated,” said Fombonne, who grew up in France and England. 

That cross-Atlantic upbringing eventually led him to the United States for college, where he planned to study physics and math.

However, he changed majors to understand the impacts of 9/11, which occurred on the second day of classes during his undergraduate studies.

In the years that followed, campus life was shaped by argument and activism.

“There was a natural fit between that and law,” Fombonne explained.

He cooked professionally for a few years before attending law school and practising litigation in law firms.

Meeting Menefee

Jonathan Fombonne succeeds now 18th Congressional District representative Christian Menefee. Credit: Christian Menefee

​In 2016, Fombonne moved from New York to Houston. Here, he met Menefee and began by assisting with his campaign.

He got hooked on the scope of what the office of a county attorney could be.

Now, stepping into a job during a politically charged moment, Fombonne emphasized that high-profile issues were already in motion.

On Feb. 10, Fombonne, along with other plaintiffs, sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) to halt President Donald Trump’s administration from dismantling the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It challenged the administration’s efforts to downsize the FEMA workforce.

Fombonne explained that the purpose of the suit was to emphasize local governments’ reliance on federal resources, citing Hurricane Harvey, the derecho, and Hurricane Beryl, which impacted Texans.

“Every time that happens and people lose things, property, belongings, or the government has to respond to emergencies, FEMA is there to help provide reimbursements,” he said. “We cannot do a lot of what we do without FEMA, and Houston residents or Harris County residents could not get compensated for their losses without FEMA.”

Fombonne’s office is also concerned about Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s warning that state officials should take control of Harris County elections, citing a report on the county’s tax office finding over 100 voter registrations linked to private post office boxes.

 

“I accidentally became an expert in Texas election law and nothing about it before I came here, but Harris County elections, but elections in general have been under kind of the microscope for various, honestly, pretty terrible reasons,” Fombonne said, citing a lawsuit that Harris County dropped.

The lawsuit challenged the new state law (Senate Bill 1750) that eliminated what Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called an “unelected and unaccountable” elections administrator position in Texas’s largest counties and returned those powers to the elected positions of  Tax Assessor-Collector and the County Clerk.

Fombonne is okay with continuity

Jonathan Fombonne says credibility, not politics, guides his office’s decision to sue. Credit: Tannistha Sinha/Houston Defender

Asked what might distinguish his leadership from Menefee’s, Fombonne leaned toward maintaining continuity rather than reinvention. 

“We’re close friends [Menefee], and we think very similarly about a lot of things,” he said. “I’m very proud of what I helped him build the last five years, and I think one of the reasons I was appointed to do this job is for continuity.”

He wants to redirect the office’s focus to litigation instead. 

One of his clearest examples is to modernize how the county manages contracts.

“The county, just like many other government jurisdictions, has pretty outdated technology,” Fombonne said.

He said his office is implementing a contract lifecycle management system, a software that connects contract information with other departments for visibility and efficiency.

“He [Fombonne] has a really great mix of strong legal knowledge and is also very interested in making sure that local government works well. He’s also very invested in the office staff, and works to encourage both our established leaders and those who are newer to their careers,” said Roxanne Werner, Director of Communications and Outreach.

How long is Fombonne’s term?

Fombonne will serve as Harris County Attorney until November.

Why did he not run for the seat?

“You have to have a certain set of skills and passions to want to be an elected official and to want to run for office,” he explained. “It’s really, really hard. You want to be able to raise money. You have to do a lot of activities in the evenings and mornings on the weekends…[It’s] not something I want to do at this stage in my life.” 

Instead, he described himself as someone who prefers the deep technical work behind big decisions. 

“I really enjoy getting in the weeds on things,” he said.

That “weeds” mindset shows up in how he explains the office itself, an operation that includes over 300 employees and 150 lawyers.

“It’s like a mini attorney general’s office,” he added.

On any given day, the work can range from infrastructure contracts and condemnation to employment advice for a workforce of over 20,000 employees and collections cases involving taxes and tolls. 

Fombonne highlighted an environmental law group focused on “companies in the petrochemical complex” and a “large child protective services division.”

“It’s never boring,” he said.

In that swirl, Fombonne argues that credibility matters, especially when the office sues. 

“We don’t just sue because we’re mad,” he said. “I’ve never brought a case I didn’t think I could win.”

And when his term ends, his goal is less about personal legacy than institutional readiness, keeping the office stable for whoever comes next.

“In the end, I’m here to build on what we’ve done the last five years,” he said, “but also keep the ship afloat and keep the office running and ready for whoever the next county attorney is.”

I cover education, housing, and politics in Houston for the Houston Defender Network as a Report for America corps member. I graduated with a master of science in journalism from the University of Southern...